Medical Device Week articles from August 2007

Medical Device Week archives from August 2007

J&J to slash workforce in Cordis and pharma units by 4,820 jobs.
August 1, 2007... J&J to slash workforce in Cordis and pharma units by 4,820 jobs By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The drug-eluting stent (DES) market has been under considerable pressure of late — enough to impact one of...

Abbott, Roche meeting the challenge.
August 1, 2007... Abbott, Roche meeting the challenge New HIV strains are putting viral load assays to the test By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer With new strains of HIV appearing in patients in the U.S., following not far behind...

International report.(Thermo Fisher Scientific and Qualigens Fine Chemicals)
August 1, 2007... International report GE Healthcare establishes 1st MRI training center in China A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Citing a shortage of trained professionals specializing in magnetic resonance imaging, GE Healthcare (Chalfont St....

Washington roundup.
August 1, 2007... Washington roundup FDA warnings target problems with clinical trial investigators By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor Doctors have a lot on their minds, and a pair of recent FDA warning letters indicates...

Deals roundup.
August 1, 2007... Deals roundup Qiagen completes Digene buy; ME buys stroke treatment rights A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Qiagen (Venlo, the Netherlands) reported the completion of its $1.6 billion acquisition of Digene (Gaithersburg,...

Court report.
August 1, 2007... Court Report Biomet files 13-count lawsuit against Zimmer and former exec A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biomet Orthopedics and Biomet (both, Warsaw, Indiana) recently initiated legal proceedings against Zimmer (Warsaw,...

Agreements roundup.(Iris International and ICON)
August 1, 2007... Agreements roundup Guardian, USC ink deal to explore Signature mapping potential A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Guardian Technologies International (Herndon, Virginia) reported yesterday that the Medical Imaging and...

Patent Watch.
August 1, 2007... Patent Watch AGA wins patent infringement suit against two German companies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report AGA Medical (Plymouth Minnesota) reported that it has won its patent infringement lawsuit against Occlutech (Jena,...

Financings roundup.
August 1, 2007... Financings roundup InterCure raises $16 million in IPO debut on Israeli stock market A Medical Device Daily Staff Report InterCure (Fort Lee, New Jersey), manufacturer of the RESPeRATE hypertension treatment device designed to...

Briefly Noted.
August 1, 2007... Briefly Noted Health Care Property Investors changes name Health Care Property Investors (Long Beach, California) reported that it is changing its name to HCP. The company, a REIT, will have a development pipeline in excess of $2...

Product Briefs.
August 1, 2007... Product Briefs • ThermoGenesis (Rancho Cordova, California) said that the FDA has granted clearance for the company to market the CryoSeal FS autologous fibrin sealant, as an adjunct to hemostasis in liver resection surgery. The...

People in Places.
August 1, 2007... People in Places • William Appling was promoted to senior VP of research and development of AngioDynamics (Queensbury, New York). Appling was formerly VP of research. AngioDynamics makes products used by interventional radiologists...

Cardiva's Boomerang returns arteriotomy to original size.(Cardiva Medical)
August 2, 2007... Cardiva's Boomerang returns arteriotomy to original size By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The word boomerang typically brings to mind an image of a curved stick that, after you throw it, you better watch it fly...

Failure of California RHIO offers instructive how-not-to study.(regional health information organization)
August 2, 2007... Failure of California RHIO offers instructive how-not-to study By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON — The history of electronic health records (EHRs) is short and replete — replete with...

Report from Europe.
August 2, 2007... Report from Europe ev3 gets CE mark for its new Axium detachable coil system A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Endovascular technology firm ev3 (Plymouth, Minnesota) said it has received CE-mark approval for its Axium Detachable...

Nanoparticle magnetic targeting gets new biodegradable boost.
August 2, 2007... Nanoparticle magnetic targeting gets new biodegradable boost By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Reporter For years researchers would constantly hit a proverbial brick wall when it came to safely guiding nanoparticles into cell...

Deals roundup.
August 2, 2007... Deals roundup AMO withdraws $4.2B bid for rival Bausch & Lomb A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Advanced Medical Optics (AMO; Santa Ana, California) yesterday withdrew its $4.2 billion buyout bid for rival eye care products maker...

Financings roundup.
August 2, 2007... Financings roundup Amedica cancels its $57.8M IPO; CHAD gets private $3.5 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orthopedic implants maker Amedica (Salt Lake City) said that his elected not to proceed with its initial public...

Agreements roundup.(Cardiocom Multi-Disease Management, Heritage Provider Network, Cook Urology and Convergent Laser Technologies )
August 2, 2007... Agreements roundup Heritage Provider in pact to use Cardiocom telemedicine devices A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cardiocom Multi-Disease Management (Minneapolis), a manufacturer of remote patient monitoring equipment and...

Patent watch.(BioMedical Enterprises )
August 2, 2007... Patent watch BME wins patent for OSSforce and shape memory materials A Medical Device Daily Staff Report BioMedical Enterprises (BME: San Antonio) reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded it the patent for...

Grants/contracts.
August 2, 2007... Grants/Contracts Orbis gets $5M grant from AIG for blindness prevention programs A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orbis International (New York) has received a $5 million grant from American International Group (AIG) to ensure...

Briefly Noted.(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... Briefly Noted AMO to ship multipurpose solution in U.S. Advanced Medical Optics (AMO, Santa Ana, California) reported that it plans to begin shipping a multipurpose solution in the U.S. in the first half of August and expects the...

New Ventures.
August 2, 2007... New Ventures PBI offers new testing services to support biotherapeutics A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Pacific Biometrics (PBI; Seattle) reported the launch of Clinical Biomarker Services, a new area of specialty testing...

Product Briefs.
August 2, 2007... Product Briefs • BodyMedia (Pittsburgh) said it has begun shipping SenseWear WMS (weight management solution) to its clinical customers. The company said that SenseWear WMS is the first ever web-based clinical weight management...

People in Places.(Brief article)
August 2, 2007... People in Places • Mark Chassin, MD, was named president of The Joint Commission (Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois). The appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2008. Chassin is the Edmond Guggenheim professor of health policy and chairman of the...

CryoCor's 'long, hard' road pays off with Cryoablation AFL PMA.
August 3, 2007... CryoCor's 'long, hard' road pays off with Cryoablation AFL PMA By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer It's been a long, pothole-filled road for CryoCor (San Diego), but the company's perseverance has finally paid off...

Financings Roundup.
August 3, 2007... Financings Roundup Diagnostic lab Genoptix files for IPO of up to $86.25 million By TRISTA MORRISON Medical Device Daily Staff Writer with Medical Device Daily Staff Reports Genoptix (Carlsbad, California), a provider of...

Report from Europe.
August 3, 2007... Report from Europe Endogun Medical gets CE mark for EndoFast Reliant device A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Endogun Medical Systems (Kiryat Shmona, Israel), a developer of solutions for minimally invasive fastening of soft...

House CHIP bill hits Medicare plans, skilled nursing facilities.
August 3, 2007... House CHIP bill hits Medicare plans, skilled nursing facilities By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor Healthcare financing continues to be a source of controversy on Capitol Hill, and this week's recent passage of...

Deals roundup.(Software of Excellence International and Vesta)
August 3, 2007... Deals roundup Henry Schein extends SOE offer; RoundTable buys majority in Vesta A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Henry Schein (Melville, New York), the largest provider of healthcare products and services to office-based...

Agreements roundup.(St. Francis HealthCare)
August 3, 2007... Agreements roundup Medcath slated to manage St. Francis catherization labs A Medical Device Daily Staff Report MedCath (Charlotte, North Carolina) reported that its MedCath Partners Division has entered into a new strategic...

Grants.
August 3, 2007... Grants NHGRI doles out $15M in grants for better DNA sequencing tech A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda Maryland)...

Pall may have to restate its earnings since 1999.(Financial report)
August 3, 2007... Pall may have to restate its earnings since 1999 A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Pall (East Hills, New York) said yesterday that its annual and quarterly financial statements for the fiscal years 1999 through 2006 and the first...

Briefly Noted.
August 3, 2007... Briefly Noted iCAD added to Russell Microcap Index iCAD (Nashua, New Hampshire) a provider of computer-aided detection (CAD) solutions for the early identification of cancer, said it has been added to the Russell Microcap Index when...

Product Briefs.(Asuragen, CAD Sciences and Power3 Medical Products)
August 3, 2007... Product Briefs • Asuragen (Austin, Texas) reported the launch of its new high-content microRNA (miRNA) service. The service enables comprehensive analysis of miRNA expression profiles from published miRNA sequences and a vastly...

People in Places.(Brief article)
August 3, 2007... People in Places • Darrell West is being promoted to VP of finance and CFO of Computer Programs and Systems (Mobile, Alabama), effective Nov. 1. West is currently the company's controller. West will be replacing Stephen Walker, who is...

Patent watch.
August 3, 2007... Patent watch Cohera wins patent for TissuGlu, resorbable surgical adhesive A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cohera Medical (Pittsburgh), a company developing a suite of biodegradable surgical adhesives, said yesterday that it...

Boston Sci nixes Endosurgery IPO, but instead will restructure.
August 6, 2007... Boston Sci nixes Endosurgery IPO, but instead will restructure By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Staff Report Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) late last week reported that it will not go though with the considered...

Washington roundup.
August 6, 2007... Washington roundup Congress drops FDA ball until September: layoffs could ensue A Medical Device Daily Staff Report By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor Congress had a few too many items on its plate as...

International report.
August 6, 2007... International report Biofield cites MacKay Group's plans for China joint venture A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biofield (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania), which said late last month (Medical Device Daily, July 31, 2007) that it...

Deals roundup.(Arrowhead Research and Paragon Intellectual Properties)
August 6, 2007... Deals roundup North American Scientific to spin off radiation oncology business A Medical Device Daily Staff Report North American Scientific (NAS; Chatsworth, California) said Friday that it plans to divest its Nomos Radiation...

Financings roundup.
August 6, 2007... Financings roundup Accelerator secures $22.5 million; MPT authorizes share buyback A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Accelerator Corp. (Seattle) reported that it has secured more than $22.5 million of new commitments to enable it...

Contracts.(Brief article)
August 6, 2007... Contracts ev3 receives several 3-year contracts from Novation A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ev3(Plymouth Minnesota) has been awarded three, three-year contracts by Novation, (Irving, Texas) the healthcare contracting and...

Court report.
August 6, 2007... Court report HMA faces class action suit for violating federal securities laws A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Abbey Spanier Rodd & Abrams, filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of...

Briefly Noted.
August 6, 2007... Briefly Noted Report: Most sports brain injuries occur in youth An estimated 135,000 (65%) of sports and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) treated in U.S. emergency departments occur each year in young people ages 5 to...

Product Briefs.
August 6, 2007... Product Briefs • Illumina (San Diego) reported the introduction of the Infinium HumanHap550-Duo BeadChip, the company's fourth multi-sample DNA Analysis solution for genome-wide association studies. The HumanHap550-Duo provides the...

People in Places.
August 6, 2007... People in Places • Steven Hutchins was named VP of business development & collaboration management of BioDuro (San Diego). Hutchins joins BioDuro from Merck, where he was senior director of global basic and pre-clinical sourcing....

Cook reports two-in-one device for abnormal uterine bleeding.
August 7, 2007... Cook reports two-in-one device for abnormal uterine bleeding By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Cook Medical (Spencer, Indiana) yesterday reported the availability of what it calls a first-of-its-kind Goldstein...

Report from Israel.
August 7, 2007... Report from Israel MoneyTree: Country's med-tech still attracting top-level funding By RAE FISHMAN Medical Device Daily Israel Correspondent ZICHRON YA'AKOV -- The MoneyTree quarterly survey for the second quarter of 2007 by...

Report from Europe.(UK to ramp up stroke care services)(Acrobot develops robotic tool)(Competitive Technologies Inc. gets pain management therapy deal)
August 7, 2007... Report from Europe UK consultation eyes future of stroke services in England A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Health Secretary Alan Johnson reported last month that the UK government had launched a consultation into the future...

FTC hits anti-competitive hospital merger but no divestiture sought.
August 7, 2007... FTC hits anti-competitive hospital merger but no divestiture sought A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH; Evanston, Illinois) managed to fend off a worst-case scenario in a decision handed down...

Financings roundup.
August 7, 2007... Financings roundup BG Medicine joins crowded life science IPO queue with $80M filing A Medical Device Daily Staff Report BG Medicine (Waltham, Massachusetts), a life-sciences company filed to raise $80 million in its initial public...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Brief article)
August 7, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "[S]enior officials at Evanston and Highland Park anticipated that the merger would give them leverage to raise prices, and the merged firm did in fact raise its prices immediately and substantially...

Deals roundup.(Company overview)
August 7, 2007... Deals roundup Orbotech acquires DDD for $39M; TriMas to buy DEW Technologies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orbotech (Yavne, Israel) reported that it has signed an agreement to acquire 3 D - Danish Diagnostic Development (DDD;...

Patent watch.
August 7, 2007... Patent watch Occlutech set to appeal AGA's favorable ruling in German court A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Occlutech (Jena, Germany), a European manufacturer of cardiac occlusion devices, reported that it has appealed the...

Contracts.
August 7, 2007... Contracts DR Systems signs 10 contracts with healthcare facilities at $5.6M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report DR Systems (San Diego) reported 10 new contracts with healthcare facilities, totaling more than $5.6 million. The...

Agreements roundup.
August 7, 2007... Agreements roundup Baxter, DEKA sign deal to develop next-gen hemodialysis machine A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Baxter International (Deerfield, Illinois) reported a collaboration with DEKA Research & Development...

Product Briefs.
August 7, 2007... Product Briefs * Atrium Medical (Hudson, New Hampshire) reported the availability of its di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) free thoracic catheters. In keeping with the FDA recommendation that medical device manufacturers reformulate...

People in Places.
August 7, 2007... People in Places * Richard Gonzalez, president/COO, and a member of Abbott's (Abbott Park, Illinois) board of directors, plans to retire after a 30-year career with the company. "Rick is a consummate leader and has had a distinguished...

Deals roundup.
August 8, 2007... Deals roundup IMI in $165M buy of Hemosense; Integra acquires IsoTis for $51M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts) is on the M&A trail again. After already making a...

Congress is again getting cold feet about CMS action on DRGs.
August 8, 2007... Congress is again getting cold feet about CMS action on DRGs By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week released a revamp of the way it pays hospitals under the...

Report from Europe.
August 8, 2007... Report from Europe Orthovita gets CE mark for Vitagel Hemostat, Cellpaker A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Spine and orthopedic biosurgery firm Orthovita (Malvern, Pennsylvania) reported receiving CE-mark approval for its...

Optical technology found useful for pancreatic cancer detection.
August 8, 2007... Optical technology found useful for pancreatic cancer detection By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Like many researchers, Vadim Backman, PhD, a professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University (Evanston,...

Grants/contracts.
August 8, 2007... Grants/contracts Aetna and NYU kick off P4P pilot; Global Med, FBC, in software pact By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Aetna (Hartford, Connecticut) reported yesterday that it has entered into a...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Brief article)
August 8, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought New diagnostic-related group provisions will "ensure that Medicare no longer pays for the additional costs of certain preventable conditions," such as hospital-acquired infections. -- A new...

Financings roundup.
August 8, 2007... Financings roundup Endocare board authorizes stock split to regain NASDAQ listing A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Endocare (Irvine, California), a developer of minimally invasive technologies for tissue and tumor ablation,...

Agreements roundup.
August 8, 2007... Agreements roundup Cardiac Science, US Lacrosse in pact to address SCA in players A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cardiac Science, (Bothell, Washington) and US Lacrosse, the national governing body for men's and women's...

Baxter expands recall of its drug infusion pumps.(Baxter Healthcare Corp.)
August 8, 2007... Baxter expands recall of its drug infusion pumps A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Baxter Healthcare (Deerfield, Illinois) said it expanded the recall of its Colleague and Flo-Gard drug infusion pumps first reported in July (Medical...

Court report.
August 8, 2007... Court report Rochester Medical drops GPO from suit in exchange for contract A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Rochester Medical (Stewartville, Minnesota) reported that it has reached a settlement agreement with Novation (Irving,...

Product Briefs.
August 8, 2007... Product Briefs * Corgenix Medical (Denver) has submitted a 510(k) premarket notification to the FDA for the company's IgG Anti-AtherOx test kit. This new laboratory test uses the company's AtherOx technology to detect IgG antibodies to...

People in Places.
August 8, 2007... People in Places * Aspect Medical Systems (Norwood, Massachusetts) said that Boudewijn Bollen will retire from his role as president of international operations in 1Q08. After this, Bollen will serve on a part-time basis as a senior...

Washington roundup.
August 9, 2007... Washington roundup CMS to reexamine non-coverage policy for artificial heart sector By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor FDA is often the bogeyman for companies trying to get a device to the U.S. market, but...

CircuLite launches first-in-man trial of its Synergy heart pump.
August 9, 2007... CircuLite launches first-in-man trial of its Synergy heart pump By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Writer In the three years since CircuLite (Hackensack, New Jersey) was formed, the early-stage cardiovascular company has seen...

International report.
August 9, 2007... International report Innocoll receives Health Canada approval for Gentamicin implant A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Innocoll (Ashburn, Virginia) said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Innocoll Pharmaceuticals, has received a class...

Failure of preventive service use translates to 100,000 lives lost.
August 9, 2007... Failure of preventive service use translates to 100,000 lives lost By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Increasing the use of just five preventative services would save more than 100,000 lives each year in the U.S.,...

Financings roundup.
August 9, 2007... Financings roundup Masimo prices its 11.9M share IPO seeking to raise up to $49 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Monitoring product maker Masimo (Irvine, California) priced its previously disclosed initial public...

Court report.
August 9, 2007... Court report Abbott wins dispute vs. Medinol for unrestricted use of stent license A Medical Device Daily Staff Report A U.S. District Court judge enforced a settlement between Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) and...

Deals roundup.
August 9, 2007... Deals roundup Ecolab to acquire infection control company Microtek for $275 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Ecolab (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported that it plans to spend $275 million to buy Microtek Medical Holdings...

Grants/contracts.
August 9, 2007... Grants/contracts TechniScan's SBIR grant gets renewed, totals up to $2.8M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report TechniScan Medical Systems (TMS; Salt Lake City) reported the continuation of its $2.8 million Small Business Innovation...

Agreements roundup.
August 9, 2007... Agreements roundup Archemix, SomaLogic form pact to cross-license new technologies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Archemix (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and SomaLogic (Boulder, Colorado) reported an expansion of their alliance...

Briefly Noted.(IsoTis International SA)(Brief article)
August 9, 2007... Briefly Noted National Home Health gets determination letter National Home Health Care (NHHC; Scarsdale, New York), a provider of home health care and staffing services in the Northeast, reported that it received a NASDAQ staff...

Product Briefs.
August 9, 2007... Product Briefs • Caliper Life Sciences (Hopkinton, Massachusetts) reported the launch of the Caliper LabChip EZ Reader series, delivering a range of products for in-house kinase profiling. The series, which complements the existing...

People in Places.
August 9, 2007... People in Places • Peter Donato was named corporate VP and CFO of Iris International (Chatsworth, California). Donato previously served as CFO for Gamma Medica-Ideas. Iris International is a medical test maker. • Haemonetics...

AngioJet thrombectomy system could be saving grace for DES.
August 10, 2007... AngioJet thrombectomy system could be saving grace for DES By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Writer A study that bolsters support for the Angiojet Thrombectomy system, from Possis Medical (Minneapolis), could help alleviate...