Medical Device Week articles from December 2004

Medical Device Week archives from December 2004

EPA chief Michael Leavitt is picked by Bush to head HHS.(United States Environmental Protection Agency)(United States Department of Health and Human Services)
December 14, 2004... EPA chief Michael Leavitt is picked by Bush to head HHS By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON - In what has become a familiar sight since the November election, President George Bush met with the...

Cardinal to lay off 4,200 and close 25 facilities worldwide.
December 14, 2004... Cardinal to lay off 4,200 and close 25 facilities worldwide By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor Following the consolidation, comes the restructuring - including layoffs. It's a fairly inevitable formula. In the...

Report from Europe.
December 14, 2004... Report from Europe Wales researchers get [pounds sterling]15M for cancer/DNA damage study A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cancer and cell-aging researchers at the Wales College of Medicine at Cardiff University (Cardiff,...

Deals roundup.
December 14, 2004... Deals roundup ViroLogic merges with Aclara; U.S. LDR Spine unit created A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ViroLogic (South San Francisco, California) and Aclara BioSciences (Mountain View, California) reported that their planned...

Washington roundup.
December 14, 2004... Washington roundup $13.4 million from NIH going to studies of cancer biomarkers By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor Biomarker cancer research is getting additional funding from the National...

Financings roundup.
December 14, 2004... Financings roundup Bio-Rad in $200M notes offer; Galileo in 'B' round C$11.1 M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Bio-Rad Laboratories (Hercules, California) reported that it is offering up to $200 million aggregate principal...

iMDsoft responds to actions of competitor.(Visicu (Baltimore))(Brief Article)
December 14, 2004... iMDsoft responds to actions of competitor Responding to what it called as recent "inappropriate actions" by a competitor, iMDsoft (Needham, Massachusetts) has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to clarify iMDsoft's position as the...

Court report.
December 14, 2004... Court report MedQuist reports class-action suit filed by transcriptionists A Medical Device Daily Staff Report MedQuist (Mt. Laurel, New Jersey), a provider of electronic medical transcription, health information and document...

Grants/contracts.
December 14, 2004... Grants/contracts Kaiser will provide $8 million to Institute for Health Improvement A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, California) said it would provide an $8 million endowment to the Institute for...

Abiomed launches heart recovery education.(Brief Article)
December 14, 2004... Abiomed launches heart recovery education Cardiovascular pump manufacturer Abiomed (Danvers, Massachusetts) reported the launch of a new education and service program designed to promote heart recovery. The program combines clinical...

Tenet HQ move set for Jan. 3.(Brief Article)
December 14, 2004... Tenet HQ move set for Jan. 3 Tenet Healthcare (Santa Barbara, California) reported that its headquarters move to Dallas would become official on Jan. 3. Offices of the company's senior management will be in Dallas by that date, and all...

People in Places.
December 14, 2004... People in Places * Scott Mason has joined Laxor (Bethesda, Maryland) as acting CEO to guide its national launch. Mason is managing partner of SKM Enterprises, a health strategy firm. Laxor is a personal health record service that enables...

MacMillan to succeed Brown as chief executive of Stryker.(Stephen MacMillan)(John Brown)(Brief Article)
December 14, 2004... MacMillan to succeed Brown as chief executive of Stryker A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orthopedics titan Stryker (Kalamazoo, Michigan) reported that its board of directors has appointed Stephen MacMillan president and CEO of the...

Product Briefs.
December 14, 2004... Product Briefs * Lumenis (Yokneam, Israel) reported introduction of the Novus 3000 photocoagulator at the 2004 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) conference in New Orleans. A successor to the Novus 2000, the Novus 3000 provides laser...

'Stereo' mammograms offer an in-depth view of breast.
December 15, 2004... 1st of two stories 'Stereo' mammograms offer an in-depth view of breast By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer A new study is under way to test the viewing of mammograms in stereo, while findings from two other...

Financings roundup.
December 15, 2004... Financings roundup Conor Medsystems sets price of $13 for 6 million-share IPO A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Coronary stent manufacturer Conor Medsystems (Menlo Park, California) has unveiled terms of an initial public...

International report.
December 15, 2004... International report CardioGenesis system is used in combo procedure in China A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The People's Hospital of Beijing University (Beijing) reported that last month one of its clinicians performed a...

Deals roundup.
December 15, 2004... Deals roundup Pelikan acquires glucose sensor technology with Inventus buy By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor Pelikan Technologies (Palo Alto, California), a developer of hand-held diagnostic...

Hemosol drops Hemolink effort, moves into therapeutic proteins.
December 15, 2004... Hemosol drops Hemolink effort, moves into therapeutic proteins A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Hemosol (Toronto) reported last week that it is dropping further clinical development of its oxygen therapeutic product, Hemolink, and...

Nasdaq grants Cardima an extension.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2004... Nasdaq grants Cardima an extension Cardima (Fremont, California), developer of microcatheter systems for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, reported that it has received written notice from Nasdaq that its staff had determined to grant...

Grants/contracts.
December 15, 2004... Grants/contracts NIGMS awards $14.6M pact to Coriell research institute A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (both Bethesda, Maryland)...

People in Places.
December 15, 2004... People in Places * BioCrossroads (Indianapolis), Indiana's life sciences initiative, appointed David Johnson CEO. Johnson, a partner at the Indianapolis law firm of Baker & Daniels who has been involved in BioCrossroads since its...

Product Briefs.
December 15, 2004... Product Briefs * Adesso Systems (Boston) said it introduced a new installation, maintenance and repair solution for the medical equipment industry. The solution, which can be deployed on any Windows device, manages the scheduling and...

New tests may help to avoid breast cancer chemotherapy.
December 16, 2004... 2nd of two stories New tests may help to avoid breast cancer chemotherapy By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Much of the trauma of breast cancer is in the treatments used to attack the disease and, despite those...

Study urges 'buyers beware' when using elective CT scans.
December 16, 2004... Study urges 'buyers beware' when using elective CT scans By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor It seems you can't turn on the television or open a magazine without seeing an advertisement showing people...

Report from Israel.
December 16, 2004... Report from Israel Patient 'clone' tailors cancer treatment for higher cure rate By RAE FISHMAN Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel - Optimata (Ramat Gan, Israel) and the Nottingham City Hospital...

LabCorp to acquire US LABS; Applied Neuro in AD test pact.(Alzheimer's disease)
December 16, 2004... LabCorp to acquire US LABS; Applied Neuro in AD test pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) and US Pathology Labs (US Labs; Irvine, California) reported a merger...

Financings roundup.
December 16, 2004... Financings roundup iCAD in new $8.4 million funding; Neoprobe raises $8.1 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report iCAD (Nashua, New Hampshire), a developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) imaging technology and systems for...

Deals roundup.
December 16, 2004... Deals roundup Xtrana subsidiary in reverse merger plan with Alpha Innotech A Medical Device Daily Staff Report XTRANA (Broomfield, Colorado) and Alpha Innotech (San Leandro, California) reported entering into a plan for Alpha...

Court report.
December 16, 2004... Court report UTMD files motion seeking FDA disclosure of documents A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Utah Medical Products (UTMD; Salt Lake City) reported that it has filed a "Motion to Compel Production of Documents" with the...

Lifestream supports CMS 2005 fee schedule.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services )(Brief Article)
December 16, 2004... Lifestream supports CMS 2005 fee schedule The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Washington) recently announced its 2005 Physician Fee Schedule, which provides for access to preventive cholesterol screening for Medicare-eligible...

People in Places.
December 16, 2004... People in Places * Biomaterials and biosurgical firm CryoLife (Kennesaw, Georgia) promoted Albert Heacox, PhD, to senior vice president of research and development. Heacox joined CryoLife in 1985 as director of laboratory operations and...

Product Briefs.
December 16, 2004... Product Briefs * Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, New York) reported that the FDA has accepted for review the new drug application for its Retisert intravitreal implant for non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye. The...

J&J makes $24B cash-and-stock bid for Guidant.(Johnson & Johnson)
December 17, 2004... J&J makes $24B cash-and-stock bid for Guidant By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor and HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor On the medical device side, a merger of any large size...

Report from Europe.
December 17, 2004... Report from Europe First European implant for Toronto SPV II from St. Jude A Medical Device Daily Staff Report St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported the first commercial European implant of its next-generation aortic...

CMS going 'in right direction' on power wheelchair policy.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services )
December 17, 2004... CMS going 'in right direction' on power wheelchair policy By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) seems to be responding to pressure...

Financings roundup.
December 17, 2004... Financings roundup Serologicals grosses $126.8M in 5.56 million share offering A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Serologicals (Atlanta) reported the pricing of its previously announced public offering of 5,562,860 shares of its...

Deals roundup.
December 17, 2004... Deals roundup Intermagnetics spins off unit to emphasize medical devices A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Intermagnetics General (Latham, New York) reported that it has agreed to sell its Polycold Systems (Peta-luma, California)...

Court report.
December 17, 2004... Court report Cryo-Cell claims patent suit victory in PharmaStem case A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Cryo-Cell International (Oldsmar, Florida) reported that the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has issued an...

J&J/Guidant marriage likely to 'get over' their differences.(Johnson & Johnson )
December 17, 2004... J&J/Guidant marriage likely to 'get over' their differences In any deal, there usually are issues when it comes to the merging of different corporate cultures. And in no deal is that issue more pronounced than the proposed $24 billion...

Nasdaq deadline extension for Biopure.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2004... Nasdaq deadline extension for Biopure Biopure (Cambridge, Massachusetts), which makes in-travenously administered oxygen therapeutics, said it received a notice from the Nasdaq National Market Dec. 15 providing the company with an...

People in Places.
December 17, 2004... People in Places * Patricia Rice, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Select Medical (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) since January 2002, has been appointed to the additional post of president, effective Jan. 1. She has...

Product Briefs.
December 17, 2004... Product Briefs * Mallinckrodt (St. Louis), a Tyco Healthcare company, reported the introduction of the OptiVantage DH Contrast Delivery System for dual head injector protocols. The OptiVantage system enhances patient safety and outcomes...

Briefly Noted.
December 17, 2004... Briefly Noted New CMS codes for MammoSite Proxima Therapeutics (Alpharetta, Georgia) reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) has assigned new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes...

Cygnus IP sold for $10 million; Boston Sci adding stent firm.
December 20, 2004... Cygnus IP sold for $10 million; Boston Sci adding stent firm A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Animas (West Chester, Pennsylvania) reported entering into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the intellectual...

'Fob' EMR key to TriMedix's push for preventive medicine.(electronic medical record, MedQube)
December 20, 2004... 'Fob' EMR key to TriMedix's push for preventive medicine By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor Underlying the idea of an electronic medical record (EMR) undoubtedly is the assumption that healthcare providers will...

Report from Europe.
December 20, 2004... Report from Europe UK agency invests in IVMD, which relocates to Inverness A Medical Device Daily Staff Report IVMD (Inverness, Scotland), a developer of non-invasive medical diagnostic tests and products, many of which use...

NIH: Many more Americans moving fast to kidney dialysis.
December 20, 2004... NIH: Many more Americans moving fast to kidney dialysis By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON - Millions of people in the U.S. are on the verge of needing dialysis or a kidney transplant and may...

Deals roundup.
December 20, 2004... Deals roundup Nanogen, Epoch merger creates 'advanced diagnostics company' A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Nanogen (San Diego) and Epoch Biosciences (Bothell, Washington) reported completing their merger to create what they...

Financings roundup.
December 20, 2004... Financings roundup CryoCath in C$25M bought deal; $16M placement for BriteSmile A Medical Device Daily Staff Report CryoCath Technologies (Montreal) reported that it has closed on its previously announced "bought deal" of 3,846,200...

Court report.
December 20, 2004... Court report Acon given stay of injunction; Swissray prevails in IP case A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Inverness Medical Innovations (Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of rapid diagnostics products for the consumer and...

Analogic to restate financials.(Brief Article)
December 20, 2004... Analogic to restate financials Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts), a designer and manufacturer of health and security imaging equipment, said it did not file its quarterly report for the quarter ended Oct. 31 by the Dec. 10 due date. The...

Product Briefs.
December 20, 2004... Product Briefs * Aethlon Medical (San Diego) said that its Hemopurifier treatment technology has demonstrated multi-pathogen clearance capabilities that could lead to a simultaneous treatment for persons infected with both HIV and the...

Ex-CDRH head Feigal named to Aspect Medical's board.
December 20, 2004... Ex-CDRH head Feigal named to Aspect Medical's board A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Aspect Medical Systems (Newton, Massachusetts) reported that it has appointed David Feigal Jr., MD, to its board of directors. Feigal, who...

People in Places.
December 20, 2004... People in Places * Laird Broadfield has been named vice president of research and development at Asteres (Del Mar, California). Broadfield joins Asteres from the Pyxis division of Cardinal Health, where he was vice president of research...

CelleratOR first of 'new tools' introduced by CardioGenesis.
December 21, 2004... CelleratOR first of 'new tools' introduced by CardioGenesis By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor CardioGenesis (Foothill Ranch, California), a developer of surgical products and accessories used in...

Macugen gets nod from FDA for treating wet form of AMD.(age-related macular degeneration)
December 21, 2004... Macugen gets nod from FDA for treating wet form of AMD By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (New York) and its marketing partner, Pfizer (New York), said the FDA has approved the potential...

Report from Israel.
December 21, 2004... Report from Israel Suzuken to aid development, launch of Glucon's product By RAE FISHMAN Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel - Two Israeli scientists who founded Glucon Medical (Petach Tikvah,...

Washington roundup.
December 21, 2004... Washington roundup More feedback on wheelchair NCD; VA clarifies laser policy By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON - Industry response continues following last week's decision by the...

Financings roundup.
December 21, 2004... Financings roundup CryoLife puts $50M on shelf; Aradigm gets private $12.5M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report CryoLife (Kennesaw, Georgia) reported that it has filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities...

Deals roundup.
December 21, 2004... Deals roundup IsoTis sells its wound care assets to DFB/Healthpoint A Medical Device Daily Staff Report IsoTis OrthoBiologics (Irvine, California) said Monday that it has sold its wound management activities to DFB Pharmaceuticals...

Grants/contracts.
December 21, 2004... Grants/contracts Terumo, Mass General in pact to develop imaging technology A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Terumo (Somerset, New Jersey), maker of a range of medical devices serving healthcare providers in more than 150...

Arrowhead Research now on Merrill index.
December 21, 2004... Arrowhead Research now on Merrill index Arrowhead Research (Pasadena, California) said that it is now is part of Merrill Lynch's Nanotechnology Index. Arrowhead is the only new addition to the index for this quarter. "To be recognized...

LaViolette to COO as part of Boston Sci executive growth.(chief operating officer)
December 21, 2004... LaViolette to COO as part of Boston Sci executive growth A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Saying the moves are designed to position the company for continued growth, Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) on Monday reported an...

People in Places.
December 21, 2004... People in Places * John Hearst, PhD, vice president, new science opportunities for Cerus (Concord, California), will transition into a consulting role for the company effective in January. Hearst is a co-founder of Cerus and served as a...

CardioDynamics' new ICG platform is cleared by FDA.(Impedance Cardiography)(BioZ Dx)
December 22, 2004... CardioDynamics' new ICG platform is cleared by FDA By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor CardioDynamics (San Diego), the primary developer of Impedance Cardiography (ICG) technology, a powerful predictor...

Invitrogen, Illumina in alliance targeting global oligo market.
December 22, 2004... Invitrogen, Illumina in alliance targeting global oligo market By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Invitrogen (Carlsbad, California) and Illumina (San Diego) said they have entered into a collaboration to leverage the...

Report from Europe.
December 22, 2004... Report from Europe NHS health information now is available on satellite TV A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Millions of people in the UK now have access to current National Health Service-provided health information in their own...

Financings roundup.
December 22, 2004... Financings roundup Myocor completes $24M round; Meridian to redeem debentures A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Myocor (Minneapolis), a clinical-stage device company, reported that it has completed a $24 million Series D round of...

Deals roundup.
December 22, 2004... Deals roundup Delphi Medical licenses Zoe's patient monitoring technology A Medical Device Daily Staff Report In a move it said further solidifies its technology portfolio, Delphi Medical Systems (Troy, Michigan) reported reaching...

Court report.
December 22, 2004... Court report CIGNA settles billing suit; Mediware eyes fee recovery A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA; Bethesda, Maryland) reported that CIGNA Healthcare (Bloomfield, Connecticut)...

Grants/contracts.
December 22, 2004... Grants/contracts Eclipsys in contract with Long Island hospital system A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Eclipsys (Boca Raton, Florida) said that it has signed a multi-year outsourcing contract with North Shore-Long Island Jewish...

Tufts Health Plan, CIGNA in alliance.
December 22, 2004... Tufts Health Plan, CIGNA in alliance Tufts Health Plan (Waltham, Massachusetts) and CIGNA HealthCare (Bloomfield, Connecticut) said they have formed a strategic alliance to market a national, open-access health plan in order to provide...

People in Places.
December 22, 2004... People in Places * Gregory Melsen has been named vice president of finance and CFO of Techne (Minneapolis). Meson most recently was vice president of finance and CFO at Plato Learning. Techne has two operating subsidiaries: Research and...

Rubicon reverts to one-device plan for its RULE-SVG trial.(Rubicon Filter )
December 22, 2004... Rubicon reverts to one-device plan for its RULE-SVG trial A Medical Device Daily Staff Report After announcing in August plans to perform a U.S. clinical trial of its Rubicon Filter in combination with a Boston Scientific (Natick,...

Product Briefs.
December 22, 2004... Product Briefs * Cardiome Pharma (Vancouver, British Columbia) and its co-development partner, Fujisawa Healthcare (Deerfield, Illinois), reported results from their recently completed Phase III multi-center clinical study, ACT 1. ACT 1...

In tale of two HIFUs, firms cite progress in AF programs.(high-intensity focused ultrasound; atrial fibrillation)
December 23, 2004... In tale of two HIFUs, firms cite progress in AF programs By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor Two companies reported new developments this week in their high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) programs...

Study: As insurance rates rise, retiree health benefits shrink.
December 23, 2004... Study: As insurance rates rise, retiree health benefits shrink By CHRISTOPHER DELPORTE Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON - As the administration of President George Bush prepares to tackle Social Security reform and...

Report from Europe.
December 23, 2004... Report from Europe S&N battles 2 insurers over product liability coverage A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Smith & Nephew (S&N; London) reported this week that two of its "excess layer" product liability insurers have informed...

Serologicals garners $105.16M; NexMed gathers in $7 million.
December 23, 2004... Serologicals garners $105.16M; NexMed gathers in $7 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Serologicals (Atlanta) reported the closing of its previously announced public offering of 4.83 million shares of its common stock at...

Court report.
December 23, 2004... Court report Ventracor charges Heartware with infringing 2 U.S. patents A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Ventracor (Sydney, Australia) reported filing a patent infringement suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern...

Deals roundup.
December 23, 2004... Deals roundup Tripos to buy Optive Research; NeighborCare adds Belville A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Tripos (St. Louis) reported that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Optive Research...

Grants/contracts.
December 23, 2004... Grants/contracts CDC to purchase $2.3M of OraSure's HIV 1/2 tests A Medical Device Daily Staff Writer OraSure Technologies (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, said that the Centers for Disease...

Financings roundup.
December 23, 2004... Financings roundup Neurobionics adds 'A' $6M; Dobi nets $3M in placement A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Privately held NeuroBionics (Seattle) reported completing a $6 million Series A private financing. NeuroBionics is...