Medical Device Week articles from December 2007

Medical Device Week archives from December 2007

Panel recommends Xience, 2nd DES 2.0 poised for U.S. market.
December 3, 2007... Despite questions of safety... Panel recommends Xience, 2nd DES 2.0 poised for U.S. market By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor The door to the second-generation of drug-eluting stent (DES) technology swung open...

Panel gives voice to fight vs. hospital-acquired infections.
December 3, 2007... Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference Panel gives voice to fight vs. hospital-acquired infections By JIM STOMMEN Medical Device Daily National Editor NEW YORK -- Hospital-acquired infections are in the news like never before,...

Study fuels debate over CT benefits vs. risk of cancer.
December 3, 2007... Study fuels debate over CT benefits vs. risk of cancer By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The value of CT scanning to diagnose injury or illness is undisputed, as is the fact that there are risks associated with...

Cleveland Clinic testing Riverain X-ray CAD in early lung cancer.
December 3, 2007... RSNA 2007 conference Cleveland Clinic testing Riverain X-ray CAD in early lung cancer By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Managing Editor CHICAGO -- At the Radiological Society of North America (Oak Brook, Illinois) the...

International report.(Company overview)
December 3, 2007... International report $200 million Israeli venture fund is focused on technology firms A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Israeli venture capital firm Jerusalem Global Ventures reported that it will launch JGV Growth Equity Fund at...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.
December 3, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought Identification and resolution efforts concerning hospital-acquired infections "are being legislated and litigated into existence" and such infections may become "the next asbestos." -- Elizabeth...

Deals roundup.(brief)
December 3, 2007... Deals roundup Omnicell in $26M buy of Rioux; Natus acquires Excel-Tech A Medical Device Daily Staff report Omnicell (Mountain View, California) reported it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Rioux Vision (Elgin,...

Washington roundup.
December 3, 2007... Washington roundup CMS reveals worst nursing homes in nation via comprehensive list A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the first ranking of the nation's poor-performing nursing...

Cordis files lawsuit vs. Abbott, claiming infringement by Xience.
December 3, 2007... Cordis files lawsuit vs. Abbott, claiming infringement by Xience A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Coming as no great surprise is news that Cordis (Miami Lakes, Florida) last week filed suit against Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park,...

Financings roundup.
December 3, 2007... Financings roundup Cord Blood America completes $1.9M placement and credit line A Medical Device Daily Staff report Cord Blood America (Los Angeles), an umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company, reported it has completed...

Agreements.(Company overview)
December 3, 2007... Agreements Del Global, Analogic form OEM imaging system supply pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Del Global Technologies (Franklin Park, Illinois) reported it has signed a three-year supply agreement with Analogic (Peabody,...

Product Briefs.
December 3, 2007... Product Briefs * Berlin Heart (Berlin) reported the first patient enrollment in the prospective IDE study for its Excor Pediatric VAD, a mechanical cardiac support system for critically ill Pediatric patients suffering from severe heart...

People in Places.
December 3, 2007... People in Places * Graham Barnes has been named CEO of BidShift (San Diego). Prior to joining BidShift, Graham was senior VP at Covad Communications. BidShift provides staffing solutions to healthcare providers. * The Infectious...

HeartMate II gets panel approval despite excess bleeding data.
December 4, 2007... HeartMate II gets panel approval despite excess bleeding data By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor GAITHERSBURG, Maryland -- Friday's meeting of the circulatory systems advisory panel of the FDA was replete with...

Bruker BioSciences to acquire Bruker BioSpin for $914 million.(Arrowhead Research, Benet Group )
December 4, 2007... Bruker BioSciences to acquire Bruker BioSpin for $914 million By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Bruker BioSciences (BRKR; Billerica, Massachusetts) reported an agreement to acquire the companies of the private...

Report from Europe.
December 4, 2007... Report from Europe NeoVista reports enrollment of 1st patient in AMD trial A Medical Device Daily Staff Report NeoVista (Fremont, California) said the first European patient has been treated in the company's pivotal global clinical...

Ortho giants Stryker, Zimmer see strength in their markets.(orthopedic)
December 4, 2007... Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference Ortho giants Stryker, Zimmer see strength in their markets By JIM STOMMEN Medical Device Daily National Editor NEW YORK -- Medical Device Daily last month carried a story about the rosy...

Deals roundup.
December 4, 2007... Deals roundup StemCells 'exploring' possible buy of Progenitor Cell Therapy A Medical Device Daily Staff Report StemCells (Palo Alto, California) said it is "exploring" the acquisition of Progenitor Cell Therapy (PCT; Hackensack,...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.
December 4, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "In 2002, there were 673,000 hospitalizations for COPD with an average length of stay of 5.2 days. A government study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and other multiple clinical...

Washington roundup.
December 4, 2007... Washington roundup Oxygen providers decry Times report on Medicare payments A Medical Device Daily Staff Report An article that appeared in last Friday's The New York Times, charging that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...

Financings roundup.
December 4, 2007... Financings roundup BG Medicine files for IPO in U.S.; biospace med closes on $18 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Diagnostic test maker BG Medicine (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that it plans an initial public...

Contracts.(Planned Systems)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Contracts Planned Systems in $2.5M offer to develop database for MHS A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Planned Systems (PSI; Falls Church, Virginia) a provider of information technology (IT) solutions and services, reported it...

Briefly Noted.
December 4, 2007... Briefly Noted SleepQuest moves corporate offices SleepQuest (Redwood City, California), a maker of at-home diagnostic sleep testing and sleep apnea treatment products, reported that it is moving into new corporate offices SleepQuest...

Product Briefs.(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... Product Briefs * Aethon (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) has introduced the Aethon Pharmacy Cart -- calling it an extension to its TUG hospital asset utilization solution -- designed as a hospital pharmacy application. Measuring 19 inches wide...

Medtronic submits final module for its Talent abdominal graft.
December 4, 2007... Medtronic submits final module for its Talent abdominal graft A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Medtronic (Minneapolis) reported filing the final module of its premarket application with FDA for its Talent abdominal stent graft...

People in Places.(Rosetta Genomics)(Brief article)
December 4, 2007... People in Places * Jeanne Drisko, MD, has been named president of The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM; Laguna Hills, California). Drisko currently teaches medicine at the University of Kansas. ACAM is a not-for-profit...

At issue: Can state courts rule FDA-approved devices defective.
December 5, 2007... Medtronic at the Supreme Court At issue: Can state courts rule FDA-approved devices defective By MARK McCARTY, Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court hearing for the case of Riegel v. Medtronic...

Report: under-funded FDA puts public health and safety at risk.(Food and Drug Administration)
December 5, 2007... Out-of-date IT, weak leadership are key problems Report: under-funded FDA puts public health and safety at risk By LYNN YOFFEE, Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The FDA no longer has the capacity to insure the safety of the public...

Report from Europe.
December 5, 2007... Report from Europe European Commission in new research staff exchange plan A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The European Commission (EC) has launched a call for proposals for a new program designed to create closer links between...

Bard and Intuitive thriving at opposite ends of perception.(C.R. Bard, Intuitive Surgical)
December 5, 2007... Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference Bard and Intuitive thriving at opposite ends of perception By JIM STOMMEN, Medical Device Daily National Editor NEW YORK -- While sharing the basic blocking and tackling of doing business, the...

Deals roundup.
December 5, 2007... Deals roundup Oracle to merge with Precision; Digilab buys Genomic Solutions By AMANDA PEDERSEN, Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Oracle Healthcare Acquisition (Greenwich, Connecticut), a publicly-traded special-purpose...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily, medical technology)(Brief article)
December 5, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "FDA can't fix its lack of scientific resources. Congress has enacted unfunded mandates." u Peter Hutt, a former FDA chief counsel on the need for increased financing of the FDA, "Report:...

Financings roundup.(Ohio Medical, Amvex, Mitralign)
December 5, 2007... Financings roundup OMC gets $30M for Amvex buy; Mitralign raises $24M 'C' round A Medical Device Daily Staff Report MVC Capital (Purchase, New York) a publicly traded business development company that makes private debt and equity...

Washington roundup.
December 5, 2007... Washington roundup CMS engaged in 3rd annual provider satisfaction survey A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported it has begun its third annual provider satisfaction survey of...

Grants/contracts.(Cardinal Health Foundation )(Brief article)
December 5, 2007... Grants/contracts Rural hospital receive $500,000 in IHI 5 million Lives funding A Medical Device Daily Staff Report To increase the number of rural and public hospitals participating in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's...

Agreements roundup.
December 5, 2007... Agreements BioElectronics in expansion pact with its provider TSS Medical A Medical Device Daily Staff Report BioElectronics (Frederick, Maryland) reported an agreement to expand with Tecnica Scientifica Service Medical (TSS;...

Briefly Noted.
December 5, 2007... Briefly Noted Aspect to report study results Aspect Medical Systems (Norwood, Massachusetts) will report study results from the Biomarkers for Rapid Identification of Treatment Effectiveness (BRITE) trial in major depression on Dec....

Product Briefs.(Brief article)
December 5, 2007... Product Briefs * Baxa (Englewood, Colorado) reported launch of the Repeater Pump II, designed to provide accurate delivery of pharmacy solutions into a variety of containers, without the need for calibration. The pump is a...

OPTION study will evaluate Sorin's pacing/arrhythmia ICD.
December 5, 2007... OPTION study will evaluate Sorin's pacing/arrhythmia ICD A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ELA Medical (Denver), a division of the Sorin Group (Milan, Italy), reported the first U.S. enrollment in the Optimal Anti-tachycardia Therapy...

People in Places.
December 5, 2007... People in Places * etrials Worldwide (Morrisville, North Carolina) reported the appointments of two new members of management, naming Michael Mickens VP of sales and client services and Chuck Piccirillo VP of product development....

Artificial spinal disc firms pair off in presentations.
December 6, 2007... Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference Artificial spinal disc firms pair off in presentations By JIM STOMMEN, Medical Device Daily National Editor NEW YORK -- Two of the myriad small, private companies that presented at last week's...

Report: Minority breast cancer care, diagnosis, research still inadequate.(Report)
December 6, 2007... Report: Minority breast cancer care, diagnosis, research still inadequate By LYNN YOFFEE, Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Racial and socioeconomic factors continue to play significant roles in how people are treated for breast cancer...

International report.
December 6, 2007... International report Thermo Fisher to be part of Olympic doping control effort A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, Massachusetts) said the China Doping Control Center (CDCC) has selected the...

Immunicon goes for hat trick with prostate assay filing.
December 6, 2007... Immunicon goes for hat trick with prostate assay filing By OMAR FORD, Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Going for the hat trick. That phrase perhaps best describes Immunicon's (Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania) approach toward...

Financings roundup.
December 6, 2007... Financings roundup Evalve raises 'D' round $60M for MitraClip and EVEREST A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Evalve (Menlo Park, California), a company that develops devices for the percutaneous repair of cardiac valves, said it...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(medical device daily)(Brief article)
December 6, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "There's been a lot of progress in breast cancer but it hasn't reached everybody. The standards of care aren't really clear either. Treatment can vary based on the patient, practitioner and location."...

Court report.
December 6, 2007... Court report Abbott pays Sutura $23M to settle vascular suture patent lawsuit A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Sutura (Fountain Valley, California), a developer of minimally invasive vascular suturing devices, reported it has...

Deals roundup.
December 6, 2007... Deals roundup Royal Philips to acquire Emergin; Laser Energetics/Lantis to form j-v A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Royal Philips Electronics (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) said it would acquire Emergin (Boca Raton, Florida)....

Agreements.(Ascent Healthcare Solutions)(Brief article)
December 6, 2007... Agreements Ascent Healthcare Solutions inks deal with Amerinet A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Ascent Healthcare Solutions (Phoenix) said yesterday it had signed a three-year agreement extension with Amerinet (St. Louis), a...

New ventures.
December 6, 2007... New ventures Johnson Electric in spin-off for med-tech manufacturing A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Johnson Electric (Methuen, Massachusetts) has reported the formation of Johnson Medtech (also Methuen) to meet the needs of...

Washington roundup.
December 6, 2007... Washington roundup Four device firms eye payment for new technology in IPPS A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Four device companies met the Nov. 19 application deadline for special payments for new services or technologies under...

Briefly Noted.(burn care market)(Brief article)
December 6, 2007... Briefly Noted Report: Wound care market will grow The worldwide burn treatment market experienced growth of 7.6% from 2001 to 2006, reaching $1.9 billion. "Wound Care Markets, Volume II: Burns," a new report by Kalorama Information...

Product Briefs.
December 6, 2007... Product Briefs * Biolog (Hayward, California) reported the launch of its third-generation microbial ID system. The GEN III system is built around a single test panel that can be used to identify more than 1,000 species of...

People in Places.
December 6, 2007... People in Places * Fred Mill was named director of engineering of the device division for CellCyte Genetics (Kirkland, Washington). Most recently, Mill worked as a member of the development team for Microsoft's Xbox hardware division....

Myocor study in 'new frontier' of percutaneous valve repair.
December 7, 2007... Myocor study in 'new frontier' of percutaneous valve repair By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Percutaneous valve repair often is touted as the bold new frontier for surgeons and med-tech companies. The "frontier" adds...

Financings roundup.
December 7, 2007... Financings roundup Pelikan draws in $69M for blood glucose monitoring By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Pelikan Technologies (Palo Alto, California) has raised $69 million in Series F financing to support...

Report from Europe.
December 7, 2007... Report from Europe New UK stroke strategy adds [pounds sterling]105M for training, awareness A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Under a plan to revolutionize stroke services in the UK unveiled this week by Health Secretary Alan...

Deals roundup.
December 7, 2007... Deals roundup Bristol-Myers Squibb restructuring includes medical imaging unit sale A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York) reported that it plans to sell its medical-imaging unit in Billerica,...

Cooper Companies has small number of units, big markets.
December 7, 2007... Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference Cooper Companies has small number of units, big markets By JIM STOMMEN Medical Device Daily National Editor NEW YORK -- The Cooper Companies (Lake Forest, California) is at once both...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily, medical technology)(Brief article)
December 7, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought The UK has "made great strides with stroke, heart disease and cancer in recent years. However, despite the considerable gains in developing stroke units and falling mortality rates, there remains much...

Court report.
December 7, 2007... Court report Medtronic asked for info on alleged payments to doctors A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Med-tech giant Medtronic (Minneapolis) continues to get probed by federal investigators for alleged payments made to doctors....

Patent watch.
December 7, 2007... Patent watch Troll Busters asks reexamination of multiplex PCR method claims A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Troll Busters (Mercer Island, Washington) said it has filed a Reexamination Brief with the U.S. Patent and Trademark...

Washington roundup.
December 7, 2007... Washington roundup New software designed for quick analysis in outbreaks A Medical Device Daily Staff Report A newly released software program will let health authorities at the site of an infectious disease outbreak quickly...

Agreements.
December 7, 2007... Agreements Toshiba, TomTec partnering on assessment of cardiac 4-D data A Medical Device Daily Staff report Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo) and TomTec Imaging Systems (Munich, Germany) reported an agreement to deliver new tools for...

Product Briefs.
December 7, 2007... Product Briefs * Lifeline Biotechnologies (Reno, Nevada) said that the company's recent meeting with the managing engineer of Nanyang Technical University concerning the finalization of the first warning system (FWS) patient data...

People in Places.
December 7, 2007... People in Places * Glen Laschober was named executive vice president and COO of US Oncology (Houston). Previously, he was COO of Omnicare. US Oncology provides services and support to its affiliated cancer-care sites nationwide to help...

Making med-tech & providing the services to do it well.
December 10, 2007... BioWest 2007 Making med-tech & providing the services to do it well By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor DENVER -- Can the region that has made its biggest splash by claiming a large number of 14,000 foot-plus...

Deals roundup.(Caris Diagnostics, Molecular Profiling Institute, Optimal Readings Services Group, Pin Point Radiology)
December 10, 2007... Deals roundup Edwards to sell LifeStent products to C. R. Bard for up to $140 million By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Edwards Life Sciences (Irvine, California) and C. R. Bard (Murray Hill, New Jersey)...

International report.(Fujita Health University, Micrus Endovascular)
December 10, 2007... International report AquilonONE imaging system installed at Fujita University A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Fujita Health University (Toyoake, Japan) reported the installation of the AquilionONE, manufactured by Toshiba...

Breast cancer patients may avoid mastectomy with APA/chemo duo.
December 10, 2007... Breast cancer patients may avoid mastectomy with APA/chemo duo By LYNN YOFFEE Medical Device Daily Staff Writer An invention originally conceived by missile defense specialists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT;...

Abbott to cut roughly 1,200 jobs, shutter Irish plant in restructuring.
December 10, 2007... Abbott to cut roughly 1,200 jobs, shutter Irish plant in restructuring A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) reported last week that it will lay off about 1,200 workers in California and...

Today's MDD food for med-tech thought.(Medical Device Daily, medical technology)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Today's MDD food for med-tech thought "In patients who received both the APA and chemotherapy, tumors showed 50% more shrinkage than tumors that strictly received chemotherapy. This has a huge potential for breast cancer because breast...

Financings roundup.(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Financings roundup NeuroVasx gets private $8.5M; HBIO okays $10M share buyback A Medical Device Daily Staff Report NeuroVasx (Maple Grove, Minnesota) reported the completion of a private placement of common stock in the amount of...

Agreements.
December 10, 2007... Agreements BC in obesity-related hypertension project with Thomas Jefferson Univ. A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Beckman Coulter (Fullerton California) reported that it is the industrial partner in a two-year research project...

Grants/contracts.
December 10, 2007... Grants/contracts SterlingTech gets grant to apply for ISO certification A Medical Device Daily Staff Report SterlingTech Software (Rochester Park, New Jersey), a provider of custom software solutions for the medical device...

Briefly Noted.
December 10, 2007... Briefly Noted Sunquest increases investment in radiology Sunquest Information Systems (Tucson, Arizona) said that it has increased investment for its Sunquest Radiology Information system (RIS) software and will begin marketing it...

Product Briefs.(SPO Medical, Talyst )
December 10, 2007... Product Briefs * Ortho Organizers (Carlsbad, California) said it has added a rectangular version to its super elastic nitanium black Ti archwire product line. The product offering has gained popularity with those practitioners within the...

Vidacare gets FDA clearance to market new marrow bioposy system.(Food and Drug Administration, OnControl Biopsy System)(Brief article)
December 10, 2007... Vidacare gets FDA clearance to market new marrow bioposy system A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Vidacare (San Antonio), a developer of advanced intraosseous technology, said it has received FDA clearance to market its new bone...

People in Places.
December 10, 2007... People in Places * David Stoffel was named partner at Radius Ventures (New York). Stoffel joined Radius in 2003. Radius Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on health and life sciences companies. * Smith & Nephew's Endoscopy...

'Showcase,' and MDD, select ingenious valve firm as tops.(Venture Showcase, Medical Device Daily, ValveXchange)
December 11, 2007... BioWest 2007 'Showcase,' and MDD, select ingenious valve firm as tops By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Executive Editor DENVER -- The envelope, please. And the winner is... . ValveXchange (Aurora). Closing out last...

Future of cord blood lies in quality, not quantity of cells.
December 11, 2007... ASH conference Future of cord blood lies in quality, not quantity of cells By OMAR FORD Medical Device Daily Staff Writer ATLANTA -- About 20 some odd years ago, the idea of using umbilical cord blood or "cord blood" to cure...

Report from Europe.
December 11, 2007... Report from Europe F&S report: good growth seen in POC hematology offerings A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The laboratory remains the primary site of hematology tests in Europe due to confidence in established methods of...

Cook introduces new treatment for recto-vaginal fistula patients.
December 11, 2007... Cook introduces new treatment for recto-vaginal fistula patients By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Three months after introducing a product designed to treat pelvic organ prolapse, Cook Women's Health (Spencer,...

Deals roundup.
December 11, 2007... Deals roundup Exactech to buy Altiva for $25M; Volcano to acquire CardioSpectra A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orthopedic device maker Exactech (Gainesville, Florida) said it intends to exercise its 2003 investment agreement...