Medical Device Week articles from November 2006

Medical Device Week archives from November 2006

China's reforms still clearly 'murky' for healthcare sector.
November 1, 2006... China's reforms still clearly 'murky' for healthcare sector By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON -- The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed; Washington) hosted the Globalization of Medical...

Digital Angel awarded patent for new glucose-sensing microchip.
November 1, 2006... Digital Angel awarded patent for new glucose-sensing microchip By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor The radiofrequency identification (RFID) business of Digital Angel (South St. Paul, Minnesota) took an...

Report from Europe.
November 1, 2006... Report from Europe RaySearch, Philips report new pact for adaptive radiation R&D A Medical Device Daily Staff Report RaySearch Laboratories (Stockholm, Sweden) reported a long-term license and development agreement with Royal...

FDA clearance for arthritis test granted to Phadia US by FDA.
November 1, 2006... FDA clearance for arthritis test granted to Phadia US by FDA By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Phadia US (Portage, Michigan) reported late last week that the FDA has cleared EliA CCP, which is the only fully...

Grants/contracts.
November 1, 2006... Grants/contracts WPI receives $2 million award for soldier care, prosthetics A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI; Worcester, Massachusetts) said two of its research programs will each receive...

Financings roundup.(briefs)(Avantis Medical Systems)(Biofisica Inc.)(Eagle Research and Development)
November 1, 2006... Financings roundup Avantis raises $12M in 'B' round; Biofisica closes 'A' $5 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Avantis Medical Systems (Sunnyvale, California) reported that it has raised $12 million in its Series B round...

Deals roundup.
November 1, 2006... Deals roundup FTC clears BD buy of TriPath; Criticare holders reject takeover A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The Federal Trade Commission approved the early termination of the antitrust waiting period for the proposed...

Court report.
November 1, 2006... Court report DuPont, Cardinal Health settle; Mediware files suit vs. Korchek A Medical Device Daily Staff Report DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware) said it reached settlement with Cardinal Health 200 (El Paso, Texas), a subsidiary of...

Agreements.
November 1, 2006... Agreements EpiCept regains all rights for LidoPAIN patch from Adolor A Medical Device Daily Staff Report EpiCept (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey) reported that it has regained full worldwide development and commercialization rights...

Briefly Noted.
November 1, 2006... Briefly Noted Covalent changes name to Encorium Encorium Group (Wayne, Pennsylvania), formerly Covalent Group, reported its common stock has begun trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ENCO. The change in the company's name to...

Piracy -- a threat to device firms?
November 1, 2006... Piracy -- a threat to device firms? With its record of intellectual property abuse, China's lure as a vast market is tempered by concerns that proprietary information may be used to engage in price wars or, worse, make copycats of Western...

<i>MDD</I> releases new report on orthopedics market.
November 1, 2006... MDD releases new report on orthopedics market The publishers of Medical Device Daily have just released a new 200-page report focusing on the orthopedics sector, Orthopedics 2006 -- Trends, Challenges and Opportunities. The report provides...

Product Briefs.
November 1, 2006... Product Briefs * Genzyme (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reported commercial availability of cystic fibrosis (CF) gene sequencing, a new diagnostic that it said can detect about 98% of the more than 1,200 disease-causing mutations in the CFTR...

People in Places.(briefs)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... People in Places * Haemonetics (Braintree, Massachusetts) reported the decision by Ronald Matricaria, chairman of its board, to retire at the end of the calendar year, in order to spend more personal and professional time on the West...

Structural costs, inefficiencies counter opportunities in Japan.
November 2, 2006... Structural costs, inefficiencies counter opportunities in Japan By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON -- The second day of the medical device globalization conference on Tuesday, hosted by the Advanced...

Arbios' Sepet a weapon vs. 'bad actors' of liver disease.
November 2, 2006... Arbios' Sepet a weapon vs. 'bad actors' of liver disease By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer With more than 17,000 people on the waiting list for a new liver -- many of them getting sicker by the day -- Arbios...

Report from Europe.
November 2, 2006... Report from Europe Ethics questions delay Europe's decision on advanced therapies By Peter O'Donnell Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer And MDD Staff Reports BRUSSELS -- Disagreements over the ethics of advanced...

Financings roundup.
November 2, 2006... Financings roundup PAD brings $25M for Pathway; PhotoMedix gathers in $11.4M By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor Pathway Medical Technologies (Redmond, Washington), a developer of endovascular...

Court report.
November 2, 2006... Court report Invitrogen wins $16.2M, 'willful infringement' vs. Stratagene A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Invitrogen (Carlsbad, California) reported that in its patent infringement lawsuit versus Stratagene (La Jolla,...

Briefly Noted.
November 2, 2006... Briefly Noted SRS relocates HQ SRS Medical (Redmond, Washington) has moved its West Coast operations to a larger facility in Redmond and said it plans to expand its East Coast operations later this quarter. Kevin Connolly, CEO,...

Deals roundup.
November 2, 2006... Deals roundup Clinical Data enters research accord with the Mayo Clinic A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Clinical Data (Newton, Massachusetts) reported that it has entered into an agreement with the Mayo Foundation for Medical...

Agreements roundup.
November 2, 2006... Agreements roundup Yulex in new pact with USDA for added rubber latex yield A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Yulex (Carlsbad, California), a company that produces a domestic source of natural rubber derived from the desert plant...

Grants/contracts.
November 2, 2006... Grants/contracts AerovectRx drug delivery tech wins share of CDC contract A Medical Device Daily Staff Report AerovectRx (Atlanta), which develops respiratory drug delivery technology, reported that its technology is to be included...

Product Briefs.
November 2, 2006... Product Briefs * BioE (St. Paul, Minnesota) said a recent report published in the journal Cytotherapy confirms that its Multi-Lineage Progenitor Cell is the first human cord blood stem cell to differentiate into a type II alveolar lung...

People in Places.
November 2, 2006... People in Places * Mark Calem has been appointed executive vice president and chief technology officer for U.S. Preventative Medicine (Dallas). Previously, Calem was chief technology officer for the Health Record Network Foundation, a...

Deals roundup.(Company overview)
November 3, 2006... Deals roundup Smith & Nephew in early talks for possible Biomet merger By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor Smith & Nephew (S&N; London) confirmed that it has held "very preliminary talks" about a...

Lung Cancer Alliance: failing grades in U.S. battle vs. disease.
November 3, 2006... Lung Cancer Alliance: failing grades in U.S. battle vs. disease By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Efforts by Congress and others in the battle against lung cancer, the nation's No. 1 cancer killer -- or the lack of...

Report from Europe.
November 3, 2006... Report from Europe Gambro to refocus, reorganize into 3 independent companies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report With its divestment of its dialysis clinics in the U.S. to DaVita (Torrance, California) last year in a $3 billion...

PARI celebrates 100 years, sees more success via eFlow.
November 3, 2006... PARI celebrates 100 years, sees more success via eFlow By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer PARI Aerosol Research Institute (Starnberg, Germany) -- a company celebrating its 100th year in aerosol science -- recently...

Laser treatment fails to prevent AMD complications/vision loss.
November 3, 2006... Laser treatment fails to prevent AMD complications/vision loss A Medical Device Daily Staff Report A study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that low-intensity laser treatment thought to be possibly...

Financings roundup.(Company overview)
November 3, 2006... Financings roundup Wachovia invests $22 million in Greenway Medical Technologies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Greenway Medical Technologies (Carrolton, Georgia) reported the consummation of a $22 million equity financing led...

Grants/contracts.
November 3, 2006... Grants/contracts Providence Health in pact with Premier for Clinical Advisor A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Providence Health & Services (Seattle), a 28-hospital system, has signed a five-year, $11 million agreement with the...

<i>MDD</I> releases new report on orthopedics market.
November 3, 2006... MDD releases new report on orthopedics market The publishers of Medical Device Daily have just released a new 200-page report focusing on the orthopedics sector, Orthopedics 2006 -- Trends, Challenges and Opportunities. The report provides...

Product Briefs.
November 3, 2006... Product Briefs * Biovest (Worcester, Massachusetts) reported that it has launched its AutovaxID automated cell culture device for commercial sale. AutovaxID is a fully automated, reusable instrument that employs a fully disposable,...

People in Places.(Cohera Medical Inc.)(Delray Medical Center and Pinecrest Rehabilitation Hospital)(appointments)
November 3, 2006... People in Places * Doros Platika, MD, will become chairman of Cohera Medical (Pittsburgh), on Dec. 1. Platika is currently president/CEO of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and chairman and CEO and co-founder of the Supercentenarian...

Tug-of-war heating up as cuts to physicians nears Jan. 1 deadline.
November 6, 2006... CMS promoting preventive care, patient discussion Tug-of-war heating up as cuts to physicians nears Jan. 1 deadline By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Unless Congress intervenes again this year, doctors will...

AGA in investment, milestone deals with Ample and Aberdare.
November 6, 2006... AGA in investment, milestone deals with Ample and Aberdare By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer AGA Medical (Golden Valley, Minnesota), Ample Medical (Foster City, California) and Aberdare Ventures (San Francisco)...

International report.
November 6, 2006... International report Launched by WHO, IMPACT will combat medical counterfeiting A Medical Device Daily Staff Report The World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva) and its partners have rolled out what they call "the first-ever"...

Financings roundup.
November 6, 2006... Financings roundup Luminetx raises $15 million to commercialize VeinViewer By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Luminetx (Memphis) reported Friday that it has raised about $15 million in capital during its most...

Gore exiting plastic surgery to focus on cardio, surgical.
November 6, 2006... Gore exiting plastic surgery to focus on cardio, surgical A Medical Device Daily Staff Report W.L. Gore & Associates (Flagstaff, Arizona) yesterday reported that it will no longer sell or market products in the plastic surgery market....

Court report.
November 6, 2006... Court report Alphatec says DePuy's bid for preliminary injunction denied A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Spinal device company Alphatec Holdings (Carlsbad, California), reported that the U.S.District Court in Boston has denied...

Briefly Noted.
November 6, 2006... Briefly Noted Sontra Medical not in Nasdaq compliance Sontra Medical (Franklin, Massachusetts) said it received a deficiency letter Oct. 17 indicating it is not in compliance with the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq...

Deals roundup.(mergers and acquisitions)
November 6, 2006... Deals roundup Encore shareholders OK sale; Genetix ups share price for AI A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orthopedic device company Encore Medical (Austin, Texas) said that stockholders at a special meeting have voted to adopt...

CryoLife decides against sale, eyes new growth strategies.
November 6, 2006... CryoLife decides against sale, eyes new growth strategies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Biomaterials and biosurgical firm CryoLife (Kennesaw, Georgia) last week said that it has decided against pursuing a sale of the company or...

Agreements roundup.
November 6, 2006... Agreements roundup ARUP and Saladax in pact for SBI antibodies against busulfan A Medical Device Daily Staff Report ARUP Laboratories (ARUP; Salt Lake City) and Saladax Biomedical (SBI; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) reported entering a...

Product Briefs.(implantable miniature telescope from VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies)(Brief article)
November 6, 2006... Product Briefs * VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies (Saratoga, California), a developer of visual prosthetic devices for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), reported that results from the Phase II/III clinical trial of...

People in Places.(briefs)
November 6, 2006... People in Places * Daniel Brennan has been appointed vice president investor relations for Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts). Brennan served most recently as vice president of international finance for the company, and his previous...

North American Scientific begins president/CEO successor search.
November 6, 2006... North American Scientific begins president/CEO successor search A Medical Device Daily Staff Report North American Scientific (Chatsworth, California) reported that L. Michael Cutrer, company founder and president/CEO, plans to...

Meeting set to spotlight the embryonic neurology field.
November 7, 2006... 2006 Medical Innovation Summit Meeting set to spotlight the embryonic neurology field By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor CLEVELAND -- According to Chris Coburn, executive director of CCF...

Boston Scientific and EndoTex move closer to sealing merger.(EndoTex Interventional Systems )
November 7, 2006... Boston Scientific and EndoTex move closer to sealing merger By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer The FDA has approved the NexStent Carotid and Monorial Delivery System for carotid artery disease patients who are at...

Report from Europe.
November 7, 2006... Report from Europe EFHCN launches month-long campaign vs. healthcare fraud A Medical Device Daily Staff Report BRUSSELS -- Over the next month, countries all over Europe will be alerted concerning damaging consequences of fraud and...

Corautus cancels VEGF-2 work, makes cuts to preserve cash.
November 7, 2006... Further trials 'not in best interest' Corautus cancels VEGF-2 work, makes cuts to preserve cash By DON LONG Medical Device Daily Managing Editor The high-risk area of new cardiovascular therapies has hit what appears to be...

Court report.
November 7, 2006... Court report Proposed settlement in action vs. HealthSouth set at $445M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report HealthSouth (Birmingham, Alabama) reported that a proposed partial settlement has been reached in the class action against...

Greatbatch to consolidate, will eliminate 40 positions.
November 7, 2006... Greatbatch to consolidate, will eliminate 40 positions A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Implantable device components manufacturer Greatbatch (Clarence, New York) reported that it will consolidate its corporate and business unit,...

Philips introduces oncology advances, new agreements.
November 7, 2006... ASTRO 2006 notebook Philips introduces oncology advances, new agreements A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Royal Philips (Andover, Massachusetts) is introducing a variety of "advances" in its portfolio of oncology solutions...

Deals roundup.
November 7, 2006... Deals roundup McKesson paying $1.8 billion to buy Per-Se Technologies A Medical Device Daily Staff Report McKesson (San Francisco) and Per-Se Technologies (Atlanta) reported that McKesson will acquire Per-Se, a provider of...

Agreements roundup.
November 7, 2006... Agreements roundup Nexa and Smith & Nephew unit in PolyGraft distribution pact A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Nexa Orthopedics (San Diego, California) reported a new multi-year distribution agreement with Smith & Nephew...

Briefly Noted.(eNotes Systems Inc.)(Medicsight plc.)
November 7, 2006... Briefly Noted eNotes, SurgiLance change names eNotes Systems (Los Angeles), a telemedicine company connecting healthcare providers with patients remotely via "live" real-time two-way video, audio, and medical data communications,...

Boston Scientific wins approval for two more devices overseas.
November 7, 2006... Boston Scientific wins approval for two more devices overseas A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) last week rolled out news of two international approvals. It reported receiving the CE mark for...

Product Briefs.
November 7, 2006... Product Briefs * Baxa (Englewood, Colorado), developer of technologies for fluid handling and delivery, reported the release of its new 2 mL Exacta-Med Oral Dispenser. Baxa said that the addition of a 2 mL dispenser provides the...

People in Places.
November 7, 2006... People in Places * Michael Poelking has been named CFO for Inviro Medical Devices (Atlanta). Poelking most recently served as senior vice president and CFO of GF Health Products. Additionally, Michael Atkinson has been named executive vice...

Clinic targets changing medicine via new Neurological Institute.
November 8, 2006... 2006 Medical Innovation Summit Clinic targets changing medicine via new Neurological Institute By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor CLEVELAND -- As the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Summit got...

Web-based tool a longer-range tool for breast cancer risk.
November 8, 2006... ASTRO 2006 notebook Web-based tool a longer-range tool for breast cancer risk By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Doctors at Tufts-New England Medical Center (Boston) have created a computer tool that could...

Report from Europe.
November 8, 2006... Report from Europe European Union tightens rules for human cells and tissues By PETER O'DONNELL Medical Device Daily Contributing Writer and MDD Staff Reports BRUSSELS -- The European Union has imposed additional quality...

Thermage prices IPO of 6 million shares to raise up to $78 million.
November 8, 2006... Thermage prices IPO of 6 million shares to raise up to $78 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Thermage (Hayward, California) has priced it upcoming initial public offering (IPO), saying it will sell 6 million shares in the...

GE teleconference: molecular imaging focus of nuclear med.
November 8, 2006... GE teleconference: molecular imaging focus of nuclear med By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Experts in the field of molecular imaging gathered recently to consider issues such as training of new personnel,...

Court report.
November 8, 2006... Court report Cynosure pays Palomar $10M to end dispute over patents A Medical Device Daily Staff Report In conjunction with its report of recent financial results, Cynosure (Westford, Massachusetts), a developer of light-based...

Financings roundup.
November 8, 2006... Financings roundup Inovio in license/royalty deal; iCardiac 'A' funding now $4M A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Inovio Biomedical (San Diego, California) reported that it has granted Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Madison, New...

Deals roundup.
November 8, 2006... Deals roundup Rights to LX201 ocular implant acquired by Lux Bio from NIH A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Lux Biosciences (Jersey City, New Jersey) said it is including a second pivotal-stage project into its development...

VeriChip to consolidate health security operations in Canada.
November 8, 2006... VeriChip to consolidate health security operations in Canada A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Applied Digital Solutions (Delray Beach, Florida) reported that its VeriChip subsidiary (Delray Beach) will consolidate its Canadian...

Briefly Noted.
November 8, 2006... Briefly Noted Sepracor to present data at ACAAI Sepracor (Marlborough, Massachusetts) reported that clinical data for XOPENEX HFA (levalbuterol tartrate) Inhalation Aerosol will be presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma...

Product Briefs.
November 8, 2006... Product Briefs * Biomax Informatics (Martinsried, Germany), a provider of bioinformatics solutions, reported the release of the new version 3 of the Pedant-Pro Sequence Analysis Suite, an application which provides automatic annotation of...

People in Places.
November 8, 2006... People in Places * Mary Vonderau has been named senior vice president of sales and strategic partnerships for The Beryl Companies (Dallas). Prior to joining Beryl, Vonderau was vice president of client services for Premier Healthcare...

2006 Medical Innovation Summit.
November 9, 2006... 2006 Medical Innovation Summit As in cardiology, implantable is wave of neuromodulation future By HOLLAND JOHNSON Medical Device Daily Associate Managing Editor CLEVELAND &mdash; Within the promising early-stage realm of...

Around the Beltway.
November 9, 2006... Around the Beltway Study: Wheelchair cuts could cost CMS more than they save By MARK McCARTY Medical Device Daily Washington Editor WASHINGTON &mdash; Attempts by Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)...

Report from Europe.
November 9, 2006... Report from Europe Encore acquires Cefar to create non-U.S. electrotherapy power A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Encore Medical (Austin, Texas) reported that it has acquired Cefar (Malmo, Sweden), a European provider of...

Study finds brain stimulation benefits dystonia sufferers.
November 9, 2006... Study finds brain stimulation benefits dystonia sufferers By AMANDA PEDERSEN Medical Device Daily Staff Writer A study published in today's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine is expected to instill confidence in using...

Court report.
November 9, 2006... Court report QLT found liable for royalties related to sales of Visudyne A Medical Device Daily Staff Report QLT (Vancouver, British Columbia) reported that a federal jury has found the company liable under Massachusetts state law...

Briefly Noted.
November 9, 2006... Briefly Noted Imaging3 featured on AuntMinnie web site Imaging3 (Burbank, California) reported it was recently featured on www.AuntMinnie.com for its role in the digital X-ray market. Published online and as part of the "Road to...

ASTRO 2006 notebook.
November 9, 2006... ASTRO 2006 notebook Kodak's computed radiography gives company a 'good show' By KAREN YOUNG Medical Device Daily Staff Writer Eastman Kodak (Rochester, New York) demonstrated its computed radiography (CR) system for radiation...

Financings roundup.
November 9, 2006... Financings roundup Lumera in $16.95M stock sale; Biosante in Bio-E-Gel sale deal A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Lumera (Bothell, Washington), a developer of nanotechnologies, reported that it will issue about 2,825,000 shares...

Deals roundup.
November 9, 2006... Deals roundup Vitagel, Cellpaker rights bought by Orthovita for $9 million A Medical Device Daily Staff Report Orthovita (Malvern, Pennsylvania), a spine and orthopedic biosurgery company, reported that it has entered into a letter...

Product Briefs.
November 9, 2006... Product Briefs &bull; diaDexus (South San Francisco) reported results of a study demonstrating that Lp-PLA2 (lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2) independently predicts both the severity of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) at...

People in Places.
November 9, 2006... People in Places &bull; Sami Hamade has joined Aberdare Ventures (San Francisco) as a partner. Hamade was most recently a VP at Guidant, where he ran the Compass Group. Additionally, Darren Hite has joined the firm as an associate. Hite...