Life Sciences Newsbriefs: Week Of August 15, 2011 (Part 1)

Medical Devices

Report: Life sciences firms drew $2.1B in Q2 venture investments Venture capital investments in the U.S. life sciences industry reached $2.1 billion during the second quarter with 206 deals, a 3% drop from the same period last year, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. The industry, however, saw an increase in the number of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions during the period, allowing investors to divest their assets in life sciences companies and then invest in other firms, said Tracy Lefteroff, a global managing partner for venture capital practice at PwC.

Covidien to buy back $2B shares after posting a stellar Q3 Covidien has announced plans to repurchase company shares worth $2 billion. The announcement comes after the medical device giant posted a 14% increase in sales and 47% bump in profits during the third quarter.

Rapid Pathogen Screening to create 164 jobs in Florida The state of Florida and the government of Sarasota County, Fla., have agreed to provide Rapid Pathogen Screening $820,000 in performance-based incentives to help it employ 164 workers in the next five years. RPS, which develops the Adeno Detector test used to identify possible causes of conjunctivitis, plans to commercialize nine new products once it reaches its funding goals, said CEO Thomas Orsini.

Alere obtains license for VitaPath's genetic test VitaPath Genetics has allowed Alere to license its genetic assay designed to pinpoint women with a greater risk of delivering a baby with the spina bifida birth defect, which could arrive in the market next year. The licensing deal also will allow Alere to create other fetal health technologies with VitaPath.

Laser diode manufacturer pulls in about $639K in equity financing SemiNex said in a regulatory filing that it secured $639,773 in a round of equity funding. The Peabody, Mass.-based firm develops laser diodes designed to support systems used for acne and wrinkle therapies, noninvasive surgery and other nonmedical applications, said CEO David Bean.

GE makes headway in North America, China with 2 deals GE Healthcare will distribute its products to diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy centers in China, under a memorandum of understanding with Concord Medical Services Holdings in Beijing. GE also signed a collaborative deal to bring maintenance and service support of AB Sciex's mass spectrometry systems to GE clients in North America.

Professor develops "electronic tattoo" for monitoring disorders Prof. John A. Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has created a stretchable, ultra-thin device, which can be attached to the skin like a tattoo, to enable noninvasive diagnosis and observation of diseases including heart arrhythmia and sleep disorders. The device uses sensors to measure temperature, strain and electric signals from the patient's body.

FDA workshop will focus on computational device model systems The FDA from Sept. 7 to 9 will host a public workshop in Silver Spring, Md., to explore the use of computational models in the development, design and review of medical devices, as well as their validation with nonclinical systems. The workshop will gather input on which validation schemes have proved successful or unsuccessful for computational models, among other issues.

Study: Surge in CT scans leads to fewer hospital admissions A University of Michigan-led study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that use of computed tomography scans at U.S. emergency departments rose 330% from 1996 to 2007, with abdominal pain, chest pain, flank pain and shortness of breath accounting for the highest growth rates for the imaging orders. The increase resulted in fewer hospitalizations, which is beneficial for both hospitals and patients, the authors said.

Abbott secures FDA approval for renal stent system The FDA has granted Abbott Laboratories approval of its RX Herculink Elite renal stent device for use in renal artery stenosis patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure. The approval is backed by a trial that showed the safety and efficacy of the device.

T2 Biosystems raises $23 million for blood assay T2 Biosystems has secured $23 million in a round of Series D financing led by Aisling Capital. The company plans to conduct clinical trials of its T2MR diagnostic assay, designed to spot Candida fungal blood infections in less than two hours, and seek FDA clearance for the test in the second half of next year.

Roche unit appoints former ON-Q-ity CEO as president...

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