Following Zimmer's announcement that the company would suspend sales of the Durom acetabular cup, the New York Times suggested this morning that the concerns about Durom could've been identified sooner if the U.S. had a national joint registry in place.... more
Last week's In3 Medical Device Industry Summit featured a talk on opportunities for device manufacturers in China, and we came away with a sense for the country's efforts to step up regulatory and legal practices to better reflect U.S. and... more
Funding Exactech received a $40.0 million syndicated line of credit which will be used to fund future acquisitions and refinance debt, among other expenses. SunTrust Bank served as lead agent with participation by Compass Bank. M&A clickNsettle announced plans... more
Last fall, Biomet, Medtronic, Smith & Nephew, Stryker and Zimmer announced they were under investigation by the SEC for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which is designed to prevent U.S. companies from making payments to foreign... more
In Switzerland, more than 135 surgeons are contributing data to a newly-implemented spine registry, reporting cost, efficacy and performance information on cervical and lumbar total disc arthroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures. The Swiss government started the program in December 2007 to... more
Anecdotal accounts of medical tourism often describe significant cost savings and suggest that the volume of patients who seek care overseas is climbing rapidly. Over the past few years, medical tourism has been depicted as a fast-growing trend to keep... more
Baxter's heparin has been in the news lately following four deaths and hundreds of bad reactions, and with it the revelation that the Chinese plant that manufactured some of the heparin's ingredients had not been inspected by the FDA. Similarly,... more
Medtronic announced plans yesterday to bring spine and orthopedic therapies to the Chinese market through a joint venture with Shandong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Company Limited. Under the joint venture agreement, the companies will sell spine and orthopedic products, including... more
M&A With certain conditions, the FTC will allow Kyphon to proceed with its planned acquisition of Disc-O-Tech Medical Technologies and Discotech Orthopedic Technologies Inc. Kyphon was directed to sell Disc-O-Tech's Confidence product lines to address antitrust concerns. When Kyphon announced... more
The July U.K. edition of JBJS reported results of a study evaluating the impact of the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for hip replacements. NICE publishes guidelines to promote "good health and the prevention and... more
Nobel Biocare held its biannual World Conference in Las Vegas earlier this month. Typically, implant-focused organizations like the American Academy of Implant Dentistry typically have less than 5,000 attendees at their meetings, but Nobel hosted 10,000 in the largest implant-focused... more
Earnings BioMimetic Therapeutics announced 4Q:06 financial results, reporting a net loss of $5.3 million or $0.34 per share and beating analysts' estimates of a loss of $0.37 per share. This compares to a net loss of $9.2 million, or $5.82... more
Earnings Kyphon Inc. announced 4Q:06 sales totaling $112.6 million, an increase of 31% over the $85.8 million in net sales reported for the 4Q:05. Net income for 4Q:06 increased 228% to $12.2 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared to... more
Research and Markets has released a new report on the medical device industry in Mexico. In their press release, Research and Markets cited Mexico's population of 100 million, earning their place as the second-largest device market in the Americas (the... more
Kyphon's pending acquisition of Israeli-based Disc-O-Tech's Assets for $240 million is only a part of the dollar volume of Israeli technology M&A activity in 2006. The Israeli Venture Capital Research Center reported that in 2006, 76 M&A technology deals involving... more
M&A Kyphon has signed definitive agreements to acquire all spine-related assets of Israeli company Disc-O-Tech Medical Technologies, Ltd. in a multi-stage transaction. Terms are summarized as follows: Kyphon will pay Disc-O-Tech $60 million upon execution of the definitive agreements; Kyphon... more
Asia's continued economic growth makes it an attractive market for both the sale and manufacture of medical devices. Pacific Bridge Medical, a medical consulting firm focusing on business development and regulatory affairs in Asia, recently published an article on the... more
In-Pharma Technologist.com reported on Tuesday, that new Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) guidelines came into effect on June 29, 2006. These guidelines will regulate the import, manufacture and sale of sterile devices in India, including bone cements and orthopedic... more
Indonesia has seen a lot of seismic activity in the past few months. The latest was a 6.3 earthquake that hit the island of Java, creating an enormous medical emergency. Thus far, the quake has killed 5,700 people and over... more
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a press release yesterday announcing the launch of a fact-finding investigation into conditions affecting U.S. trade of medical devices and equipment in principal foreign markets, particularly the Japanese market. The House Ways and... more
Dubai, known as the shopping capital of the Middle East famed for its gold market and often referred to as "the city of gold", is now establishing a new presence in healthcare. Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), an estimated 4.1 million... more
At a recent shareholders' meeting IsoTis OrthoBiologics announced that it appointed James (Jim) Hart to its Board of Directors. Jim is familiar to many of you as the former CEO of Opus Medical which was sold to ArthroCare for over... more
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