Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
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5. Zimmer Biomet to pay feds another $30m in foreign bribery case
Zimmer Biomet agreed to pay another $30 million to settle a foreign bribery case with the U.S. Justice Dept. and the Securities & Exchange Commission, after a 1st $22 million settlement nearly 5 years ago.
The DoJ alleged that Biomet and its subsidiaries paid out more than $1.5 million in illegal kickbacks to employees of state-owned health services in Brazil and China. Biomet paid $22 million in March 2012 to settle the case with Justice and the SEC, agreeing to a deferred prosecution agreement to guard against further misconduct (Zimmer and Biomet closed their $14 billion merger in June 2015). Read more
4. Grifols pays $51m for minority stake in Access Biologicals
Grifols said today that it paid $51 million for a 49% stake in Access Biologicals, in a deal that includes an option to acquire the rest of the business.
That option, for the remaining 51% share in Vista, Calif.-based Access, goes live in 2022, Grifols said. The agreement also includes a provision to supply Access with non-human-use biologicals, the Spanish company said. Read more
3. Orthocell, J&J’s DePuy Synthes ink R&D deal for stem cell treatment
Orthocell said today that it landed a research collaboration deal with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Synthes for its Ortho-ATI stem cell regenerative therapy.
The 2 groups are planning a collaborative study for the 1st quarter in 2017, led by Allan Wang from the University of Western Australia. In previous studies, Ortho-ATI has proven to be a durable non-surgical solution for tendon injuries that are difficult to treat, according to Orthocell. Ortho-ATI delivers cultured tendon stem cells from the patient’s healthy tendon to the patient’s damaged tendon tissue. Read more
2. Shire to pay feds $350m to settle DermaGraft kickbacks case
The U.S. Justice Dept. said yesterday that Shire and its subsidiaries will cough up $350 million to settle allegations that Shire and the company it acquired in 2011, Advanced BioHealing, gave kickbacks to clinics and physicians in exchange for using its bioengineered human skin substitute, Dermagraft.
“This settlement represents the largest False Claims Act recovery by the United States in a kickback case involving a medical device,” principal deputy assistant attorney general Benjamin Mizer said in prepared remarks. “Kickbacks by suppliers of healthcare goods and services cast a pall over the integrity of our health care system. Patients deserve the unfettered, independent judgement of their health care professionals.” Read more
1. Senate reintroduces bill to repeal medical device tax
A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced the Medical Device Access and Innovation Protection Act today, which would do away entirely with the 2.3% excise tax on medical devices. The move comes as Republicans in Congress ready to repeal Obamacare.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), would amend the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the medical device tax. Last week, House representatives Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) introduced a bill, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2017, that also seeks to remove the levy on all U.S. sales of prescribed medical devices. Read more