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Former Olympus CEO Woodford resigns, calls for board’s ouster
Michael Woodford, the former CEO of endoscopy giant Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) fired for blowing the whistle on a massive accounting scandal, resigned his seat on the board and called for the wholesale ouster of his former colleagues
Woodford has been a busy man lately, speaking with authorities in Japan, the U.S. and the U.K. about the scandal. Olympus has admitted to using mergers and acquisitions to conceal billions of dollars of investment losses. In one case the company shelled out $687 million in fees to dummy consulting firms.
Diabetes: Artificial pancreas stalled by safety debate | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Safety concerns by the FDA have stalled the development of an artificial pancreas to treat Type I diabetes.
Advocates of the artificial pancreas have been calling for the federal watchdog agency to issue a clear guidance for months and they could get an answer as early as this afternoon.
Xerox subsidiary ACS buys Breakaway Group | Acquisitions Roundup
Xerox (NYSE:XRX) subsidiary ACS acquired cloud-based electronic medical records program developer The Breakaway Group.
The Denver, Colo.-based firm developed PromisePoint, a program for training health care professionals to use electronic medical records systems the same way they would in a hospital or office.
Study: Cordis Corp.’s TrapEase vena cava filter shows high fracture rate
A new study reported a high fracture rate among permanent inferior vena cava filters made by Cordis Corp., a device-making arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ).
In a Japanese study of 20 patients with Cordis’ TrapEase IVC filter, the devices fractured in half the patients at 50 months.
CircuLite raises $30M for world’s smallest blood pump | Funding Roundup
CircuLite Inc. landed $30 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing round led by McAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. and Forbion Capital Partners.
The Saddle Brook, N.J.-based company will use the funds to support the European commercial launch of its Synergy circulatory support system and to fund an investigational device exemption pilot study in the U.S.
CircuLite touts Synergy as the world’s smallest implantable heart pump, saying it’s roughly the size of a AA battery. The company expects to receive European Union CE Mark approval for the system during the first half of 2012.
BSX offers 10 year warranties on newly cleared defibrillators | Regulatory Roundup
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) landed FDA clearance for its Incepta, Energen and Punctua cardiac implants to treat heart failure and sudden cardiac death.
To go along with the new defibrillator systems, the Natick, Mass.-based med-tech titan is providing an extended warranty for the Incepta and Energen family of defibrillators.
Novadaq and KCI tout $3M deal for Spy system
Novadaq Technologies Inc. (TSX:NDQ) signed multi-year sales and marketing agreements with Kinetic Concepts Inc. for the commercialization of its Spy imaging system.
KCI will pay Novadaq $3 million up front for the Toronto-based company’s fluorescence imaging system, which allows surgeons to assess tissue perfusion in real time. Novadaq will also receive additional milestone payments.
The agreements range from six to seven years and cover commercialization in North America, Europe and Japan.
Bovie Medical slaps COO over credentials
Bovie Medical Corp. (NYSE:BVX) is demoting COO Moshe Citronowicz and cutting his pay and benefits after determining that he misrepresented his academic career.
Citronowicz, who has been with the electrosurgery company since 1993, claimed to have a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Israel’s University of Be’er Sheva, according to a regulatory filing.
Vision treatment company AcuFocus raises $65 million | Funding Roundup
AcuFocus Inc. raised $65 million in investments and equity financing in support of its Kamra corneal inlay treatment for near vision loss, or presbyopia.
The Kamra device is already on the market in areas in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and South America, according to a press release.
It has CE Mark approval in the European Union and is under an investigational device exemption in the U.S.
Will Olympus hold a fire sale to weather fee scandal?
Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) plans to examine its corporate structure as it struggles to keep its head above water amid an accounting scandal that’s slashed more than half the value from its stock price in six short weeks.
In an internal memo obtained and confirmed by Reuters, the Japanese endoscopy giant said it will review its organization and its corporate governance rules after admitting to hiding hundreds of millions of losses.