A federal investigation of Hopkinton’s Stryker Biotech is still underway after a second guilty plea by a former Massachusetts sales manager for the Michigan-based Stryker Corp. subsidiary, which develops bone injury repair products, according to news reports.
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Millstone Medical Outsourcing opens second facility in Fall River
Millstone Medical Outsourcing plans to open a second inspection and clean room facility in Fall River.
The 30,000-square-foot building will include a mechanical inspection area, clean room and packaging facilities.
It’s the third location for the inspection and clean room outsourcing service provider, which operates another clean room facility and its headquarters in Fall River and a loaner kit processing and distribution center in Memphis. The new shop takes its total square footage to roughly 95,000 square feet.
Amicas plunges into the red, along with its share price
Amicas Inc. posted revenues of $50.4 million last year, up 9.3 percent compared with 2007, but slipped deep into the red during the fourth quarter as the value of its shares plunged.
The Boston radiology and medical image software provider said it took a $27.3 million impairment charge “primarily due to the sustained decline in the market value of the company’s equity during the fourth quarter of 2008,” adding that it doesn’t expect any material impact from the charge over the long term.
FDA hops onto Serica’s SeriScaffold
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hopped onto Serica Technologies Inc.’s SeriScaffold product, granting the silk-based surgical mesh clearance to hit the market.
The Medford-based growth-stage device maker’s flagship product is designed to repair and remodel damaged connective tissue, avoiding the erosion and scar formation that can result from surgery.
Zoll to pay $12 million for Alsius Corp.
Zoll Medical Corp. agreed to buy out Alsius Corp. for $12 million, adding the Irvine, Calif.-based intravascular temperature management product maker’s operations to its line of cardiac resuscitation devices.
Chelmsford, mass. based Zoll said it will integrate the Alsius business into its operations in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Creganna buys Swedish polymer muscle maker
Creganna, the Irish medical device maker with operations in Marlborough, acquired Micromuscle AB and its Nobel Prize-winning artificial muscle technology for an undisclosed amount after the Swedish firm’s venture-capital backer backed out.
Linkoeping, Sweden-based Micromuscle’s electroactive polymer technology won the Nobel Prize in 2000, but the company was forced to shut down after one of its major VC investors pulled out.
HepaLife hyped over new CFO
Donna Lopolito spent 13 years as a CFO in the life sciences arena at PricewaterhouseCoopers, so she was a good pick when HepaLife Technologies Inc. tapped her to be its top financial guru.
NeuroMetrix posts dismal sales and earnings numbers
Hard on the heels of the plea agreement added to its miserable week by posting nearly $30 million in losses for 2008.
The Waltham-based company said sales were off 30 percent from 2007. The drop off in sales contributed to a net loss of $27.7 million for the year, compared to an 8.4 million loss reported for 2007.
The bulk of its $4.1 million fourth-quarter net loss stemmed from the $3.7 million federal settlement, with the rest due to a $274,000 writedown on the NeuroMetrix January buyout of joint-venture partner Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc.
NeuroMetrix pays $3.7 million in federal kickbacks case
Nerve test equipment manufacturer NeuroMetrix Inc. paid $3.7 million to settle charges in a federal kickbacks and Medicare fraud case.
Under a deferred prosecution deal with U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan’s office in Boston and the federal Health and the Inspector General’s office of the federal Health & Human Services Dept., the Waltham-based device maker will pay $1.2 million to settle accusations of illegal kickbacks to physicians and $2.5 million to settle civil charges in that case and another alleged Medicare billing scam.
Medtronic acquires Ablation Frontiers
MEDTRONIC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ABLATION FRONTIERS MINNEAPOLIS AND CARLSBAD, CALIF.
– Feb. 6, 2009 – Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced it has through an affiliated entity, completed the acquisition of privately held Ablation Frontiers, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement announced Jan. 12, 2009, the transaction includes an initial payment of $225 million plus potential additional payments contingent upon achievement of certain clinical milestones.
NeuroMetrix buys out JV partner Cyberkinetics
Nerve test equipment manufacturer NeuroMetrix Inc. bought out joint-venture partner Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems Inc. and its Andara oscillating field stimulator technology for $350,000 in cash.
The technology is used to treat acute spinal cord injury and peripheral nerve damage. NeuroMetrix said it plans to integrate the technology into its suite of neurodiagnostic systems.
