With an estimated 300 million clinically obese people on the planet, companies that are looking to help ease that epidemic will likely have no shortage of customers.
Endoscopic
Boston Scientific sues Cook, Korean firms in patent suit
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) sued Cook Group, a slew of its subsidiaries and a group of Korean firms, alleging infringement of four endoscopic stent patents covering devices to treat the digestive system.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, accuses Warsaw, Indiana-based Cook and the subsidiaries (including Cook Ireland Ltd.) of violating the quartet of patents with its Evolution stenting system, according to court documents.
Vision-Sciences inks private-label deal with Stryker
Vision-Sciences Inc. (NSDQ:VSCI) signed an agreement to manufacture endoscopic urology devices for Stryker Corp.’s (NYSE:SYK) in a three-year private-label deal.
The devices concerned are Stryker-branded flexible video and fiber cystoscopes that will also employ Vision-Sciences’ slide-on EndoSheath technology.
Viking adds academic to advisory role
Viking Systems Inc. (OTC:VKNG) appointed academic and surgeon Dr. Gerald Andriole as medical advisor.
Adriole, urologic surgery division chief at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will advise the Westborough, Mass.-based company on optimizing the role of its 3D visualization system for laparoscopic surgical procedures, according to the company. He has used Viking’s EndoSite 3Di digital vision system for the past four years.
Spirus wins Japanese regulatory approval for Endo-Ease line
Spirus Medical Inc. received regulatory approval for its Endo-Ease product line from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The Stoughton, Mass.-based company’s endoscopy platform features novel “over-tubes” that use a spiral design utilizing simple rotation to facilitate enteroscopy, colonoscopy and ileoscopy, according to the company.
The Endo-Ease "endoluminal advancement system" is well suited for the Japanese endoscopy marketplace, which emphasizes in-hospital treatment, according to Spirus.
Max Endoscopy, TheraVasc receive $250,000 infusions from non-profit development firm
Device maker MAX Endoscopy Inc. and drug developer TheraVasc Inc. have each received $250,000 follow-on investments from JumpStart Ventures, the investment arm of non-profit venture development firm JumpStart Inc.
The new commitments follow initial investments of the same amount that Cleveland-based JumpStart made in the two companies last winter.
Barrx inks Japanese distribution deal
Barrx Medical Inc. signed an exclusive distribution deal with Medico’s Hirata for its Halo gastrointestinal disease treatment system.
Osaka, Japan-based Medico’s Hirata, a medical product supplier, said it is well-positioned to make the Halo device the standard of care in Japan.
GI Dynamics touts EndoBarrier’s weight loss results
Patients implanted with GI Dynamics Inc.’s EndoBarrier device reduced their weight by 20 percent and experienced lowered risk for heart attack, according to the latest results of a clinical trial.
California endovascular firms drum up $45 million
California-based EndoGastric Solutions Inc. and Aptus EndoSystems Inc. brought in $30 million and $15 million, respectively, in separate funding rounds.
Menlo Park, Calif.-based Canaan Partners and New York-based Radius Ventures led EndoGastric’s $30 million Series F round, which was designed to support the company through profitability, according to a press release.
Endologix wins EU approval for Powerlink and Powerfit devices
Endologix Inc. (NSDQ:ELGX) won CE Mark approval for its "expanded offering" of Powerlink stent graft products and PowerFit aortic extensions in the European Union.
The company may now begin marketing and selling 31 new sizes of its Powerlink stent grafts and 18 mm to 32 mm diameter models of the company’s PowerFit aortic extensions across the pond, allowing physicians to treat a wider patient population.
Solos Endoscopy’s Q2 losses spread by a third
Solos Endoscopy Inc.’s (OTC:SNDY) second-quarter revenues rose less than 1 percent as losses widened 33 percent.
The Boston, Mass.-based company reported a net loss of $527,349 on sales of $217,922 during the three months ended June 30. That compares with a net loss of $353,677 on sales of $216,462 during the same period last year.