This week’s announcement that Merck is closing its research lab here in Cambridge, Mass., is a close-to-home reminder that hard times are still very much upon us. In the device world, budgets have been trimmed and head counts reduced. Customers are delaying or scaling back new purchases, especially for capital equipment. Physician interaction guidelines have been tightened. So … are you still having fun? Before you grab a life preserver and head for the ocean, here are seven reasons to stay with medical device marketing, despite the heady allure of, say, the oil industry.
News Well
MassDevice Q&A: Abiomed CEO Michael Minogue
Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) makes cardiac assist devices powerful enough to pump more than a gallon of blood through the heart each minute and small enough to be placed inside the heart via catheter. It’s a highly specialized, highly competitive market that’s difficult to break into.
At an investors meeting in Boston last week, the company sought to deliver the message that its devices offer a less invasive option than ventricular assist devices and don’t need to be combined with inotropic drugs as is often the case with intra-aortic balloon pumps. It’s been two years since Abiomed won 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration for its Impella 2.5 device; at the conference, CTO Dr. Thorsten Siess acknowledged that physicians have been slow to adopt the device.
Histogenics launches clinical trial
Histogenics Corp. launched a Phase III clinical trial of its NeoCart knee cartilage repair implant, designed to help regenerate tissue.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company said the 245-patient study will compare use of the implant with standard microfracture surgery to repair damaged knee cartilage. Microfrature surgery involves drilling small holes in bone to fill the defect with blood clots. The NeoCart device uses neocartilagenous tissue developed from patients’ chondrocyte cells, which are integrated into a three-dimensional collagen matrix, according to a press release.
Mass. House makes overtures to small businesses with healthcare bill
By Jim O’Sullivan, State House News Service
AssureRx raises $1.6 million
By Mary Vanac
AssureRx Health Inc., the pharmacogenetic test maker in Mason, Ohio, raised $1.6 million in an equity offering from 22 investors.
Mass. medical device leaders hope for repeal of gift ban’s “death by 1,000 cuts”
The inclusion of a repeal of the “gift ban” law in economic development legislation that passed the Mass. House of Representatives on a 145-4 vote has pleased many in the medical device industry.
Richard Packer, CEO of Chelmsford, Mass.-based cardiac device maker Zoll Medical Corp. (NSDQ:ZOLL), told MassDevice that it’s “silly” that a doctor can visit Zoll but the company isn’t allowed to serve them a sandwich.
Meridian Bioscience enters exclusive deal with Italian diagnostics firm
By Mary Vanac
Meridian Bioscience Inc. (NSDQ:VIVO) struck an exclusive, world-wide product development and distribution agreement with an Italian diagnostics company that is likely to open doors to new customers in Eastern Europe and Asia.
Surmodics inks licensing agreement with Australian pharma firm
SurModics Inc. (NSDQ:SRDX) reached a deal to license its drug delivery technology to an Australian firm that will use it for a skin disorder treatment.
Lantheus inks purchasing deal with MDS Nordion for rare isotope
Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. sealed a new purchasing deal with Ottawa-based MDS Nordion for a rare imaging isotope, molybdenum-99.
The Billerica, Mass.-based medical imaging company will begin receiving a weekly supply of Mo-99 when the National Research Universal reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, goes back online, expected the end of July. The contract is good through July 2011.
Boston Scientific commences Cognis multi-sensor clinical trial
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) is looking to get back on its feet after a series of mis-steps for its cardiac defibrillator operations.
The Natick, Mass.-based medical device maker enrolled the first patient in its MultiSense clinical trial, aimed at evaluating the use of multiple sensors with its Cognis cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators.
Mass. House votes to lift gift ban in effort to boost business
By State House News Service
Reversing course on a new law aimed at diminishing the influence on doctors by pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the House on Wednesday voted to strike the so-called gift ban law, which critics say has hurt commerce in the medical and restaurant industries. An amendment to preserve the ban attracted 40 votes, with 108 against.
The elimination of the gift ban was included in economic development legislation that cleared the House 145-4 and now needs to be reconciled with a Senate bill in a conference committee.