Kinetic Concepts touts tissue injector acquisition

Kinetic Concepts sister company LifeCell this week announced the acquisition of fat-injection devices from California medtech group TauTona.

LifeCell hopes to use the deal, the details of which were not disclosed, to expand its reconstructive and cosmetic portfolio with the fat grafting technology.

Medtech incubator and investment group TauTona developed the adipose Tissue Injector as a hand-held, disposable system of transferring tissue, namely fat, from one area of the body to another. The device is battery-powered and designed to "deliver fat at an even, controlled rate without clogging," according to a company statement.

The sale is TauTona’s 2nd such exit, which the company touted as evidence of the success of its hybrid incubation-and-investment model. The company was founded in 2010 by a pair of Stanford School of Medicine surgery professors and now invests in and aids in development of new medical devices.

The aTI device is the 2nd in LifeCell’s fat grafting portfolio, which includes the Revolve fat processing system that LifeCell launched in October 2013.

"With this acquisition, we will leverage the LifeCell sales channel in the reconstructive and plastic surgery fields to commercialize this exciting new technology," KCI president & CEO Joe Woody said in prepared remarks. "We continue to be focused on innovation and acquisitions of technologies and platforms that both complement and further diversify our combined product portfolio."

LifeCell, Kinetic Concepts and Systagenix last year announced that they would join forces to form a single wound care, biologics and regenerative medicines company, led by KCI president & CEO Joe Woody. LifeCell and Kinetic Concepts merged earlier, with Systagenix joining the mix officially in the 4th quarter of 2013 after a $485 million buyout.

Kinetic Concepts last year was snapped up in a $6.1 billion leveraged buyout by an Apax Partners-led consortium that included a coupe of Canadian pension funds. The deal was one of the largest leveraged buyouts since before the global recession of 2008.

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