Shawna Gvazdauskas has a knack for bringing medical devices to market. The 53-year-old is on the third start-up of her 30-year career. In March, she left insulin management maker Insulet, where she helped bring the company’s flagship Omnipod to market, for a new challenge at Isis Biopolymer Inc., which is developing a new generation of non-invasive drug delivery patches.
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Siemens and UMass Memorial Health Care ink HIT pact
The four community hospitals and one academic center that make up the UMass Memorial Health Care system will use a suite of healthcare IT products made by Siemens for the next seven years.
The more than 1,100-bed hospital system will use the company’s Soarian healthcare information systems product lines, according to a deal the two parties inked. Specific terms of the agreement were not announced.
Aquamer Medical to go under
Aquamer Medical Corp. is sinking away for good.
The tiny medical device company, unable to find a market for its injectable hydrogel products, is planning to merge with an online-search startup and will become Kwick Search Corp.
The change-over is expected to close by the end of the summer, CEO Marshall Sterman told MassDevice.
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Gov. Patrick steps up for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Gov. Deval Patrick is trying to make sure one of his pet projects doesn’t suffer an embarrassing shortfall, sending a budget amendment back to Beacon Hill that would give the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center a $10 million transfer and a shot at $20 million.
DePuy Spine wins $180 million from Medtronic in Vertex case
DePuy Spine Inc. will get a hefty check from Medtronic Inc. after a federal court judgment for $179 million in a patent infringement lawsuit.
The Raynham orthopedics maker, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, and Biedermann Motech GmbH sued Medtronic in 2001, accusing it of violating a spinal surgery screw patent DePuy licensed from Biedermann with its now-discontinued Vertex line of multiaxial screws (Medtronic markets the Vertex Select system these days).
Biopure gets NASDAQ delisting notice
Biopure Corp. is slated to be de-listed from the NASDAQ exchange after its stockholders’ equity fell below the exchange’s $2.5 million minimum threshold.
The Cambridge-based blood substitute maker has 15 days to submit a plan to correct the problem, but said it has no plans to submit such a plan.
Swine Flu makes an early summer surge
The Swine Flu pandemic picked up its pace during the early summer, a time when the influenza virus usually lets up a bit, the Wall Street Journal reported (subscription).
And the H1N1 virus might cause a more severe illness than other flu bugs, according to a study of ferrets by CDC scientists. The good news is that it might be less easily transmitted than other strains.
There were reports of nearly 6,300 new cases in the United States during the week of June 14-20, more than in any other week since the pandemic broke out in April, according to the agency.
Optos inks marketing deal
Optos plc inked a co-marketing deal with eyecare benefits provider VSP Global the companies are calling the “eyeHealthCheck+” program.
The deal calls for VSP to offer optomap retinal imaging packages to its 26,000 doctor members, along with a free license for the Optos electronic medical records software (takers are still in the hook for annual support fees).
The Optos devices provide wide-field, high-resolution retinal images.
Can’t stand the sight of your 401(k) statement? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one (unless you work at Boston Scientific)
If you find yourself averting your eyes from your 401(k) statement, unless you work at Boston Scientific, you’re not alone.
Employees at Abiomed Inc. — for that matter, workers all over the medical device community — suffered heavy losses to their company retirement fund, according to a filing with the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Good news balanced out the bad at the XSITE 2009 conference
At the recent Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, the tag line was “The recovery starts here.” And for the day, for some 400-plus attendees, the recovery did in fact feel like it had started.