Say hello to MassDevice +5, a bite-sized view of the top five medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 5 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
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5. Halt Medical finds backer for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization
Halt Medical said yesterday that it’s reorganizing under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, via an acquirer that’s floating a $4 million bridge loan to sustain the women’s health company’s operations during the sale process.
The company owes its top 20 creditors a total of nearly $1.3 million, including a $497,000 severance payment to former chief executive Jeffrey Cohen, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Delaware. Halt Medical, which employs 17 workers, had assets valued at $2.2 million as of March 31 but liabilities of about $156.3 million, according to the filings. The company makes the Acessa radiofrequency ablation device, an ultrasound-guided therapy for removing uterine fibroids. Read more
4. Advanced Cooling Therapy wins FDA 510(k) for Esophageal Cooling Device
Advanced Cooling Therapy said today it won FDA 510(k) clearance for its Esophageal Cooling Device with an integrated Altrix precision temperature management system from Stryker.
The Chicago-based company said the triple lumen system is designed to be inserted into the esophagus, with 2 lumens attached to existing temperature modulation equipment while a 3rd lumen simultaneously allows for gastric decompression and drainage. Read more
3. Report: FDA, medical device firms brace for increasing cyberattacks
The FDA and medical device makers are preparing for a glut of hacking attacks as more more connected devices and hospital networks emerge, according to a new report.
Electronic health records remain a favored target for hackers, with numbers of compromised records in the tens of millions, according to The Hill. Read more
2. How Boston Sci is getting drug-eluting stents and balloons into legs
Boston Scientific officials think they have a leg up when it comes to bringing drug-eluting technology to bear on peripheral artery disease. That’s because the medical device giant has decades of experience with balloons and drug-eluting stents used around the heart.
When it comes to treating the narrowing arteries in the legs and thighs, Boston Sci has its Eluvia drug-eluting stent, which received a CE Mark in early 2016, and its Ranger drug-coated balloon, which received a CE Mark in 2014. (Until Boston Sci is able to market the Ranger in the U.S., the company is distributing C.R. Bard’s Lutonix drug-coated balloon.) Read more
1. Abbott agrees to lower, $5.3B price for Alere
Abbott agreed to go through with its plan to acquire diagnostics giant Alere, but at the much lower price of $5.3 billion.
Originally priced at $5.8 billion when it was announced in February 2016, the deal ran into trouble right out of the gate as a string of setbacks befell Alere. By December 2016 Abbott had sued to stop the merger , citing a “substantial loss in Alere’s value” due to “a series of damaging business developments.” Read more