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. Viveve preps $12m offering ahead of NASDAQ uplisting
Viveve said today that it’s planning to raise $11.5 million, having executed a 1-for-8 reverse stock split, as part of its uplisting from the over-the-counter exchange to the NASDAQ board.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Viveve makes a non-surgical treatment for post-partum laxity of the vaginal introitus. The company put the reverse split into place yesterday; today Viveve said it plans to hit the NASDAQ exchange under the “VIVE” symbol but didn’t disclose the pricing terms for the flotation in a registration filing. Read more
4. FDA approves Avedro’s KXL eye treatment
Avedro said today that it won FDA approval for its KXL corneal cross-linking eye treatment and a pair of photo enhancers used with the procedure.
The pre-market approval nod for Photrexa Viscous, Photrexa and the KXL System is for the treatment of progressive keratoconus, a gradual thinning and distortion of the cornea. Boston-based Avedro said the treatment is the 1st and only FDA-approved therapy for the condition. Read more
3. Advanced Catheter Therapies inks deal with Toray Industries for peripheral catheter
Advanced Catheter Therapies said today that it inked a worldwide license deal with Toray Industries for the manufacture and sale of ACT’s Occlusion Perfusion Catheter for peripheral vascular stenosis and restenosis.
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based ACT said it’s been manufacturing the OPC device for about a year for clinical trials and a test release. Read more
2. Layoffs for Baxter, Greatbatch’s Lake Region Medical in Colorado
Baxter and Greatbatch subsidiary Lake Region Medical are laying off workers in Colorado, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.
Baxter, which is planning to shutter a plant in Englewood, Colo., over the next year, will cut 106 jobs as a result, according to the April 5 WARN notice. Last October, Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter said it planned to cut about 1,400 jobs by the end of the year, or about 5% of its non-manufacturing workforce, with about ⅔ of the job cuts planned for outside the U.S. Read more
1. Johnson & Johnson’s Q1 sales tick up
Johnson & Johnson posted a slight increase in 1st-quarter sales in the face of headwinds from the strong dollar and Venezuela’s devaluation of the bolivar, but still managed to top Wall Street’s earnings forecast.
Profits for the New Brunswick, N.J.-based healthcare titan were off by -0.6% at $4.29 billion, or $1.54 per share, on sales of $17.48 billion for the 3 months ended March 31. That’s a top-line gain of 0.6% compared with Q1 2015. Read more
