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. How WiFi could monitor sleep disorders
Monitoring sleep disorders could be as easy as measuring the radio waves around a patient through WiFi, according to new research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Traditionally, physicians measure sleep disorders through electrodes or other sensors attached to a patient. The new method, however, is a device that uses an advanced artificial intelligence algorithm that analyzes radio signals surrounding a patient and translates those signals into the light, deep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stages. Read more
4. AdvaMed goes social with anti-medtech tax ad
The Advanced Medical Technology Assn. is unleashing the latest ad in a social media campaign aimed at winning more legislative support for a repeal of the medical device tax, hoping to sway Congress members during the August recess.
The apparent demise last month of Republican plans to repeal Obamacare and replace it with their own version of healthcare reform, which would have done away with the medtech tax, has the industry casting about for another vehicle to latch on to. Read more
3. Neuromod dev NeoSync raises $13m in Series D
Clinical-stage neuromod developer NeoSync said today it closed a $13 million Series D financing round to support a registration trial of its NeoSync-EEG Synchronized transcranial magnetic stimulation technology.
The Boston-based company said its Nest technology is designed to deliver low-energy, alternative magnetic field stimulation to treat individuals with treatment resistant depression. Read more
2. Philips closes $2B Spectranetics acquisition
Royal Philips said yesterday it closed its $2.2 billion deal to acquire US vascular intervention device maker Spectranetics.
With the closure, Spectranetics and its financial results will be consolidated into Philips image-guided therapy business, the company said. Philips said that Spectranetics employs over 900 individuals and is currently posting double-digit growth, with projected 2017 sales of approximately $300 million. Read more
1. Analyst: Johnson & Johnson tables cardiology M&A — for now
Johnson & Johnson yesterday signaled that it’s unlikely to pull the trigger on any merger & acquisition deals to bolster its cardiology business, according to a Leerink Partners analyst.
Worldwide chairwoman Sandi Peterson told Leerink’s Danielle Antalffy that the company has faith in its ability to “compete effectively” in cardiology with just two key operations in place, “which would imply no imminent acquisition in this space is likely,” according to an investors note sent out this morning. Read more
