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. Merit Medical picks up Argon Medical Devices, Catheter Connections assets for $48m
Merit Medical said today it picked up assets from Argon Medical Devices and Catheter Connections for $48 million.
The South Jordan, Utah-based company did not say which specific assets it acquired, but said that the 2 product lines it bought had combined revenue of $46 million in 2016. Read more
4. Former Bio-Rad GC Wadler wins $11m in retaliatory firing suit
A federal jury in California yesterday reportedly awarded the former general counsel for Bio-Rad Laboratories, Sanford Wadler, nearly $11 million in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit Wadler brought against his former employer.
After a 3-hour deliberation, the jury in the U.S. District Court for Northern California awarded Sadler $2.9 million in back pay and stocks and $5 million in punitive damages; the back pay award is slated to be doubled, taking the total judgment to $10.8 million, according to The Recorder. Read more
3. Carmat rescinds bid to resume artificial heart trial
Carmat said yesterday that it won’t seek to resume implantations of its artificial heart after all, after French regulators suspended a clinical trial last fall after the 5th death in the study.
France’s national drug agency, ANSM, suspended the the trial in December 2016 after the patient died. Yesterday Carmat said the patient’s death was not related to a problem with the device. Read more
2. Johnson & Johnson’s Mentor sued over silicone breast implants
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Mentor Worldwide’s silicone breast implants are accused of causing muscle pain, nausea and other symptoms in a product liability lawsuit reportedly filed in California state court last week.
Mentor allegedly failed to run adequate clinical studies establishing the implants’ safety, plaintiff Rexine Mize claimed in the lawsuit, according to Bloomberg. The implants leak silicone, leading to a variety of ailments, according to the suit. Read more
1. Abiomed gains after Abbott tables HeartMate PHP program
Abiomed shares closed up more than 5% yesterday as investors reacted to reports that Abbott paused its HeartMate PHP program in Europe.
Abbott, which acquired the Thoratec line of HeartMate cardiac assist devices when it paid $25 billion for St. Jude Medical last month, reportedly advised physicians last week that it’s temporarily halting its Shield II clinical trial for the HeartMate PHP pump due to an issue with its catheter. Read more
