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. Federal appeals court denies Medtronic in Endotach stent graft patent case
A federal appeals court today declined to overturn a U.S. Patent & Trademark Office decision to deny Medtronic‘s bid for the review of a pair of stent graft patents licensed to Endotach, a subsidiary of patent troll Acacia Research.
Endotach sued Medtronic in 2012, alleging that the medtech giant infringed a pair of patents licensed to Endotach by their inventor’s widow. The patents, for “Endovascular Bypass Graft” and “intravascular Stent with Secure Mounting Means,” were awarded to Dr. Valentine Rhodes and passed on to his widow after his death in 2000, according to the documents. Read more
4. Olympus slides on profit outlook despite swing to Q4, 2016 black
Shares in Olympus slid as much as -6.9% today before closing down -4.6% at roughly $33.67 (¥4,010.00), after the Japanese tech conglomerate said it expects lower sales and profits during its fiscal year ending next March.
Olympus said it expects sales to be off by -0.6% at about $7.46 billion (¥800 billion) for fiscal 2017. Operating profits could slide as much as -14% to $756 million (¥90 billion) due to the strong yen, the company said. Read more
3. Toshiba promotes medical chief Tsunakawa to CEO
Toshiba said today that it promoted the chief of its medical equipment business, Satoshi Tsunakawa, to be its next CEO as it looks to recover from a $1.5 billion accounting scandal.
Tsunakawa, 60, is credited with having grown profits for the medical business. He was not involved in the accounting scandal; ex-CEO Hisao Tanaka and 7 other senior Toshiba executives resigned in July 2015 after admitting that they cooked the books to show inflated profits. Toshiba later confirmed that it overstated profits going back to fiscal 2008/09 by some $1.45 billion (¥155 billion). Read more
2. Siemens Healthcare’s ‘Healthineers’ re-branding is widely panned
The re-branding of German conglomerate Siemens‘s healthcare business as “Siemens Healthineers” – and the mandatory concert it threw for 44,000 employees – have drawn widespread scorn across the globe.
The new name is intended to underline its pioneering spirit, Siemens said in a statement. Read more
1. BTG puts up $110m for Galil Medical
BTG said it agreed to put a total of $110 million on the table for Galil Medical and its line of cryoablation devices for treating cancer.
The deal calls for London-based BTG to pay $84.5 million (£58.3 million) in up-front cash and another $25.5 million (£17.6 million) in regulatory and commercial milestones, which are live until the end of 2018. Read more
