Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 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.
3. Infraredx sets $56m IPO terms and hits the road
Infraredx set the terms for its forthcoming initial public offering, saying it plans to offer 4 million shares at a range of $13 to $15 each, and set out on a road show to drum up interest from investors.
Burlington, Mass.-based Infraredx makes an imaging system that combines intravascular ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy to provide images of the interior of coronary blood vessels. The company says the device is designed to detect lipid-core-containing plaque, which it says is implicated in higher risk for heart attack or stroke. Read more
2. Disinfection robots, Google Glass, artificial pancreas top hospitals’ tech list
Automated robotic systems used to combat hospital-acquired infections topped the ECRI Institute’s “2015 Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List,” an annual report on technologies healthcare executives should look out for in the next year to 18 months.
The robots use UV radiation and other light-based technologies to kill spores found in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and C. difficile. The devices are costly, with price tags ranging from $47,000 to $125,000, but the cost of battling the drug-resistant bugs are high too. ECRI noted that the capital equipment could have “large positive implications for infection prevention practices and capital and operational budgets,” according to the institute. Read more
1. J&J’s medical device sales take a hit
Johnson & Johnson’s medical device business posted top-line slides for both the 4th quarter and 2014, even excluding the effects of the strong dollar that helped to push down sales for the healthcare giant.
New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J reported worldwide medical device sales of $6.65 billion for the 4th quarter, a 9% decline compared with the same period in 2013 and a 4.7% slide on a constant-currency basis. The division brought in full-year revenues of $27.52 billion, down 3.4% compared with the prior year and off 1.6% excluding currency effects. Read more
