
Abiomed jumps on Medicare reimbursement news
March 21, 2014 by Brad Perriello

Abiomed said today that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plan to maintain the reimbursement rate for treatment with its Impella heart pump when new rates go into effect this fall.
The federal healthcare bureau is preparing to move from the ICD-9 slate of reimbursement codes to the ICD-10 version in October. The changeover won’t affect the rate for reimbursement for treatment with the Impella device, a catheter-based pump used to assist the heart in patients with heart failure. Read more
Presbia files for $90M IPO
March 21, 2014 by Brad Perriello

Presbia, which makes the Flexiview Micro-Lens corneal implant to treat presbyopia, registered with the SEC for an initial public offering of up to $90 million worth of stock.
The Flexiview Micro-Lens is designed to be inserted into a pocket created in the cornea using a laser. The pocket seals itself, holding the 3mm-diameter lens in the center of the visual axis. The 10-minute procedure is reversible and does not require general anesthesia, according to Presbia’s website. Read more
Shareholders sue Intuitive Surgical over adverse events, recalls
March 25, 2014 by Brad Perriello

Intuitive Surgical is under fire from shareholders for allegedly under-reporting adverse events associated with its da Vinci surgical robot and concealing at least 3 recalls from the FDA.
Led by the City of Birmingham Relief & Retirement System, the shareholder derivative lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California accuses Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive and its board and management of “failing to make a good-faith effort to ensure that Intuitive complied with applicable laws and FDA regulations governing the safety of medical devices designed to protect the health of the American public,” according to court documents. Read more
Corium poised for $66M IPO for wearable drug-delivery devices
March 24, 2014 by Arezu Sarvestani

Drug-delivery devices maker Corium could raise up to $66 million through an initial public offering, the company announced in SEC filings today.
Corium plans to offer 5.5 million shares of common stock for $10-$12 apiece, putting its total offering value at between $55-$66 million. At the middle rate of $11 per share, Corium expects its net proceeds to amount to $53.7 million after expenses. Read more
Haemonetics loses $25M Red Cross deal, shares slide
March 24, 2014 by Brad Perriello

Haemonetics said the American Red Cross went with 1 of its rivals for some components of the whole blood collection kits the relief agency uses, meaning a $25 million hit to Haemonetics’ top line.
The Braintree, Mass.-based company said today that it will no longer supply 1.4 million in-line whole blood collection kits annually to the Red Cross. A deal to provide 400,000 of Haemonetics’ Acrodose platelet pooling devices each year is still in place, the company said. The lost revenue, about $25 million worth, translates into a roughly 15¢ hit to earnings, according to a press release. Read more