MRI surgery devices maker launches IPO following name-change

MRI Interventions (OTC:MRIC), a company developing minimally invasive neurosurgery systems, launched an initial public offering with shares at $1 apiece.

The Memphis-based company’s flagship ClearPoint technology allows patients to undergo surgery during MRI scanning, using the images to target areas of the brain for surgery.

The ClearPoint system includes durable equipment, such as a workstation monitor and patient fixation frame, as well as single-use instruments, and the device is already in use in 15 hospitals nationwide, the Memphis Business Journal reported.

The device maker was known as SurgiVision until just a couple of weeks ago when it announced its new moniker and re-launched its website, according to a press release.

"ClearPoint systems are installed at a growing number of hospitals, including many of the leading neurosurgical centers in the country," CEO Kimble Jenkins wrote in a recent note to stockholders. "We are making progress outside the US as well. At the end of last year, we completed our 1st installation in Europe and expect to open additional ClearPoint sites in Europe over the coming quarters."

Surgeons have used the ClearPoint system in treatment for a range of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, pediatric dystonia, brain tumors, epilepsy and Tourette’s syndrome, Jenkins added.

MRI Interventions last month won FDA clearance for its SmartFlow neuro ventricular cannula, an MRI-compatible injection and aspiration cannula for use in the brain, according to a press release.

MRIC shares were down 1% to 98¢ as of about 9:30 a.m. today.

Device makers could get hit by VA’s new prosthetics rules
The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs is looking to curtail rising costs for medical prosthetics, which have increased 80% in the last 4 years, by changing how it purchases the devices and by requiring more documentation at the time of purchase.

That could take a toll on med-tech giants Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), which collectively received $8 million for prosthetics from the VA in 2010, according to Bloomberg.
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Bioventus’ new CEO talks spinout
New Bioventus CEO Mark Augusti detailed his new company, which was formed when Smith & Nephew sold 51% of its biologics division to Essex Woodlands in a joint venture.

"Smith & Nephew felt that biologics was important and regenerative medicine was important for the future direction they wanted to play in, but they felt they couldn’t invest it appropriately," Augusti said. "There’s a real win-win here for the shareholders, an opportunity to monetize some of the current value in the business for Smith & Nephew shareholders, and that will probably only be 5% of the Smith & Nephew revenue, for Smith & Nephew to retain the minority position, the significant minority position, which should give them the window into biologics."
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Orthofix pairs up with Brainlab for spinal navigation systems
Orthofix (NSDQ:OFIX) and Brainlab reached an agrement to merge the Phoenix MIS and Firebird pedicle screw systems to form the latest generation of Brainlab spinal navigation technology.

The new systems aim to enhance minimally invasive spinal deformity surgery suing image-guided surgery platforms in conjunction with Orthofix’s spinal fixation systems.
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Funding Roundup

Analysts’ ups and downs

Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG): J.P. Morgan raises price target from $500 to $570, maintains neutral price target
Stryker (NYSE:SYK): Zacks maintains "neutral" rating

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