A Medical Device Daily

Vivonics (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported the completion of its acquisition of all assets related to the Biomedical division of Infoscitex (IST; Waltham).

Vivonics was founded specifically to acquire the IST Biomedical business by Gordon Hirschman, who was IST executive VP in charge of that division prior to the acquisition.

“Establishing our business as a separate company will allow us to focus our full attention on the development and commercialization of advanced biomedical technologies“ said Hirschman, now president/CEO of Vivonics.

All previous employees of the IST Biomedical division have agreed to join Vivonics, assuring continuity for on-going developments.

The charter of Vivonics is to develop innovative technologies that improve or maintain health or help optimize human effectiveness within complex systems, from the initial concept through to viable products. Some of the technologies currently under development include: an implantable artificial lung based on microfluidics, an advanced socket for adapting a prosthetic leg to the amputee's residual limb, a robotic device to assist with ultrasound scans, and molecular technology using advanced DNA aptamers for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Aviv REIT (Chicago) reported that it has acquired a post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility (SNF) located in Kentucky for $9.9 million.

The property will be triple-net leased to publicly-traded Advocat, a new tenant relationship for Aviv. Advocat is an operator of SNFs in the U.S., with 48 facilities located in eight states.

The triple-net lease has a 15 year term, an initial cash yield of 10.2% and annual compounded escalators based on CPI. The transaction was funded with cash on hand.

“We are excited about this transaction as it represents a new strategic relationship for Aviv,“ said Craig Bernfield, chairman, president/CEO of Aviv. “This acquisition was an opportunity to acquire a quality care center that recently underwent a $3 million renovation and we are also pleased to further diversify our portfolio by entering into a new state. We look forward to growing our relationship with Advocat.“

• Accenture (New York) has completed its acquisition of Octagon Research Solutions (Wayne, Pennsylvania), a provider of clinical and regulatory information management solutions and software for the pharmaceutical industry. The acquisition was reported on Aug. 2.

The acquisition enhances Accenture's existing clinical services capabilities – including clinical data management, clinical programming and safety case processing, among others – and adds regulatory submission services, thereby extending Accenture's business process outsourcing capabilities for the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, Accenture says it can now provide the first comprehensive clinical and regulatory services to pharmaceutical companies globally, helping them get medicines to market more quickly and cost effectively.

“Our pharmaceutical clients around the world are looking for proven clinical and regulatory services that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their drug development business,“ said David Boath, North American managing director for Accenture's Life Sciences industry group.