A Medical Device Daily

Accuray (Sunnyvale, California), a developer of radio surgery products, reported that the company has established a direct sales presence in India. The recently established sales, marketing and service organization demonstrates the company's focus on this burgeoning market and expanding patient access to CyberKnife radio surgery.

India, the second most populous nation in the world, has a rapidly aging population with life expectancy rates that have increased to almost 70 years as of 2009. More than 850,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed every year and it is estimated that healthcare expenditures will increase from the current 7% to 13% in the next 10 years.

Presently there are two CyberKnife systems installed in India; the first at Apollo Specialty Hospital (Chenai), which went live in March 2009, and the second at Health Care Global (HCG; Bangalore), which went live in June 2009. While these systems were sold through an external distribution channel, the recently established internal organization will enable local Accuray personnel to sell directly within the country.

“We recognize the needs of this important market and have chosen to make a special investment in dedicated local resources to increase the availability of innovative cancer care for its people,“ said Euan Thomson PhD, Accuray's president/CEO.

“The CyberKnife offers patients a non-surgical treatment alternative, which is imperative for our large elderly population, of whom many are not candidates for other forms of therapy,“ said B. S. Ajai Kumar, MD, director CyberKnife Center and chairman HCG, Bangalore.

Oridion, Masimo sign distribution agreement

Oridion (Jerusalem), creator of Smart Capnography, and Masimo (Irvine, California), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry and Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, reported a distribution agreement naming Masimo as a non-exclusive distributor for the Oridion Capnostream 20 portable bedside capnography monitors throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

This distribution agreement further enhances last year's agreement between Masimo and Oridion which established connectivity between the Capnostream 20 bedside monitors and the Masimo Patient SafetyNet remote monitoring and clinician notification system. By making the Capnostream 20 available as part of Masimo's general floor monitoring solutions, Masimo Patient SafetyNet is the first remote monitoring and clinician notification system to feature Oridion's newest Smart Capnography innovation – the Integrated Pulmonary Index (IPI) – enabling real-time tracking and trending of Oridion etCO2 and respiration rate in combination with Masimo SET SpO2 and pulse rate, for a comprehensive assessment of the patient's oxygenation and ventilatory status.

NexMed inks Japanese marketing accord

NexMed (San Diego) reported that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bio-Quant has signed a distribution agreement with Cosmo Bio(Tokyo) under which Cosmo Bio will market Bio-Quant's discovery and pre-clinical contract research services throughout Japan.

Cosmo Bio is a distributor of life sciences products and services to academic researchers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, specializing in oncology, inflammation, immunology and metabolic diseases.

“The distribution agreement provides us with a formal presence in Japan, where we have already established an initial foothold with a number of leading Japanese pharmaceutical companies,“ said Bassam Damaj, PhD, CEO of NexMed.