A Medical Device Daily

Kimberly-Clark (Dallas) reported that the initial offering period of its tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of I-Flow (Lake Forest, California) expired at midnight EST on Tuesday. The offer was conducted through Boxer Acquisition, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark.

The depositary for the tender offer has advised Kimberly-Clark that, as of the expiration of the initial offering period, a total of about 21,279,272 shares of I-Flow common stock were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn, representing about 87.1% of the outstanding shares of I-Flow common stock. All shares that were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn during the initial offering period have been accepted for payment.

The depositary has also advised Kimberly-Clark that it has received commitments to tender approximately 506,582 additional shares under the guaranteed delivery procedures described in the offer.

Kimberly-Clark also said that it is commencing through Boxer Acquisition, a subsequent offering period of its tender offer to acquire all remaining shares of I-Flow common stock. This subsequent offering period will expire at 5:00 p.m. EST on Nov. 23, unless extended.

Any shares validly tendered during this subsequent offering period will be accepted immediately for payment, and tendering stockholders will thereafter promptly be paid $12.65 in cash for each share of I-Flow common stock tendered, without interest and less any required withholding taxes. This is the same amount per share that was offered and paid in the initial offering period.

The subsequent offering period enables holders of shares of I-Flow common stock who did not tender during the initial offering period to participate in the offer and receive the offer price on an expedited basis rather than waiting until the completion of the merger. Shares tendered during this subsequent offering period cannot be delivered by the guaranteed delivery procedure and may not be withdrawn. In addition, shares validly tendered during the initial offering period may not be withdrawn during the subsequent offering period.

Following the expiration of the subsequent offering period, Kimberly-Clark intends to complete the acquisition of all remaining shares of I-Flow through a merger. Following the completion of the merger, I-Flow will operate as part of Kimberly-Clark Health Care.

In other dealmaking news, Expression Pathology (Rockville, Maryland) said that Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) has licensed non-exclusive rights to Expression Pathology's Liquid Tissue patent for use in diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis in formalin-fixed tissue.

Liquid Tissue methodology enables solubilization of proteins for mass spectrometric analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue, the standard form of preserved patient tissue used in clinical pathology testing worldwide. Mayo Clinic has applied the technology to develop a specific and sensitive mass spectrometry based method for diagnosis and classification of amyloidosis in routine biopsy specimens, in a format that is rapid and readily applicable in a clinical setting. This test is being offered to patients worldwide through Mayo Medical Laboratories, Mayo Clinic's reference laboratory.

With 50,000 diagnosed cases every year worldwide amyloidosis can be a localized or systemic disease, characterized by organ function impairment, sometimes as severe as cardiac and/or renal failure. Subtyping of cases is critical as management of the disease differs radically, from drug therapies to major organ transplants.

"Detailed mass spectrometry analysis of proteins related to specific disease conditions in FFPE tissue is opening huge opportunities in personalized medicine to relate those measurements to patient treatment decisions," said Casey Eitner, president/CEO of Expression Pathology. "We are delighted that Mayo Clinic has applied our Liquid Tissue methodology to solve a difficult medical problem."

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.