A Medical Device Daily

MDS (Toronto) a provider of products and services to the global life sciences markets, and Danaher (Washington), a diversified technology leader, reported that they have each received a second request for information from the Federal Trade Commission regarding the sale of MDS Analytical Technologies.

The second request relates to a global market segment that MDS and Danaher estimate generates less than $50 million in annual revenues for all sellers combined.

In September Danaher agreed to acquire both halves of a mass spectrometry joint venture in two separate deals for a combined total of $1.1 billion. In one transaction, Danaher agreed to pay $650 million for the Analytical Technologies division of MDS, which includes a 50% ownership position in Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex joint venture (AB Sciex; Concord, Ontario), a mass spectrometry business, and a 100% ownership in the former Molecular Devices Corporation, a bioresearch and analytical instrumentation company. In a separate transaction, Danaher also agreed to buy the remaining 50% ownership position in AB Sciex from Life Technologies (Carlsbad, California) for $450 million in cash (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 3, 2009).

The deals are now expected to close in the first quarter of 2010.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Acacia Research (Newport Beach, California) reported that its Hospital Systems Corporation subsidiary has entered into a license agreement with General Electric Company (Fairfield, Connecticut) covering a portfolio of patents that apply to medical picture archiving and communication system technology.

This agreement resolves the parties' dispute that was pending in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

• Celera (Alameda, California), a healthcare company focused on genetics, and Medical Therapies (Sydney), a biotechnology company developing midkine-related diagnostic and therapeutic products, have entered into an exclusive license agreement for the use of MTY's midkine patent portfolio for the development of novel lung cancer diagnostics.

Celera will be able to utilize MTY's midkine patents for the development and commercialization of diagnostic products to address a range of lung cancer-related applications, including risk assessment, early detection, differentiation, prognosis as well as monitoring of reoccurrence and disease progression and response to treatment.

Numerous clinical studies have been conducted to date validating the role of midkine in early cancer formation. Blood midkine levels are greatly elevated in the early stages of cancer formation and poor prognosis for patients has also been closely linked to high midkine levels in a number of cancers1-3.

• Psychiatric Solutions, (PSI; Franklin, Tennessee) reported that it has completed the sale of its employee assistance program business to Aetna (Hartford, Connecticut) for about $70 million in cash. PSI intends to use the net proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt.

"Through this transaction, we have incrementally streamlined our operations and enhanced our focus on our core services of inpatient behavioral health," said Joey Jacobs, president/CEO of PSI. "In applying the net proceeds from the sale to reduce our debt, we have also strengthened our ability to continue implementing our long-term strategies for organic growth and acquisition."

• Acadia Healthcare (Atlanta) reported the acquisition of Peninsula Village (Louisville, Tennessee) from Parkwest Medical Center (Knoxville, Tennessee). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Peninsula Village, is a residential treatment center serving adolescents ages 13-17 suffering from emotional and/or behavioral disorders who have not responded to less intensive treatment approaches. The facility's name will change to The Village.