A Medical Device Daily

Golden Meditech (Hong Kong), a medical device and healthcare service corporation in China, reported that its hospital subsidiary – Golden Meditech Hospital Group (GMHG) has entered into an agreement to issue senior 5% redeemable convertible notes due in 2014 with an aggregate principal amount of $28 million (HK$217 million). The monies raised will be used to accelerate business developments in China.

Under the agreement, GMHG will issue 15,747 new shares to investors upon full conversion, valuing the entire GMHG in excess of $200 million. Upon full conversion, the note holder will hold about 13.61% of enlarged share capital of GMHG, and our holdings in GMHG will be diluted from current 60% to 51.8%.

Golden Meditech completed its strategic entry into China's hospital management and service market in June this year, and now owns the first nationwide management license granted by China government to a foreign entity.

"Besides accelerating its expansion plan in China, this successful private equity financing will help create synergies effects between GMHG and other businesses we are currently operating. Such a move will help not only enhance our competitiveness, but also strengthen our strategic presence as one of the leading players in China's healthcare industry," said Kam Yuen, chairman of Golden Meditech

Golden Meditech operates an integrated portfolio of healthcare businesses including medical devices, healthcare services and natural herbal medicines.

Ingen receives Chinese patent for Oxyview

Ingen Technologies (Yucaipa, California), a device manufacturer focused on the respiratory market, reported that the company has received notification from its patent attorney, Donn Harms, regarding the publication of the Chinese patent for the Oxyview and the Oxyview Nasal Cannula.

The designated Chinese patent application no. 200710005067.4 was officially issued and published on July 1, 2009 for the cannula gas flow meter referred to as Oxyview.

The company's pending patents in Japan, Canada, and Europe are expected to issue in 2010.

"Our patents provide a higher valuation of our company and additional security to our intellectual property, specifically our new 'gravity-independent' technology applied to the Oxyview products, and our 'digital transmission' technology applied to our OxyAlert products. The world market for our products includes 600 million patients requiring supplementary oxygen and home oxygen therapy. We have recently shown increased sales in the USA with demand of our Oxyview Nasal Cannula products, and we have the company positioned to enter markets in China, Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia for product distribution in early 2010 as an additional revenue stream for Ingen," said Scott Sand, chairman/CEO.

Activiews raises $5 million

Medical device start-up ActiViews (Tirat Hacarmel, Israel) raised $5 million in an investment round led by 7 Health Ventures. Previous investors Ofer HiTech and Evergreen Venture Partners participated in the round as well.

ActiViews, founded in 2007, is developing optical guidance systems used in CT, fluoroscopy and Magnetic MRI procedures. ActiViews' first product, ActiSight, is designed to improve minimally invasive oncology diagnosis, with future applications in guiding therapeutic devices to malignant targets. The ActiSight already has the CE mark.

The company was founded by Pinchas Gilboa, the founder of SuperDimension (Herzliya, Israel). ActiViews CEO, Yuval Zuk, is the former CEO of Odin Medical Technologies. The company has 10 employees.

The funds will be used to set up a sales network in Europe and for obtaining marketing approval in the US, the company said.

CellaVision DM1200 analyzer approved for sale

CellaVision (Lund, Sweden) which develops digital morphology products for the routine analysis of blood and other body fluids, has received official approval for the new analyzer CellaVision DM1200 in Canada. The approval is strategically important for CellaVision's penetration of the North American market, it said.

"We have invested a large amount of resources into the studies and documentation necessary for selling this product on our main markets. We are now able to offer Canadian hospitals with somewhat smaller test volumes a fully automated analyzer, contributing to a more efficient workflow at the laboratory. We are expecting this product to have a positive effect on our sales in North America," said Yvonne M rtensson, CEO of CellaVision.

The CellaVision DM1200 is intended to replace manual microscopy of blood samples and is aimed at medium-sized hospital laboratories. The distribution between different types of white blood cells and their appearance are important criteria in diagnosis of a number of conditions such as infections and blood cancer. Automated technology increases productivity, reduces response times, and improves diagnostic quality.

North America, including Canada, is one of CellaVision's most important markets. Since 2007 CellaVision has been selling its products in Canada through a subsidiary, and more than 25 analyzers have been sold to both hospital and commercial laboratories. In the U.S., CellaVision sells its products both via the distributor Sysmex America, as well as through a subsidiary. As of 2008 North America accounted for 43% of CellaVision's turnover.