• GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, England) and Hansen Medical (Mountain View, California) reported a collaboration to promote the use of GE Healthcare's imaging technologies and Hansen Medical's robotic catheter technologies for electrophysiology (EP) procedures. In addition, the companies expect to pursue integrated product offerings in connection with their collaboration. The partnership enables the companies to promote the compatibility of the GE Innova X-ray imaging platform with Hansen's Sensei robotic catheter system. The companies said they seek to further augment the capabilities of electrophysiologists to perform EP procedures.

• Jolife (Lund, Sweden) said it has renewed the exclusive distribution agreement of the LUCAS chest compression system with Physio Control (Redmond, Washington), a division of Medtronic (Minneapolis). The LUCAS chest compression system is a device that assists rescuers such as first responders, paramedics, nurses and doctors, in saving sudden cardiac arrest patients. Physio Control will continue to market the LUCAS system globally, with the exception of Sweden, Norway and Finland where Jolife has its own direct sales force. LUCAS is approved and marketed in major markets such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and in Europe. The LUCAS system is designed to perform continuous mechanical chest compressions to maintain blood flow to the brain and heart.

• Osmetech (Pasadena, California), an international molecular diagnostics company, said it has signed an agreement as principal supplier of Warfarin Sensitivity tests for a major new U.S. trial sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Investigators for the upcoming Clarification of Optimal Anticoagulation through Genetics Trial (COAG Trial) have selected Osmetech's Warfarin Sensitivity tests and eSensor XT-8 molecular diagnostics instrument platform for 10 of the 12 sites identified to run the trial. The University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) is the coordinating center for the trial. The study has been designed as a 1,238-patient, randomized, double-blind trial which will examine the utility of using genetic information for warfarin dosing. Specifically, the COAG Trial will test two approaches to determining the initial dose of warfarin in patients who are expected to need therapy for three months or longer. Warfarin is an oral anticoagulant widely used for the prevention of thrombotic events and to treat a confirmed episode of venous thrombosis, with roughly 2 million new patients each year in the U.S. alone. Although highly effective, warfarin's usability is limited by a narrow therapeutic range combined with a pronounced interindividual variability in the dose required for adequate anticoagulation. Clinical use of warfarin is further complicated by a substantial risk for hemorrhagic side effects, which is increased in patients with low-dose requirements. Warfarin is the second-most-likely drug, after Digoxin, to cause adverse events requiring hospitalization, according to Osmetech.

• Svelte Medical Systems (New Providence, New Jersey) reported a license agreement with Cordis (Bridgewater, New Jersey) for certain intellectual property (IP) rights around stent design and stent delivery systems. The agreement gives Svelte exclusive rights to some IP related to "Stent-on-a-Wire" delivery systems as well as non-exclusive rights to several stent designs for use on the "Stent-on-a-Wire" delivery system, the company said. "This agreement positions the company with strong intellectual property around a novel delivery system that we believe will bring benefits to clinicians and their patients around the world," said President/CEO Mark Pomeranz. Svelte is a private company that develops "highly deliverable" balloon expandable stents with the focus to reduce time and cost in an angioplasty procedure. According to the company, its "Stent on a Wire" system is a low-profile, highly flexible stent system that navigates the vasculature in a similar fashion to a traditional guidewire.

• Zoll Medical (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) said it has completed the purchase of the assets of Alsius's (Irvine, California) intravascular temperature management device business for about $12 million. The deal was first disclosed earlier this year. The entire complement of Alsius products will continue to be offered by Zoll to meet the ongoing needs of Alsius customers and their patients, the company said. This includes both the Thermogard XP Advanced Temperature Management System as well as the Cool Gard 3000 System. Zoll said it intends to maintain the full line of Alsius catheters, all of which provide central venous infusion capabilities. To make this transition seamless for customers, the company said it would provide all warranty and service obligations relating to the installed base of Alsius products. As the clinical community continues to expand the applications for therapeutic temperature management, Zoll said it intends to work with leading clinicians to help expand the indications for therapeutic hypothermia. The company said it plans to consolidate the operations of the acquired business at its new 53,000-square-foot facility in Sunnyvale, California, which has a separate production area designed specifically for catheter manufacturing.