A Medical Device Daily

Hanger Orthopedic Group (Bethesda, Maryland) reported that to date in 2009, it has acquired Northwest Prosthetic & Orthotic Clinic (Seattle) and Inline Orthotic and Prosthetic Systems (La Mesa, California). These acquisitions add patient care centers to existing markets in Washington and California.

President/CEO, Thomas Kirk said, "We are very pleased welcome the talented professionals from both Northwest and Inline to the Hanger team. These acquisitions continue our strategy of building share in existing markets and add value in our core O&P business."

Hanger is a provider of orthotic and prosthetic patient care services. In the U.S. it owns and operated 675 patient care centers in 45 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 3,500 employees including 1,083 practitioners. It is organized into four units. The two key operating units are patient care, which consists of nationwide orthotic and prosthetic practice centers, and distribution which consists of distribution centers managing the supply chain of orthotic and prosthetic componentry to Hanger and third party patient care centers. The third is Linkia, which is a provider network management company for the orthotics and prosthetics industry. The fourth unit, Innovative Neurotronics, introduces emerging neuromuscular technologies developed through independent research in a collaborative effort with industry suppliers worldwide.

In other dealmaking news:

• Echo Therapeutics (Franklin, Massachusetts) reported that it has signed a license agreement with Ferndale Pharma Group (Detroit), under which Echo granted Ferndale the right to develop, market, sell and distribute Echo's Prelude SkinPrep System for painless, needle-free skin preparation prior to the application of topical 4% lidocaine cream for fast-acting, local dermal anesthesia prior to a wide-range of needle-based medical procedures in North America and the UK. Echo's non-invasive Prelude SkinPrep System incorporates patented skin permeation control technology which allows for quick and painless removal of the outermost layer of the skin for both transdermal drug delivery and glucose measurement.

Echo will receive an up-front licensing fee of $750,000. Echo will also receive $750,000 upon FDA clearance of the product and additional milestone payments based on the achievement of certain net sales targets and guaranteed minimum royalties totaling an additional $12.6 million. Echo will also receive an escalating royalty on net sales of the product. Ferndale will also be responsible for all product development and regulatory costs for the final development of the Prelude SkinPrep System for topical analgesic/anesthetic drug delivery applications.

"Ferndale is a market leader specializing in advanced skincare and topical therapeutic products. This collaboration combines our skin permeation technology platform and Ferndale's leadership in the fast-growing topical anesthetic market based on LMX4, its topical 4% lidocaine cream."

"Importantly, this licensing transaction demonstrates the drug delivery capabilities of Prelude," said Patrick Mooney, MD, chairman/CEO of Echo. "We believe that there are numerous additional partnering opportunities for both Prelude and our Symphony tCGM System for needle-free, transdermal continuous glucose monitoring. We are actively engaged with and interested in finding additional partners as we leverage the use of Prelude as a transdermal drug delivery platform and Symphony for continuous glucose monitoring in the many territories around the world."

The Ferndale Pharma Group of companies specializes in the development of various dermatologic products including prescription topical drugs for the treatment of several acute and chronic dermatoses, medical devices that support and maintain wound closures and an extensive line of proprietary cosmeceutical products.

• American Shared Hospital Services (AMS; San Francisco), a provider of turnkey technology solutions for advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services, reported that its previously disclosed preliminary negotiations with an unaffiliated third party to sell the company's 81% indirect interest in GK Financing, have been terminated.