A Medical Device Daily

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.

This design may allow physicians to eliminate several steps in the current stenting procedure and reduce the need for some ancillary devices resulting in potential cost savings that could amount to as much as $1000 per case, Svelte says. The company is also pursuing a drug-eluting version of its "Stent-on-a-Wire" design.

In other dealmaking activity, 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 (Medical Device Daily, Feb. 24, 2009).

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.

"Temperature management is a critical component of our product portfolio. With this purchase, Zoll demonstrates its commitment to becoming a leader in accurate, easy-to-use and cost effective control of body temperature in critical care patients," said Zoll CEO/chairman of Zoll Richard Packer.

He added that the company would be integrating the technologies from both Alsius and Radiant Medical, an earlier asset acquisition, in combination with Zoll's own developments in this area, "to provide the very best solution for patients' needs."

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.