A Medical Device Daily

Visage Imaging (Carlsbad, California) a subsidiary of Mercury Computer Systems, reported it has signed a comprehensive marketing agreement with Viatronix (Stoney Brook, New York), a developer of 2-D/3-D medical imaging and diagnostic software.

Under the agreement, Visage Imaging will act as a representative for Viatronix-s V3D-Colon Virtual Colonoscopy product in the U.S. The agreement expands Viatronix's domestic marketing arm, while extending Visage Imaging's applications portfolio for advanced visualization products.

"We are extremely excited to be working with Viatronix," said Jim Schumacher, VP/COO of Visage Imaging. "Virtual colonoscopy is becoming a requirement within our customer base, and the planned, seamless integration of V3D-Colon with our Visage CS platform is the solution. We are proud to team up with a true market leader in providing this critical technology."

In other agreements/contracts news, IVAX Diagnostics (Miami) reported that it has signed an agreement with Lin-Zhi International (Sunnyvale, California) that allows it to market and sell Lin-Zhi's full product line of oral fluid and urinary homogeneous enzyme immunoassay test products in Europe and the U.S.

The assays that IVAX Diagnostics will be distributing include drugs-of-abuse (DOA) tests to detect Ecstasy, Oxycodone, methadone, cocaine metabolite, amphetamines, opiate, methadone metabolite, Cotinine, and ethyl alcohol, among others.

According to BCC Research (Wellesley, Massachusetts), the total worldwide DOA testing market was $1.9 billion in 2007. BCC Research estimates that some 74% of the DOA testing value is located in the U.S., with the European Union representing another 19%.

Laboratory-based testing represents nearly 79% of the total worldwide DOA testing market.

IVAX Diagnostics develops proprietary diagnostic reagents, instrumentation and software in the U.S. and Italy.