A Medical Device Daily

Synergetics (O'Fallon, Missouri), a microsurgery company that makes devices for use primarily in ophthalmic surgery and neurosurgery, said it has bought Medimold (St. Peters, Missouri), a company specializing in plastic injection molding, for $80,000 in cash.

Medimold makes specialized medical tools and devices through its plastic injection molding technology. Synergetics plans to incorporate the technology into its operations by moving currently machined parts to the Medimold platform. Annual initial cost savings resulting from the deal are expected to exceed $100,000 and ultimately exceed $250,000. The acquisition is also expected to enhance component quality, expand the company's manufacturing capacity, and provide greater component inventory control.

"The acquisition of Medimold is in keeping with our ongoing process improvement at all levels of the organization. From a product development and manufacturing perspective, Medimold's technology is a perfect fit with our manufacturing process. After a thorough analysis, the long term cost benefits of this investment were clearly undeniable. This acquisition will not only contribute to our cost saving initiatives but will also allow us have greater control of our inventory levels, an issue that we are turning our attention and focus to," said Kurt Gampp, executive VP and COO of Synergetics. "We look forward to integrating the Medimold personnel, processes and technology into our system and realizing continued operational benefits going forward."

In other dealmaking activity:

•BridgePoint Medical (Lexington, Kentucky), an independently owned prosthetic and orthotic company, said it has acquired Ashville Orthotic Prosthetic Center (AOPC; Ashville, North Carolina) and retained Greg Straub and Steve Hagler, credentialed prosthetist and orthotists, respectively, as owner-operators. Other owners, Andrew Adkisson and Emily Wilder, will also remain with the company. Adkisson will be responsible for the company's central fabrication operations and Wilder assumes management responsibilities of AOPC's North Carolina facilities.

The acquired entity will retain its name and locations in Asheville, Hendersonville and Charlotte, North Carolina and will continue to offer the same patient care without interruption. The company's Charlotte facility operates under the name of Charlotte Orthotic Prosthetic Center.

BridgePoint said it is trying to grow its business in the Southeast.

•Decision Resources (Waltham, Massachusetts) said it acquired Manhattan Research (New York) in an effort to expand its portfolio of market research and data businesses for the healthcare industry and to give the company a larger footprint in the consumer market research arena.

Manhattan Research is a healthcare market research and advisory services firm, bringing clarity to the market forces, trends, and impacts of physician and consumer use of information technology, including next generation digital media such as social networking, blogs, podcasts, and Web 2.0.

Decision Resources provides insight on the managed care industry, the medical device industry, the biopharmaceutical industry, the hospital-based drug and imaging industry, and U.S. formulary data.