A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Eucomed (Brussels, Belgium), the European medical technology industry association, has named John Wilkinson as its new director general.

Wilkinson takes over operational leadership of the trade group from Maurice Wagner, who will leave Eucomed at the end of the month to pursue other opportunities after nearly six years heading the organization.

Wilkinson, who has more than 25 years of experience in the medical devices and diagnostics industry, joins Eucomed from the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI), where he has acted as director general since the beginning of 2004. He will begin the transition from his current role to the Eucomed post next month.

Wilkinson said, “I am ... looking forward to working with staff and members on the very strong program that has been put in place at Eucomed by Maurice Wagner and the board of directors. With the challenges facing our industry it is essential that we work closely with policymakers both on a European and national level to continue to make a positive contribution to the European economy and to provide real benefits for patients.”

Guy Lebeau, MD, chairman of Eucomed, said that the Eucomed board “will work closely with Maurice Wagner during the next weeks to ensure a smooth transition toward the new leadership, both for our members and our stakeholders in Brussels and the EU member states.”

The association has identified as key strategic areas in 2008 that include “shaping the development of tomorrow’s healthcare systems, being an active partner with governmental bodies, and demonstrating the clinical benefit, value and cost-effectiveness of medical technology.”

Eucomed represents directly and indirectly 4,500 designers, manufacturers and suppliers of medical products, with small- and medium-sized companies making up more than 80% of the sector. The organization said the European medical-technology industry invests some 13.8 billion in research and development and employs nearly 435,000.

Qiagen, U.S. center in collaboration

The Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM; Grand Rapids, Michigan) reported the formation of a collaborative effort between its affiliates and Qiagen (Venlo, the Netherlands) to support research focused on discovering molecular biomarkers capable of helping diagnose breast cancer and other women’s health issues.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The collaboration is centered on the CMM’s access to clinical samples, its molecular analysis capabilities and XenoBase software and database system developed at the Van Andel Research Institute (also Grand Rapids).

The specialized bio-informatic system is capable of analyzing a wide range of molecular and conventional clinical data to help researchers identify associations between diseases, biomarkers and treatments. It is the result of more than five years of work by Craig Webb, PhD and Jeremy Miller, PhD, of the Van Andel Institute.

Based on the result of Qiagen’s initial research, the U.S. center also may provide laboratory-based genomics and proteomics services to assist the Dutch firm in the development and validation of new molecular diagnostic tests.

CMM is a clinical diagnostics laboratory, founded in early 2007 as a joint venture between Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health and the Van Andel Institute.

Partnership on slide-stainer instruments

bioMérieux (Marcy L’Etoile, France) and Wescor (Logan, Utah) have signed an agreement under which bioMérieux will become Wescor’s exclusive worldwide partner for marketing two customized slide-stainer instruments for Gram bacillus and tuberculosis bacillus under the bioMérieux brand.

The French firm said this OEM agreement, reinforces its leadership position in the microbiology laboratory, “bringing automation to a new step in the analytic process with the unique slide-staining technology, Previ Color Gram and Previ Color TB.

bioMérieux said Gram staining is a critical and mandatory test performed in the microbiology laboratory. It is a preliminary step used to differentiate Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. traditional Gram staining is “a cumbersome and long procedure, [requiring] technical expertise, numerous manual steps and therefore lacks reliability and reproducibility.”

The companies said Wescor’s automated spray technology “saves time and enables standardization and accuracy of results.”

They said the addition of the Cytopro rotor to the slide stainers results in a cytocentrifugation with eight-slide capacity. “The innovative technique also improves laboratory workflow and generates significant savings for laboratories of all sizes,” bioMérieux said. Commercial launch is scheduled for 3Q08.

“This very promising partnership with Wescor further advances bioMérieux’s strategy to enhance microbiology laboratory automation. From having two microbiology instruments [in] mid-2006, bioMérieux will be offering six microbiology instruments to customers in summer 2008,” said CEO Stéphane Bancel.

Wescor is part of privately held ELITech (Puteaux, France).

Benelux distribution set for BodyTel system

BodyTel Scientific (Jacksonville, Florida), a maker of wireless telemedical devices, said that it has, through its wholly owned subsidiary, BodyTel Europe, entered into an international distribution agreement with TeleHealth Services, a well-known distributor of medical supplies in the Western European Benelux region.

Beginning in the current quarter, TeleHealth Services will begin offering BodyTel’s blood glucose monitoring and diabetes management system, GlucoTel, as well as the PressureTel blood pressure device and the WeightTel weight scale, once available, in the Benelux region, which consists of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

BodyTel granted TeleHealth Services the right to exclusively market the products of BodyTel in the Netherlands and non-exclusive in Belgium for a term of one year. TeleHealth Services also is responsible for all distribution, compliance and marketing costs relating to the sale of the products in the distribution territory.

“TeleHealth Services has excellent know-how in the targeted markets, as well as extensive experience in selling diabetes products. We’re convinced that our new partner will play a key role for BodyTel in the coverage of the entire Benelux region,” said Michael Berrendorf, sales director EMEA for BodyTel.