A Medical Device Daily

Collagen Matrix (Franklin Lanes, New Jersey) reported that it has signed an agreement with Stryker (Kalamazoo, Michigan) for the exclusive worldwide distribution of its NeuroMend Collagen Nerve Wrap. NeuroMend is a reabsorbable, collagen-based rolled membrane matrix intended for use in the repair of crushed or severed peripheral nerves.

NeuroMend provides a protective environment to guide the regeneration of the nerve across the injury or gap. The rolled membrane configuration of NeuroMend offers the ability of a single product to approximate nerves of varying diameters. In addition, NeuroMend can be implanted with minimal suturing due to the unique wrap design of the product.

"We are pleased to further our collaboration with Stryker Orthopaedics in the area of nerve repair. Stryker's highly-skilled and focused sales and marketing teams have already made a significant impact in the market with our Neuroflex and NeuroMatrix products. The addition of NeuroMend provides surgeons with a much needed solution for treating crush injuries often seen in trauma cases," said Shu-Tung Li, PhD, founder and CEO of Collagen Matrix.

Collagen Matrix is a developer of collagen- and mineral-based extracellular matrices for tissue and organ repair and regeneration.

In other agreements:

• Specialized Health Products International (Bountiful, Utah), a developer of proprietary safety medical products, reported that it has entered into an agreement with B.Braun Medical SAS for the exclusive supply and distribution of SafeStep Huber Needle Set in worldwide markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Specialized Health Products will provide finished goods to B.Braun Medical for marketing under B.Braun's private label and branded as Surecan SafeStep. The agreement is for an initial term of three years and includes minimum purchase requirements for the life of the agreement. "While Specialized Health Products is the leader in the U.S. safety Huber needle market, expansion into international markets is an important and relatively untapped element of our growth strategy," commented Jeff Soinski, president/CEO of Specialized Health Products. "By aligning ourselves with B.Braun Medical, the European market leader in vascular access ports, which Huber needles are used to access, we believe that we are well-positioned to efficiently and effectively enter Europe and other key international markets with our fast-growing SafeStep® product line." "Surecan® SafeStep® will help us grow our global market share in access ports, and contribute to the everyday safety of medical staff in the workplace, a pioneering area for the B.Braun group," said Jean-Michel Actis, VP/access port systems and peripheral vascular systems at B.Braun. "Our partnership with Specialized Health Products is an enhancing factor for our innovation strategy to provide solutions whenever an implanted port system can be used to access a target area in the body with relation to blood and/or treatments." B.Braun Medical SAS is the French subsidiary of B. Braun Melsungen, a global leader in ihealthcare, with a workforce of 33,000 and presence in more than 50 countries.
• Amerinet (St. Louis) a national healthcare group purchasing company, through an affiliation with OSF Healthcare System (OSF), reports a new multi-year agreement to serve as the exclusive group purchasing organization for Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN). Established in 2003, ICAHN shares resources between 50 critical-access hospital members throughout the state. "The ICAHN board of directors identified OSF and Amerinet as its purchasing partners after an extensive selection process," stated Pat Schou, executive director of ICAHN. "We chose OSF and Amerinet because they were able to identify immediate cost saving opportunities and offered avenues for direct member input. Both are vital components to our member organizations." The process included an independent assessment group comprised of chief financial officers and purchasing directors, who conducted a thorough assessment to determine which GPO had the greatest ability to save supply and service costs through their contracts. According to Bob Currey, director of affiliate services for OSF Healthcare System, "The three-year agreement with ICAHN represents a unique partnership for OSF and Amerinet. For more than 20 years, OSF has maintained relationships with many ICAHN members, and I look forward to coordinating the opportunities available through Amerinet and OSF."
• 20/20 HealthCare (Boston) reported an agreement with Rcadia (Haifa, Israel) for the distribution of the Rcadia COR-Analyzer computer-aided detection (CAD) software for automatic segmentation and classification of coronary CT angiogram procedures. 20/20 HealthCare will use its wholly owned subsidiaries, Viztek and 20/20 HealthCare Global, as channels for achieving broad market and geographical distribution of the Rcadia solution. The COR Analyzer system detects stenotic lesions in the major coronary arteries and automatically identifies patients without coronary artery disease with a high negative predictive value. It uses proprietary image processing algorithms to produce a report that enables fast and accurate evaluation of patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The automatic system requires no human intervention and supports more precise diagnosis and treatment as well as enhanced workflow. The COR Analyzer accepts standard DICOM images from any 64-slice CT scanner.