A Medical Device Daily

Kensey Nash (Exton, Pennsylvania) reported that it has exclusively licensed a patent for Optical Coherence Domain Reflectometry Guidewire, from Lawrence Livermore National Security to further expand the intellectual property portfolio related to its chronic total occlusion (CTO) platform.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The patent covers a guidewire with enhanced optical sensing capabilities, making it possible to sense locations, thickness and structure of the arterial walls as it is navigated through the body. According to Kensey Nash, the concept and technology, which are complementary to its Safe-Cross RF CTO System, will allow the company to develop next-generation CTO devices with improverd guidance and revascularization.

The Safe-Cross System uses a forward-looking guidance system and radio frequency (RF) energy to safely cross and recanalize chronic total occlusions in the coronary and peripheral arteries, the company noted.

At the recent TransCatheter Therapeutics Conference (TCT) in Washington, Charles Simonton, MD, Carolinas Medical Center, performed a live case demonstrating the use of the Safe-Cross System in crossing an in-stent restenosis CTO, greater than six months in age, in a patient’s left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. The total crossing time was about 15 minutes.

According to Kensey Nash, from 30% to 50% of people with coronary artery disease have at least one CTO, yet they are rarely treated due to the difficult nature of the condition.

By most definitions, CTOs are complete blockages of a vessel that have been present for at least one month and are extremely difficult to cross with conventional guidewire techniques, the company said. Often patients are not treated at all or are referred for bypass surgeries, yet if minimally invasive interventional treatment is possible, patient outcomes and one-year survival rates can be significantly improved, according to the company.

“By building upon the foundation of our current technology, we expect to broaden the Safe-Cross System’s capabilities as we develop additional tools to further improve clinical outcomes in both coronary and peripheral CTO procedures,” said Joseph Kaufmann, president/CEO of Kensey Nash.

Kensey Nash provides technologies for a wide range of medical procedures.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Cloud Packaging Solutions (Des Plains, Illinois), a portfolio company of Cameron Holdings (San Diego), said it has acquired Automated Packaging and Nature Clean Products (both Winder, Georgia).

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Automated Packing offers both custom and stock formulations, as well as services to provide turnkey solutions for customers looking to outsource their production needs in a variety of rigid container package styles, the company said.

Cloud provides a range of flexible packaging solutions in the food & beverage, consumer, industrial, OTC & Rx pharmaceutical and personal care industries. Cloud also makes high-speed packaging equipment.

• Marshfield Clinic (Marshfield, Wisconsin) and Osmetech (London) reported an exclusive licensing agreement for a new warfarin biomarker discovered at Marshfield.

Osmetech, an international diagnostics business serving the molecular testing market, said it will develop a genetic test based on Marshfield’s research that will more accurately determine the initial level of warfarin a patient should be prescribed, the company said.

Researchers at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, led by Michael Caldwell, MD, PhD, are working to discover ways to more accurately predict dosage levels for warfarin, which is used as an anticoagulant, the company noted.

Warfarin is a commonly prescribed drug that has a high frequency of adverse drug events.

The Marshfield Clinic system provides patient care, research and education with more than 40 locations in northern, central and western Wisconsin.

• Prime Healthcare Services (PHS), owner/operator of eight acute care hospitals in Southern California, has acquired Centinela Hospital Medical Center (CHMC), from Centinela Freeman HealthSystems (all Inglewood, California).

PHS said it would expand the emergency department to relieve overcrowding, to maintain all currently offered services and to invest $20 million in new infrastructure improvements over the next year. It will also keep its ongoing commitment to serving the poor and uninsured.

CHMC is a critical care hospital serving Inglewood and the greater Los Angeles communities.

• Pediatrix Medical Group (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) a provider of neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric cardiology physician services, reported completing the acquisition of a neonatal physician group practice in Palm Springs, California.

The three physicians practicing as part of Desert Neonatal Medical Group staff the 30-bed neonatal intensive care unit at Desert Regional Medical Center (both Palm Springs), which has annual patient volume of more than 9,000 patient days. The physicians serve patients admitted from throughout the growing Coachella Valley area.

The amount of the acquisition was not disclosed; however, Pediatrix said it paid cash for Desert Neonatal, and the transaction is expected to be accretive to the company EPS.

During 2007, Pediatrix said it now has completed eight physician group practice acquisitions including four neonatal physician groups, one maternal-fetal medicine group, an ultrasound radiology group, a pediatric cardiology group and an anesthesia physician group practice.