Endocare approved for NASDAQ listing

Endocare (Irvine, California), a medical device company focused on the development of minimally invasive technologies for tissue and tumor ablation, said that it was approved for listing on NASDAQ. The company’s common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol ENDO on Wednesday.

Craig Davenport, Endocare’s CEO said, “Our listing on NASDAQ is a significant milestone for Endocare, marking the completion of a long turnaround process. We believe that the NASDAQ listing should help us attract a broader audience of potential investors, resulting in a more liquid security and enhanced stockholder value over time.”

Wisconsin transplant team starts certification

The University of Wisconsin (UW; Madison) heart transplant team received the first of four phases of certification training on SynCardia Systems’ (Tucson, Arizona) CardioWest temporary total artificial heart at University Medical Center (Tucson). The heart transplant program at UW is one of the more active in the U.S., with more than 560 heart transplants performed during its history. According to statistics from the United Network for Organ Sharing, heart transplant survival rates at UW are some of the highest in the country. While the national patient survival rate for three years post-transplant is 79.7%, the three-year survival rate at UW is 86.67%.