A Medical Device Daily

HP (Palo Alto, California) and medical device developer Crospon (Galway, Ireland), a said they have entered into a licensing agreement for a drug-delivery platform that enables painless, controlled release of one or more drugs in a single patch applied to the skin.

HP will license its intellectual property to Crospon in return for royalty payments. Crospon will commercialize the patch, invented by HP Labs, HP’s central research facility, and make it available to pharmaceutical companies to use in various therapeutic areas.

Crospon, which recently reported receiving 12.3 million in seed financing, will manufacture the patch and manage all sales and support of the technology.

The patch delivers medication just below the surface of the skin and, according to the company, “enables precise control of dosage timing, access to dosage history, patient activation mechanisms and inherent safety protocols for preventing adverse drug interactions.”

“This industry-first skin patch invented by HP allows Crospon to offer a superior drug delivery platform for doctors and patients,” said John O’Dea, CEO of Crospon. “We look forward to working with our pharmaceutical customers to bring this breakthrough solution to the market.”

The patch uses micro-needles that barely penetrate the skin, which the company said “significantly reduces discomfort compared to traditional hypodermic needles and enables the technique to be used with a much wider variety of drugs and biopharmaceuticals.” The microneedles allow medication to quickly enter the bloodstream, resulting in the potential delivery of lower and more precise dosages, according to HP.

HP said it initially developed the drug delivery technology as a way to “repurpose” its inkjet technology for use in new markets and is similar to that employed in the company’s inkjet cartridges.

The agreement between HP and Crospon resulted in part from HP’s relationship with Enterprise Ireland, a government agency supporting business growth in that country.

“We encourage companies like Crospon to apply HP’s intellectual property in innovative ways to help more people benefit from these important technologies,” said Joe Beyers, VP for intellectual property licensing at HP. “By licensing core intellectual property in thermal inkjet technology for use in a drug delivery product, HP breathes new life into its mature technology while capitalizing on the booming healthcare and life sciences market.”

Crospon is focused on the monitoring and treatment of diabetes and gastroesophageal reflux.

ThermoSuit receives CE mark

Life Recovery Systems (LRS; Alexandria, Louisiana) reported that its ThermoSuit system has been granted CE-mark approval for temperature reduction in patients, such as to induce hypothermia to preserve cardiac and brain function in victims of cardiac arrest, stroke, heart attack, traumatic brain injury and hyperthermia.

The ThermoSuit System, which rapidly cools a patient’s core temperature, consists of a disposable body suit and a means to pump coolant within the suit over the skin of the patient. LRS said it is the first device for patient temperature management that provides a thin layer of rapidly flowing liquid coolant in direct contact with the skin.

“This approach gives the ThermoSuit System outstanding capabilities to rapidly and non-invasively change patient temperature,” the company said. “It has been designed for ease of use for clinicians who treat patients indicated for cooling therapy, and has the potential to quickly cool these patients conveniently and rapidly.”

Life Recovery said that evolving international standards of care recommend that “unconscious adult patients with spontaneous circulation after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest should be cooled to 32 to 34 degrees C for 12 to 24 hours when the initial rhythm was ventricular fibrillation. Such cooling may also be beneficial for other rhythms or in-hospital cardiac arrest.”

Sahlgrenska Hospital begins TAH-t training

Late last month, the heart transplant team from Sahlgrenska University Hospital (Gothenburg, Sweden) — including Dr. Lars Wiklund, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Ulf Kjellman — received the first phase of certification training in Berlin to implant the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH-t) made by SynCardia Systems (Tucson, Arizona).

Sahlgrenska University Hospital is the largest hospital in northern Europe, with more than 2,700 beds and 140 departments. SynCardia said Sweden joins Germany, France and Austria as the fourth European country with a hospital certified to implant the world’s only FDA- and CE-mark-approved temporary artificial heart.

The company said there now are 22 TAH-t certified centers, 11 in the U.S. and 11 in Europe. It said that Sahlgrenska University Hospital is the 12th hospital in Europe and the 25th center in the world to complete the first phase of TAH-t certification training.

The CardioWest TAH-t is approved as a bridge to transplant for patients suffering end-stage biventricular failure.

MSI completes VScan HIV testing

Medical Services International (MSI; Edmonton, Alberta) said it has completed testing with its VScan HIV test kit and the VScan Hepatitis C test kit in Europe. The company said completion of this testing will allow it to apply for European Union approval of both test kits.

MSI said EU approval will allow the company to expand its distribution network initially with 10 distributors in Europe, and it anticipates that with EU approval, it will result in the sale of up to 1 million ($2 million gross) test kits in the first year.

“It is believed based on studies completed that this will be a very active market with rapid growth potential,” MSI said. “Once approval is received, the company expects to also market the kits through an independent Internet site.”

The company’s VScan rapid test kits are single-use, disposable tests for the screening of HIV 1 and 2, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, malaria, Dengue fever, West Nile virus, syphilis and prostate cancer.