A Medical Device Daily

3M (St. Paul, Minnesota) said it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abzil Industria e Comercio Ltda. (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a maker of orthodontic products. The company is the second-largest manufacturer in the Brazilian orthodontic market.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in 4Q07, subject to customary closing conditions.

3M said Abzil is a player in the “fast-growing Brazilian orthodontic market.” It said the Brazilian company’s brackets, bands, tubes and wires “are widely recognized as some of the highest-quality orthodontic products available in the country.”

“Abzil’s strong brand and product portfolio complement our full line of orthodontic solutions and will allow us to better serve customers in Brazil and beyond,” said Paul Keel, president of 3M Unitek. “We see strong technical and sales synergies as well as manufacturing opportunities with Abzil,” added Luigi Faltoni, managing director, 3M Brazil.

“Abzil and 3M are a natural fit,” said Tufy Lemos Filho, owner and president of the Brazilian company. “We will draw on the strength of 3M’s global resources and expertise to provide a broader product offering for orthodontic professionals.”

3M said its Unitek business has been a “global leader” for nearly 60 years, “providing the orthodontic profession with novel innovations such as Clarity Ceramic Braces, APC Adhesive Pre-Coated Brackets, and most recently, SmartClip Self-Ligating Braces and Clarity SL Ceramic Self-Ligating Braces.”

Today, the company delivers more than 14,000 orthodontic products and solutions worldwide.

3M said “complementary” acquisitions such as this “support 3M’s core business and strategy to expand into fast-growing product and geographic markets.”

Abzil employs approximately 300 people at its operations in Sao Paulo.

Saudi hospital in accord with Perkin-Elmer

PerkinElmer (Waltham, Massachusetts), a major global developer of products for health sciences and photonics, has reported a multi-year agreement with the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), to support its expanded newborn screening program.

PerkinElmer will provide instrumentation, reagents, software and screening expertise that will help the hospital double its screening capacity by the end of next year. The contract, to be executed through PerkinElmer’s regional distributor, HVD Vertriebs, also will expand the hospital’s program from screening for one disorder to a total of four disorders.

“We are pleased to partner with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre to aid in the expansion of its newborn screening program,” said Robert Friel, president and COO of PerkinElmer. “[We are] committed to supporting early detection programs worldwide with leading neonatal screening technology designed to identify infants at risk for devastating metabolic disorders, enabling early intervention and treatment to save lives and improve quality of life.”

About 800,000 children are born each year in Saudi Arabia, which has a population of about 27.6 million. The King Faisal Hospital is that country’s leading provider of neonatal screening for genetic disorders, which allows for the early identification and treatment of otherwise debilitating or life-threatening conditions and has become one of the most widely accepted procedures in preventative pediatrics.

Through this expanded initiative with PerkinElmer, King Faisal Hospital said it hopes to double its screening rate to 200,000 newborns by the end of 2008, and to 400,000 newborns by the end of 2009.

The hospital will use Specimen Gate, PerkinElmer’s screening laboratory information management system. It said the software will allow the facility to implement a “comprehensive solution” that will electronically track laboratory workflow from sample receipt and preparation, through the analytical steps, to quality control review, reporting and follow-up.

PerkinElmer currently provides King Faisal Hospital with reagents for screening congenital hypothyroidism, which if left untreated can lead to severe mental retardation.

Under the expanded program, which will begin late this year, additional tests will be provided by PerkinElmer for congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a hormonal disorder affecting the adrenal glands; galactosemia, which if left untreated, can cause poor development or death; and biotinidase deficiency, which can lead to seizures, developmental delay, eczema and hearing loss.

Central European distributor signed by Viking

Viking Systems (San Diego), a manufacturer of laparoscopic vision systems for use in minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures, has expanded its international distribution network by adding a new partner, Biomedica Medizinprodukte (Vienna, Austria).

Biomedica will exclusively market and sell Viking’s 3Di Vision System technology in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland, Poland and Romania.

Viking said Biomedica, which was founded in 1978, has expertise the distribution of advanced medical devices in the fields of cardiology, nephrology, orthopedics and intensive care.

In a statement, Biomedica said the Central European medical device market “is demanding that the investment in capital equipment yield the latest technology available at reasonable prices and must be simple to operate. Viking Systems’ technology brings a proprietary 3-D visualization system to the market that is affordable and allows the surgeon more precision in the operating room with minimal training.’”

Stephen Heniges, senior vice president of global marketing and clinical development for Viking Systems, said, “Biomedica is one of the most successful distributors of high-quality medical device technologies in Central Europe. They provide the range of distribution in key countries that matches Viking’s growth plan, and bring the industry focus, knowledge and professionalism that is critical to our mutual success.”

Viking’s 3Di Vision System is an advanced 3-D vision system used by surgeons for complex minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, with an initial focus on applications in urology, gynecology, bariatric and general surgery. Viking also manufactures advanced 2-D systems for targeted configurations and channels, as well as 2-D cameras and components, through strategic partners and OEM programs.