A Medical Device Daily

Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) and Medica (Bedford Massachusetts) reported that they have entered into an exclusive agreement for the worldwide commercialization of the Cell-Dyn EasyCell digital cell morphology system for use in hospitals and clinical laboratories. This system automates the location of white blood cells on a stained blood film and pre-classifies them, improving the efficiency of the lab.

Medica will manufacture the system, and Abbott will have exclusive distribution rights under the Cell-Dyn EasyCell brand name. Abbott will be responsible for the system’s sales, marketing and customer support.

“This agreement with Medica complements the current Cell-Dyn instrument portfolio and demonstrates Abbott’s continuing commitment to provide innovative products that increase the laboratory’s productivity and efficiency,” said John Mooradian, divisional VP and general manager, Abbott Hematology.

Medica develops in-vitro diagnostic products for hospitals and clinical laboratories for electrolytes, blood gas, hematology and clinical chemistry. Abbott develops pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics.

In other agreements news:

• ReBuilder Medical Technologies (Charles Town, West Virginia) a provider of treatment for peripheral neuropathy, reported an agreement with the Advanced Pain Treatment Center for Health and Pain Management of Villa Park (Cicero, Illinois) to feature ReBuilder Medical’s Peripheral Neuropathy Electronic Treatment Device, which mimics the natural frequency of nerve conduction in the extremities of those suffering from pain associated with peripheral neuropathy, a condition usually associated with diabetes.

The center is an integrated, healthcare practice specializing in naprapathic medicine, pain management, nutritional counseling, weight control, smoking cessation, stress management, cellulite reduction, massage therapy and other forms of manual and natural medicine.

• Phase Forward (Waltham Massachusetts), a provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, reported a multi-year alliance agreement with AAIPharma, (Wilmington, North Carolina) a global contract research organization (CRO).

AAIPharma will offer services centered around two Phase Forward products as part of its solution set: the InForm Integrated Trial Management electronic data capture (EDC) system and the Clintrial clinical data management product that can be used to collect, manage and review electronically captured and paper-based study data.

AAIPharma is a provider of product development and support services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. Phase Forward is a provider of integrated data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety.