A Medical Device Daily

Saying they share a “mission to ensure the hearing health of the severely to profoundly deaf,” Advanced Bionics (Valencia, California), a leader in cochlear implant technology, and the Hearing Solution Group (Singapore), described as “Southeast Asia’s largest hearing healthcare provider,” reported entering into a partnership.

Under the accord, the Hearing Solution will advocate Advanced Bionics’ cochlear implant devices in the region, which the U.S. firm said would aid in serving its customers throughout Southeast Asia.

“Our mission is not just about providing the hearing-impaired with the latest innovations in cochlear implant technology,” said Robert Gulock, vice president, Advanced Bionics, Asia-Pacific. “It is about helping make the transition from silence to sound a positive and rewarding experience.

Advanced Bionics recently introduced the Harmony HiResolution Bionic Ear System. Designed to enhance music appreciation and improve hearing in a variety of difficult listening environments, the Harmony system delivers HiResolution sound with the company’s Fidelity 120 processing feature, whose two key components are designed to provide a more natural representation of sound.

Hearing Solution serves Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The organization is known for providing a wide spectrum of hearing care, from counseling to basic and comprehensive audiological assessments to a full range of hearing devices, habilitation and rehabilitation, and service.

Hearing Solution is the only ISO 9001:2000-certified hearing health provider in Southeast Asia.

Advanced Bionics is a developer of bionic devices for people with neurological disorders, including deafness and chronic pain. The company was acquired in 2004 by Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts), and serves as that company’s neuromodulation division.

PerkinElmer buys remainder of India unit

PerkinElmer (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that it has acquired the remaining minority interest in PerkinElmer India , a direct sales, service and marketing operation targeting India’s thriving life science and analytical instrumentation markets, from Labindia Instruments .

The U.S. firm said the transaction establishes PerkinElmer India as a wholly owned subsidiary of PerkinElmer and underscores the company’s commitment to customers in the region.

“The establishment of a 100% direct operation in India demonstrates our continued commitment to accelerate growth in the country’s rapidly expanding health sciences market,” said Gregory Summe, PerkinElmer chairman and CEO. “Customers in the region will benefit from an increased level of applications and technical support, as well as direct access to a wider range of PerkinElmer products. A stronger India presence will enable us to react faster to changing needs and develop new solutions specifically for the market.”

PerkinElmer said India represents “significant growth opportunities” in areas including pharmaceutical research, neonatal and maternal screening, and environmental monitoring.

As additional support for its growth in the region, PerkinElmer plans to open a new India headquarters in Mumbai, as well as a new technical support and applications center in the second half of 2007.

PerkinElmer India currently employs about 170 in Bangalore, Baroda, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune and Thane.

PerkinElmer has named Jai Shankar as president, PerkinElmer India. Shankar will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of PerkinElmer’s business development activities across India and overseeing the expansion of PerkinElmer’s broad product and services portfolio to the country’s growing community of scientists and researchers.

Lapo Paladini, president of PerkinElmer Asia, said, “We are grateful to Labindia, our partner in India for the past 25 years. This partnership has generated strong results to date for both parties, and has enabled us to move to this next phase of our growth.”

bioMrieux in Japanese agreement

Eiken Chemical (Bunko-Ku, Japan) and bioMrieux (Marcy l’etoile, France) have signed an agreement under which somepre-poured media (PPM) provided to bioMrieux customers in Japan will be replaced by those manufactured by Eiken. The agreement is to take effect in August.

Stphane Bancel, CEO of bioMrieux, said, “We are looking forward to building a successful partnership together. This agreement is critical for our 2012 strategy: to become the undisputed global leader in microbiology and increase our presence in the Japanese market.”

Tetsuya Teramoto, president/CEO of Eiken Chemical, said: “Since our foundation, we have been developing and offering reagents for microbiological investigation in order to prevent infectious diseases and food contamination. Today, we also develop and offer a wide range of in vitro diagnostic products, and specifically culture media, which contribute to progress in public health. We have now come to an agreement with bioMrieux, one of the largest global companies in this field, regarding service and distribution. This is a sign of recognition of the quality of our products on the Japanese market.”

Turkish distributor for ActiPatch

BioElectronics (Frederick, Maryland) said that Grup H.E.R. Saglik Sistemleri , a distributor for healthcare products in Turkey, has signed an agreement to introduce ActiPatch, the company’s drug-free therapy for treatment of swelling, pain, and soft and hard tissues injuries, in that country.