Cardio3 BioSciences (Braine L’Alleud, Belgium) and the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota) reported that they have entered into an agreement in the field of cardiac commitment of stem cells.

“We believe that the ability to commit the cells before implanting them is absolutely critical to success,” Christian Homsy, MD, CEO of Cardio3 BioSciences, told Medical Device Daily.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, though Mayo said it is taking an equity participation in Cardio BioSciences and giving the company a royalty-free license of its research, know-how and intellectual property in the field of cardiac commitment of stem cells. The agreement also includes a commitment for research over the next three years on embryonic stem cells, Homsy said.

The research, headed by Andr Terzic, MD, PhD, and Atta Behfar, MD, at Mayo Clinic, has focused on the guided commitment of adult as well as embryonic stem cells. The scope of the license covers heart failure of ischemic and non-ischemic origin.

Homsy said the agreement positions the company at the forefront of stem cell technology.

“Research performed at Mayo Clinic has led to a number of high-level publications in peer-reviewed journals. The results obtained by the Mayo research team are very promising, and will allow Cardio3 BioSciences to enter immediately into the last phase of preclinical work, with the goal of performing a first human procedure as early as [2Q08],” Homsy said.

The agreement also triggers the company’s Series B round of financing, Homsy said, during which the company hopes to raise 110 million ($13 million).

“Over one million Americans suffer a new or recurrent heart attack each year. Despite the aggressive approaches we use to treat heart patients, no effective means are available to repair a damaged heart,” Terzic said. “Discoveries by the Mayo team open new therapeutic avenues exploiting the regenerative potential of stem cells guided toward cardiac lineage. We are excited about translating this novel methodology into repair strategies.”

Mayo Clinic bills itself as the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. More than 2,500 physicians and scientists and 42,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Jacksonville, Florida, and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year.

Cardio3 BioSciences is a start-up company active in the field of cardiac commitment of stem cells.

In other agreement news:

• The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI; Seattle) and Chembio Diagnostics (Medford, New York), a developer of rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, have entered into agreements for the development of rapid diagnostic tests for leishmaniasis and leprosy, which they called two “neglected diseases” targeted by IDRI.

The tests will be developed by Chembio using Chembio’s Dual Path immunoassay test platform (DPP) and will incorporate IDRI’s antigens.

In preliminary studies conducted during the first quarter of 2007, Chembio demonstrated superior analytical sensitivity on certain well-characterized samples from patients with these diseases.

• GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin), reported a collaboration with IntrinsiQ (Waltham, Massachusetts), a provider of cancer care software solutions, to connect a cancer patient’s team of clinicians by providing oncology clinical information within that patient’s electronic medical record.

IntrinsiQ’s IntelliDose software automates the process of chemotherapy order entry and minimizes errors by producing complete, electronically-checked orders. Interfacing these capabilities with GE’s Centricity Electronic Medical Record solution will help provide users with information about patients undergoing chemotherapy, including drug administration records and nurse notes.

The partnership is being unveiled this week at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Alexandria, Virginia) in Chicago.

• Proginet (Garden City, New York), developer of enterprise security software, reported a new reseller agreement with Omega Technology Solutions (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), a national provider of technology solutions and services to the hospital and healthcare industry.

Omega will resell Proginet’s security software solutions to its core market, which includes major hospitals and medical institutions in the North American marketplace. The American Hospitals Association reports that there are almost 6,000 registered hospitals in the U.S. By partnering with Omega, Proginet anticipates being able to gain greater market penetration in this important business sector.

• Image Technology Laboratories (Kingston, New York) reported that it has extended its agreement with Park Avenue Associates in Radiology , P.C. at its Southern Tier Imaging MRI facility, through December 2008, and will deploy its WebViewer, WebServer and Health Level Seven interface technology in support of the Southern Tier Health Link Web Portal. This Web Portal is part of the New York State Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers Capital Grant Program, often referred to as the HEAL NY Program. HEAL NY includes identification and support for development and investment in Health Information Technology initiatives at the regional level.

• Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) reported that it has signed a new group purchasing agreement with Novation (Irving, Texas), the healthcare contracting services company of VHA (also Irving) and the University HealthSystem Consortium (Oak Brook, Illinois), two national healthcare alliances, for a broad line of the company’s diagnostic equipment.

The three-year contract covers all of Abbott’s immunochemistry analyzers, reagents and accessories, as well as the Architect ci8200 and ci16200.

Abbott also will work with Novation to help with laboratory automation to assist alliance members in delivering quality esults while maximizing resources, the company said.