A Medical Device Daily

Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey) reported that it has consummated its $1.4 billion acquisition of Conor Medsystems (Menlo Park, California), a developer of controlled vascular drug delivery technologies, primarily drug-eluting stents to treat coronary artery disease.

The closing of the deal comes after Conor’s stockholders okayed the acquisition last week (Medical Device Daily, Feb. 2, 2007).

In the deal, first disclosed in November (MDD, Nov. 20, 2006), Conor stockholders are entitled to receive $33.50 for each share of their common stock.

“The completion of the acquisition of Conor Medsystems adds an important platform to our capacity to address cardiovascular and vascular disease globally,” said Nicholas Valeriani, worldwide chairman, Medical Devices and Diagnostics for J&J.

Conor’s CoStar stent provides for drug elution from a cobalt chromium stent with an bioabsorbable polymer and uses a site-specific drug delivery technology which Conor says is potentially applicable with other therapeutic agents to treat of other conditions.

“We look forward to exploring the potential for this novel reservoir technology in combination with other pharmaceutical agents and delivery systems as we seek new and better ways to address issues of cardiovascular and vascular disease,” Valeriani said.

The CoStar is currently sold outside the U.S., and enrollment in its U.S. pivotal clinical trial has been completed, with the company expecting an approval in late 2007 or early 2008. It received the CE mark last February.

Conor also is developing a dual-drug DES called the SymBio. The SymBio, currently in a clinical trial called GENESIS, is a pimecrolimus/paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system. Enrollment in that clinical trial, conducted in the Middle East and Europe, is expected to be completed early this year.

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of rapid diagnostic products for the consumer and professional markets, reported acquiring Promesan (Milan, Italy), a distributor of point-of-care diagnostic testing products to the Italian marketplace, for about 13.4 million ($4.4 million).

IMI said the acquisition of Promesan marks its first direct presence in Italy and provides it with an established Italian commercial and distribution network for its diagnostic products.

Promesan had 2006 revenues of about €3.5 million.

In other dealmaking news:

• Cerner (North Kansas City, Missouri) reported its intent to acquire Etreby Computer Company (Garden Grove, California), a developer of software used by retail pharmacy management systems. Terms were not disclosed.

Cerner said the acquisition will expand its pharmacy systems portfolio, adding solutions and services to serve the independent, supermarket-associated and chain retail pharmacies.

“The retail pharmacy market is an integral part of the patient care process,” said Paul Gorup, senior vice president, Cerner Knowledge and Discovery. “With the acquisition of Etreby, Cerner extends our footprint to include this important segment into its solutions portfolio.”

More than 1,200 pharmacies use Etreby’s solutions. With the addition of the Etreby solutions, Cerner said that its “clients, affiliated pharmacies and retail pharmacy chains will now have one company to connect and serve their IT needs and improve patient safety and quality of care.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed in 1Q07, and Cerner said it should not have a material impact on its 2007 financial results.

• Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee) reported acquiring ProsCon Holdings (Cork, Ireland), a privately held engineering firm offering design solutions to the process industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

ProsCon’s management team and its employees will join the Rockwell Automation global solutions team and continue to serve customers locally and around the world.

ProsCon’s areas of expertise include process technology, control systems and information technology, and it serves major customers in the pharma and biotech markets.

Rockwell is a global provider of automation control and information systems and services.