A Medical Device Daily

Advanced Medical Institute (AVMD; Sydney, Australia) said that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Intelligent Medical Technologies (IMT), has terminated its license agreement with Sheiman Ultrasonic Research Foundation (SURF), related to the use of certain ultrasonic nebulizer technologies.

AVMD said the termination was a result of SURF's failure to deliver to it information concerning updates and advances on the technologies. The termination does not affect AVMD's rights to use the technology, but terminates the royalty payment obligations under the license, which was granted in January 2004.

IMT also has exercised its option under the agreement to take the worldwide right and license to use the nebulizer technology in the treatment of prostate diseases. AVMD said it was entitled to exercise the option without the payment of any additional funds to SURF.

Dr. Jack Vaisman, AVMD founder, president, CEO and chairman, said, “Basically, by terminating the agreement, we retain the right to use the technology in our programs to treat sexual dysfunction without paying royalties or other fees to SURF. In addition, without payment of any additional funds, we exercised our option to obtain the rights and license to extend our use of the technology to treating prostrate disease.”

Under the agreement between SURF and IMT, the latter firm held the exclusive worldwide right and license to exploit and sub-license certain inventions, patents and other intellectual property in relation to certain ultrasonic nebulizer technology within the field of the treatment of sexual dysfunction in men and women (including impotence, premature ejaculation and the treatment of female sexual arousal disorders).

The license includes Australian patent nos. 693064 and 753817, European patent nos. 0 705 145 and 1 071 479 and U.S. patent nos. 5,908,158 and 6,379,616. Some of these patents expire in October 2013, with the remaining patents expiring in or about 2023.

IMT obtained the license in order to develop an ultrasonic nebulizer to deliver medications to patients' lungs for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, as the company believes that this delivery system may be more efficient and clinically effective than any other alternative treatment, and may reduce dosage levels and the likelihood of side effects.

As of July 26, IMT had not earned any proceeds from the sale of the licensed technologies, nor has it paid any royalties to SURF.

IMT received approval from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Human Research Ethics Committee in April to proceed with its planned voluntary pharmokinetic clinical study designed to test the efficacy of using its ultrasonic nebulizer device to deliver drugs used in the treatment of sexual dysfunction. The company said it intends to continue with this study and its development of its ultrasonic nebulizer.

Advanced Medical Institute is a provider of treatment programs for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. It operates 22 treatment clinics in Australia and New Zealand and a centralized call center in Australia. Since its inception, it has provided treatment to more than 300,000 patients.

First China sale for IntraOp

IntraOp Medical (Sunnyvale, California) has received an order for its first Mobetron System from Beijing Tumor Hospital in China. It will be the fourth Mobetron acquired by a hospital in Asia, and the 19th worldwide.

The Mobetron is an FDA-approved, transportable electron-beam instrument designed for intraoperative electron radiation therapy (IOERT), or the direct application of radiation to a tumor while a patient is undergoing cancer surgery. The system makes IOERT widely available, cost-effective and simple to deliver because it is transportable between operating rooms and does not require a costly radiation-shielded surgical suite.

Beijing Tumor Hospital is China's premier cancer research and treatment center, often called the National Cancer Institute of China. With 400 beds, the institution treats 6,000 patients per year. It is a part of Beijing University Medical Center.

In addition to treating patients, the hospital will use the Mobetron to train other Chinese practitioners in the use of IOERT and develop and expand the use of IOERT throughout China.

Dr. Donald Goer, president and CEO of IntraOp, said, “We are expecting the Tumor Hospital to take an active role in coordinating IOERT studies throughout the Far East.”

Dr. Peter Yu, director of Far East operations for the company, said, “We have been working diligently to place a Mobetron at this prestigious center. Many other cancer hospitals in China will be watching to see how well the Mobetron integrates with Beijing Tumor Hospital's cancer program, and we expect other hospitals to follow its lead.”

He added, “I have learned that, in addition to the treatment of advanced and recurrent disease, which is typical of centers with IOERT capability, this hospital will use the Mobetron to treat lung cancer and early-stage breast cancer as well.”

The Mobetron system is FDA-certified and has received the CE mark in Europe, JIS in Japan and SDA in China.