A Medical Device Daily

Global orthopedic companyTornier (Grenoble, France), reported closing a transaction with an investor group led by Warburg Pincus (New York) to acquire a majority interest in the company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In conjunction with the transaction, Alain Tornier, formerly president and CEO of the company, has been elected chairman of the board and veteran U.S. med-tech executive Douglas Kohrs has been named president and CEO.

Kohrs has a 25-year record of success in the medical device industry. He was president and CEO of American Medical Systems (AMS; Minnetonka, Minnesota) from 1999 until 2005, and as chairman of the board from 2004 until May of this year.

Under his watch, AMS transitioned from a non-core subsidiary of a major pharmaceutical company to a profitable, independent public company.

Prior to joining AMS, Kohrs held leadership posts in the orthopedic industry with Sulzer Spine-Tech, Johnson & Johnson Orthopedics (DePuy) and Zimmer.

Alain Tornier said, “We are pleased to welcome Doug Kohrs as president and CEO of Tornier, and we also welcome Warburg Pincus and The Vertical Group as major shareholders. [All three] have proven track records of success in the global medical device industry, and we are confident that their guidance and vision will lead Tornier to a new and exciting phase of growth and opportunity.”

Founded in the 1940s, Tornier has been among the pioneers in the European orthopedic industry. The company currently offers a broad range of joint replacement products, including hips, knees, shoulders, ankles and other extremity prostheses.

During the 1990s the company's collaboration with well-known surgeons led to the commercialization of its Aequalis shoulder and Salto ankle product lines, establishing Tornier as a leader in the European extremity joint replacement market.

Tornier entered the U.S. market in 2000 with its shoulder product line, and in 2004 launched the Aequalis Reversed Shoulder Prostheses.

Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, and The Vertical Group, a venture capital firm focused on the medical device industry, have a record of successful co-investment in the medical device sector. Co-investments by the two firms have included: American Medical Systems, ev3, Kyphon, Spinecore (acquired by Stryker in 2004), Wright Medical Group and Xomed Surgical Products (acquired by Medtronic in 1999).

CRO opens Warsaw office

Medifacts International (Rockville, Maryland), a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides clinical trial management, consulting and cardiac safety research services, reported the expansion of its European operations with the opening of an office in Warsaw, Poland.

“With the trends we are seeing in the conduct of clinical trials in Central and Eastern Europe, we are excited about positioning Medifacts as a key service provider in this region,” said Dr. Sandra Garrett, president and CEO of the company. “The office in Warsaw will enable us to broaden our network of skilled investigators, expand our access to patient populations and complement our existing service offerings in Europe.”

Marek Sawicki, MD, a noted cardiologist, will manage the office in Poland. He previously was general manager of the Polish offices of Imform and Premier Research and has extensive experience in the support and conduct of research trials in all clinical indications.

In addition to the new Warsaw office, Medifacts has offices in Langenfeld and Görlitz, Germany, and Shanghai, China.

Applera patent reinstated, still under review

Applied Biosystems Group (Foster City, California), an Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut) business, reported that the Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has reinstated Applera's European patent No. 872562, covering real-time PCR thermal cycler technology, overturning a December 2004 decision by the EPO's Opposition Division to revoke the patent for alleged lack of novelty.

The case will be returned to the Opposition Division for review of other issues.

The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community with instrument-based systems, consumables, software and services.

CE mark for Merit Medical catheter

Merit Medical Systems (South Jordan, Utah), a manufacturer disposable accessories used primarily in cardiology and radiology procedures, reported receiving the CE mark from its notified body to market the Impress catheter in Europe.

The company previously has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA.

“This catheter will assist in . . . expansion of our European business,” said Fred Lampropoulos, Merit's chairman and CEO.

Merit serves client hospitals worldwide with a domestic and international sales force totaling of about 85. In addition to four U.S. facilities, it has European facilities in Maastricht and Venlo, the Netherlands, and Galway, Ireland.