A Medical Device Daily

MediCor (Las Vegas) reported that on Friday it closed the acquisition of privately owned UK-based breast implant manufacturer Biosil and related supplier Nagor for a combination of cash and stock. The combined purchase price for the two companies was 20 million in cash and 2.64 million shares of MediCor common stock.

The acquisition was first unveiled in September (Medical Device Daily, Sept. 14, 2005).

The company said that with the acquisition of Biosil and Nagor, combined with its existing breast implant business, it controls about 30% of the worldwide breast implant market, excluding the U.S.

Biosil develops and manufactures, and Nagor markets, silicone implants for the aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery markets, including silicone gel and saline-filled breast implants, with both round and anatomical shapes and smooth or unique micro-textured surfaces. Biosil also manufactures a range of other silicone devices, including tissue expanders, testicular implants, gluteal implants, calf implants, facial implants and a range of scar management products. Biosil has also developed innovative products within the anesthesia and colorectal disciplines.

Biosil and MediCor's subsidiary, MediCor Aesthetics, were party to a supply agreement for saline-filled breast implants manufactured by Biosil and to be imported into the U.S., subject to FDA approval to market those products.

Nagor employs 30 people and supplies the breast implant and associated products manufactured by Biosil to customers in about 60 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Oceania, Mexico, Central and South America and Africa. Biosil employs about 90 people in its two ISO-certified manufacturing facilities, both of which have additional production capacity, thus enhancing MediCor's ability to meet increased product demand and support new product introductions.

According to Theodore Maloney, CEO of MediCor, closing of the purchase is “another milestone achievement in MediCor's long-term strategy of acquiring the most respected businesses in the global aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery and dermatology markets . . . Our objective is to take that existing, well-established family business, enhance and expand upon its manufacturing, sales and marketing structures, and rapidly position it to aggressively compete in the worldwide marketplace.”

Jim McGhan, COO of MediCor, said the integration and transition process would take place “rapidly and smoothly.” He added: “Among other initiatives, we plan to enhance the worldwide distribution of the products with a number of innovative new surgeon- and patient-oriented product support programs. We recognize that one of the keys to our success is to provide our distributors the sales and marketing support they need to compete successfully.”

MediCor manufactures products for the aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery and dermatology markets.

In other deal activity:

• Amicas (Boston), a developer of radiology and medical image and information management solutions, reported acquiring from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati, Ohio) the exclusive licensing and worldwide distribution rights to RadStream, a software product designed to accelerate radiology workflow. Amicas said it agreed to pay Cincinnati Children's royalty fees with each sub-license and make a “minimal” upfront payment for patent costs.

The agreement also provides Amicas with a short-term period of evaluation prior to commencing any licensing activity and development work.

The software was designed and developed by the Radiology Informatics Research Core at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in collaboration with researchers at the College of Business of the University of Cincinnati .

Peter McClennen, president of Amicas, said, “Cincinnati Children's has been a vanguard in demonstrating excellence in filmless radiology. They are an incredible group of thought leaders who continually look to find the next big step in productivity for radiology.”

Amicas said RadStream is planned to be commercially available in 2H06. It will be offered as a stand-alone product utilizing Amicas integration capabilities and Amicas Insight Services in cooperation with Cincinnati Children's team for deployment to any vendor's PACS. Thereafter, it will be completely embedded into Vision Series PACS for an integrated RadStream/Amicas offering.

“We built RadStream to improve our existing filmless radiology system,” said Mark Halsted, MD, associate professor of radiology and chief of the Radiology Informatics Research Core at Cincinnati Children's. “The PACS, RIS & VR systems provided a good foundation to our operation but we saw a way to significantly improve the overall imaging workflow and communication to referring physicians.

“The system streamlines communication between radiologists and referring physicians so radiologists can concentrate on interpreting cases accurately and efficiently. RadStream brokers communication of critical results to referring physicians without breaking radiologists' workflow” said Halsted. The need for an automatic communication and documentation system was a primary driver for creating RadStream. According to Halsted, radiologists experienced significantly fewer interruptions during the day, saving roughly 2,000 radiologist hours per year within our department.”

The Amicas Vision Series products provide an end-to-end solution for imaging centers, ambulatory care facilities, and radiology practices.