Medical Device Daily s

SonoSite (Bothell, Washington), focused on the development of hand-carried ultrasound systems, reported that it has signed an agreement with Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen, Germany) for Siemens to market and distribute its MicroMaxx and Titan systems into Germany's general imaging and point-of-care hospital markets.

For SonoSite, the agreement is an obvious coup, since it represents the linkage of a relatively small firm with a global powerhouse in the imaging sector.

Dieter Schwartmann, vice president, Europe, for SonoSite, called the agreement a “win-win situation“ for both companies. “Siemens has the opportunity to offer bundled deals with our systems, and we have the chance to get into the big hospital chains and institutions,“ he told Medical Device Daily.

“We believe that working together will create and expand opportunities for both companies as well as accelerate the adoption of hand-carried ultrasound in this strategically important market.“

He noted that, to date, the “mobile market“ for ultrasound has not been large in Germany, but that the agreement provides a chance to exploit a gradual movement in that country from “the traditional ultrasound market of cart-based systems“ – the primary sector addressed by Siemens – to the more “portable, hand-based systems.“

The initial distribution deal with Siemens will be an opportunity to expand the relationship to other areas of Europe, Schwartmann said.

He said that besides doing a technical assessment of SonoSite's products, Siemens had based the deal on “statements from our customers“ concerning the quality of the hand-carried devices, and that these were perhaps the most important deciders.

Klaus Hambuechen, president of the Siemens Medical Solutions Ultrasound Division, said in a statement, “The SonoSite systems are a good complement to the Siemens ultrasound product line. Siemens can now respond to the very special needs of care in mobile ultrasound.“

Looking much like a laptop computer and weighing less than 4 kilograms, the value proposition of SonoSite's hand-carried systems is to pack the benefits of clear ultrasound images into a device looking much like a laptop computer, according to the company. This, in turn, it says, takes ultrasound visualization to wherever the patient is located and reduces the risk, time and expense of transporting patients to a hospital imaging center.

SonoSite reports having a worldwide installed base of more than 25,000 systems and is represented by eight subsidiaries and a global distribution network in more than 75 countries.

SonoSite GmbH (Erlangen, Germany) oversees a direct sales distribution network in Germany and Switzerland.

Pieris Proteolab in pact with GE Healthcare

Pieris Proteolab (Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany) and GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) have entered a research collaboration for the discovery of novel targeted in vivo diagnostic and medical imaging compounds for enabling earlier detection and diagnosis of major diseases such as cancer. No financial details were disclosed.

Pieris says that its proprietary Anticalin technology enables the rapid generation of high affinity human protein product candidates for defined disease targets. Due to their favorable biodistribution, high target specificity and acceptability to protein engineering approaches, Anticalins are candidates for targeted in vivo imaging applications, according to Pieris.

After an initial feasibility study, the companies have entered into this collaboration to test the Anticalin technology for targeted imaging. Pieris will use the Anticalin technology to select protein ligands to two disease relevant targets selected by GE Healthcare. GE will then have an option to advance clinical development of any imaging agent resulting from the collaboration under an exclusive license. The rights for therapeutic use of the Anticalins will remain with Pieris.

“Based on our knowledge and data we always considered targeted imaging as a very attractive application for Anticalins,“ said Dr. Volker Lang, vice president of business development for Pieris.

Dr. Marivi Mendizabal, head of research for GE Healthcare's Medical Diagnostics, said, “Our aim is to allow diagnosis of diseases as early as possible, thereby allowing physicians to optimize therapy on a personalized basis.“

Bang & Olufsen, Bespak in inhaler accord

Bang & Olufsen Medicom (Copenhagen, Denmark), a drug delivery device developer, and Bespak (Milton Keynes, UK), a provider of specialty medical devices and inhalation valve technologies, reported an agreement to co-develop and co-market a single increment dose counting inhaler, the Assist actuated inhaler. The companies said this will be the first integrated dose-counting device to feature an assisted firing mechanism, making it easier for patients to use.

They said the partnership has been formed to develop a next generation “press and breathe“ inhaler which will be aimed at the expanding asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) market.

Bang & Olufsen said that its intellectual property on the design and development side will be enhanced by Bespak's understanding of valve tolerances and the fire points for their valve technologies. The two companies will share responsibility for the development, manufacture and co-promotion of the device.

Henrik Kagenow, CEO of Bang & Olufsen Medicom, said, “We are excited it will be the first patient compliance device on the market with a dose counter that meets FDA requirements.“

Mark Throdahl, CEO of Bespak, said “[W]e think [Bang & Olufsen's] dose-counting mechanism will bring a lot of value to the collaboration. Together, our joint forces enable us to bring the device to the market in high volumes within strict quality and design guidelines.“

Bespak and Bang & Olufsen Medicom are currently seeking alliances with pharma companies interested in providing new inhaler solutions.

Bespak's product range includes metered dose and dry powder inhalers, actuators, inflation valves, disposable face masks, breathing circuits and laryngeal tubes. The group, has facilities in King's Lynn and Milton Keynes in the UK and Indianapolis and Kent, Ohio, in the U.S.

Bang & Olufsen Medicom product range includes inhalers, tablet reminders and injection pens with a focus on patient compliance.

Data supports Arctic Front to treat AF

New data on CryoCath Technologies' (Montreal) Arctic Front catheter to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) was presented at the German Cardiac Society's 72nd Annual Conference of the German Cardiac Society in Mannheim, Germany, on April 22.

The Arctic Front catheter is a bi-directional balloon catheter that enables physicians to isolate all four pulmonary veins and create large, durable transmural lesions that stop the incidence of AF episodes.

H.F. Pitschner, MD, from the Kerckhoff Klinik (Bad Nauheim, Germany) reported acute data following ablation procedures on 39 patients, with 100% of these cases considered successful, that is, complete isolation of all pulmonary veins, of which 90% were isolated using only Arctic Front.

Juergen Vogt, MD, from the Herz und Diabetes Zentrum (Bad Oeynhausen, Germany), reported acute data following ablation on 45 patients. He achieved 100% acute success with complete electrical isolation of all pulmonary veins, of which about 70% were isolated using only Arctic Front.

Vogt also reported results on 25 of these patients three to six months after their treatments: 80% of the 25 patients were AF-free; of these patients, 15 were AF-free after only one procedure and five following a second procedure that involved minimal vein touch-up. Twenty percent of the 25 patients, who were not AF-free, have all experienced a clinically significant reduced AF burden and do not require any further treatment.

“After using Arctic Front now on more than 45 patients, I believe this tool has the potential to be an effective and very safe treatment for AF,“ said Vogt. “Certainly, the strong acute and positive early chronic data suggests that Arctic Front is an efficient tool to isolate the pulmonary veins.“