A Medical Device Daily

Vitrolife (Kungsbacka, Sweden) reported that it has acquired Swemed (Gothenburg, Sweden), a manufacturer of medical device products, for in vitro fertilization.

Vitrolife will pay about SEK 65.2 million ($8.62 million) consisting of 1.4 million newly issued shares and a cash sum of SEK 28.1 million ($3.72 million). A net debt of SEK 28.8 million ($3.81 million) has also been taken over by Vitrolife.

Vitrolife said the acquisition increases its revenues within the fertility area by about 30% and gives clear market synergies through the broadened product range to the same customers.

Swemed makes medical device instruments such as needles, pipettes and catheters for ovum and embryo treatment in connection with in vitro fertilization.

The business, with 28 employees, complements Vitro-life's business within the area of fertility, which focuses on nutrient solutions (media) for the treatment of human infertility.

Phase III Medical (Melville, New York) said it has completed the acquisition of NeoStem (Agoura Hills, California), a company that specializes in the collection and storage of adult stem cells.

The deal was first disclosed last month (Medical Device Daily, Dec. 8, 2005).

Phase III, through its wholly owned subsidiary, has purchased certain assets, properties and rights of NeoStem that relate to its adult stem cell collection and storage business in exchange for the issuance of 5 million shares of the company's common stock and the assumption of certain of NeoStem's liabilities.

Executives from NeoStem have joined with Phase III executives to form the management of the new enterprise, which will focus on the business of NeoStem, a commercial autologous (donor and recipient are the same) adult stem cell bank pioneering the pre-disease collection, processing and storage of stem cells that donors can access for their own present and future medical treatment.

The new company's objective is to be the leading provider of adult stem cells for therapeutic use in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine, including treatment for heart disease, certain types of cancer and other critical health problems.

In other dealmaking news:

• Patient Infosystems (Rochester, New York) and Coordinated Care Solutions (Coral Springs, Florida), which does business as CareGuide, reported the completion of their previously disclosed merger (MDD, Sept. 21, 2005), resulting in the creation of what those involved described as “a uniquely positioned, single-source provider of a full range of information-based disease and care management services for both the public and private sectors.“

Stockholders of CareGuide have been issued shares of common stock of PI representing about 63% of the common stock of the combined company, and CareGuide has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Patient Infosystems.

Patient Infosystems and CareGuide now operate together as a single, publicly traded corporation. Shares of the company's common stock are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the trading symbol “PATY.“

The newly merged company is headquartered in Coral Springs and has more than 250 employees.

As an integrated entity, the company said it will be able to offer a comprehensive portfolio of information-based care and disease management solutions designed to improve health outcomes, eliminate inappropriate and unnecessary care, and lower healthcare costs for patients.

Albert Waxman, PhD, former CareGuide chairman, and Chris Paterson, former CareGuide CEO, now serve as chairman and CEO, respectively, of the merged company. Roger Chaufournier, former CEO and chairman of Patient Infosystems, now leads a new subsidiary focused on provider innovation and quality improvement services. John Pappajohn, a board member of Patient Infosystems, has been named vice chairman of the merged company.

In conjunction with the merger, Patient Infosystems raised an aggregate of $12.5 million over the last three months through the sale of common stock and the resale of certain shares of its former wholly owned subsidiary American Caresource Holdings that it had retained following its recent spin-off of ACS. Patient Infosystems used a portion of these proceeds to retire $6 million in indebtedness and the remainder is intended to be retained for working capital.