A Medical Device Daily

BSD Medical (Salt Lake City) reported that it is close to completing agreements with Japanese distributors in preparation for the company's entry into that market with its BSD-2000 cancer treatment system.

Noting that Japan is the world's second-largest medical market behind the U.S., BSD said entry into that market is part of its global marketing strategy. The company said Japan, along with China, are two high-priority marketing targets in the Pacific Rim, representing a major percentage of the total Pacific Rim market.

BSD Medical already has a distributor in China, and obtained regulatory approval for the sale of the BSD-2000 in China earlier this year. Initial sales in China have been to four “highly visible“ hospitals that the company said would serve as “important reference sites“ in that market.

The company said its objective is to pursue a similar marketing path in Japan.

BSD Medical's systems deliver precision-focused radio frequency/microwave energy to kill cancer directly and boost the effectiveness of companion radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

8th hospital project in China for Sunnylife

Sunnylife Global (West Covina, California) reported its eighth joint-venture hospital project in China, signing a definitive hospital agreement with TaiYuan No. 7 Hospital to remodel and standardize it to be renamed the Shan Xi World Friendship Hospital under Sunnylife Global's prepaid medical healthcare program.

Anticipated annual revenues from the hospital are expected to be between $18 million and $20 million, similar to the other seven hospital projects in which the company is involved.

In the joint venture, Sunnylife Global will own 70% and TaiYuan No. 7 Hospital 30% of the overall venture.

TaiYuan No. 7 Hospital is a full-service hospital with 200 beds and 220 medical specialists, serving a population of some 3 million in TaiYuan City.

This marks Sunnylife Global's first entry into Shanxi Province in the northeast section of China. Its seven other signed hospital agreements are in HaiNan and ShanDong provinces.

TrichoGenesis distribution accord signed

Current Technology (Vancouver, British Columbia) said it has signed an exclusive distributorship agreement with Centro Laser de La Belleza (Caracas, Venzuela) for the distribution of its TrichoGenesis Technology in that country.

The agreement provides for the purchase of 18 ElectroTrichoGenesis (ETG) Mark 1 devices over a three-year period, with the first shipment scheduled for mid-January.

Centro Laser is a distributor of laser technology for both vision correction and cosmetic procedures throughout Venezuela. It operates some 27 joint-venture laser centers throughout all the major cities of Venezuela. To cover smaller population centers, two mobile units are used in a schedule of visits to meet client needs.

Centro Laser intends to install ETG Mark 1 devices initially in each of the major existing laser facilities, followed by those locations that incorporate upscale hair salon and spa procedures.

Current Technology's non-invasive pulsed electro-stimulation technology includes two separate products emanating from the TrichoGenesis platform thus far: ElectroTrichoGenesis and CosmeticTrichoGenesis.

Fermentation business sold

MDS Pharma Services (Philadelphia), a provider of drug discovery and development solutions, reported the sale of its Fermentation Technologies business to Panlabs Biologics of Taiwan. The assets associated with the business include equipment, technology and personnel located at the MDS Pharma Services facility in Taipei, Taiwan.

The business generated $3.5 million in revenues in 2005.

MDS Pharma said the move is one of a number of actions taken over the past year to focus the business on its core strengths.

Anderson Hong has been named president of Panlabs Biologics, a new entity formed by CDIB BioScience Venture Management (CBVM), a life-science venture management company, and other individual investors. CBVM manages a $76 million fund from offices in Taipei and San Diego.