Alliance Medical (Phoenix), a single-use device reprocessor, reported a three-year agreement with the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC; Oak Brook, Illinois), an alliance of academic health centers. Alliance said that the agreement will save UHC members $27 million through non-labor, supply-cost reductions and eliminate more than 162,000 pounds of medical waste.

BioSurface Engineering Technologies (College Park, Maryland), a development-stage private company bringing therapeutic combinations to medical devices, entered a technology development agreement with EBI, a subsidiary of Biomet (Warsaw, Indiana). BioSET will facilitate the evaluation by EBI of one of BioSET's synthetic growth factor peptides in pre-clinical models. The agreement provides for the evaluation and development of tissue healing and regenerative applications across multiple orthopedic fields of use. Additionally, the license granted under the agreement is available to all affiliates of EBI, including parent Biomet. The companies will work together to achieve specific developmental milestones leading to the commercialization of synthetic growth factor products on a worldwide basis. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Iridex (Mountain View, California) has entered a joint marketing and licensing agreement with Innovatech Surgical (Camden, New Jersey). Iridex has an option for worldwide distribution rights to Innovatech's disposable endo-ocular probes, and Innovatech will license Iridex's probe/laser connector. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed. The agreement will increase the consumable probe offering Iridex provides to ophthalmologists, compatible with IRIS Medical laser photocoagulators. Iridex will begin distribution of Innovatech's illuminating endoocular probes (straight and angled, 20 gauge) and adjustable and intuitive (20 gauge and 25 gauge) for endophotocoagulation for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, retinal breaks and detachments and neovascular glaucoma.

MediVas (San Diego) and Estracure (Montreal) reported signing an agreement for the exclusive use of the MediVas PEA drug delivery technology in conjunction with Estracure's technology to develop a 17-(beta)-Estradiol drug-eluting stent (DES). Terms were not disclosed. Estracure is developing therapeutics to improve treatment coronary heart disease, mainly restenosis and vulnerable plaque. Estracure is a spin-off of the Montreal Heart Institute, affiliated with the University of Montreal. Estracure said that 17-B-Estradiol is a non-toxic, naturally occurring hormone that has been shown by Estracure's scientific team to have dual beneficial effect in improving vascular healing and preventing restenosis after angioplasty in preclinical studies. The company reported completing a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the drug's ability to prevent restenosis following PTCA and stent implantation.

Nexa Orthopedics (Vista, California) and OsteoBiologics (OBI; San Antonio, Texas) reported an agreement giving Nexa the exclusive right to distribute certain OBI products designed for use in hand, foot and ankle surgery in the U.S. under Nexa's OsteoCure biologic products brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies also agreed to pursue various partnership opportunities, including the development of new products using OBI technology for reconstructive surgery of the extremities.

Wound-care specialist Numotech (Northridge, California) reported signing a national distribution agreement with Airgas Puritan Medical (Radnor, Pennsylvania), which calls itself "the nation's largest distributor of medical gases," to serve as the exclusive U.S. oxygen supplier to Numotech for its flagship product, the Numobag, a lightweight, disposable, wound-healing device used to deliver Topical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. It is used as a rapid-response isolation unit for treating chemical, radiological or biologically induced wounds resulting from a terrorist attack. The key feature of the Numobag is the availability of a plentiful source of "high-purity, medical-grade oxygen that can be delivered at specified flow rates," the company said.

SourceOne Healthcare Technologies (Mentor, Ohio), a distributor of medical imaging systems, equipment and radiographic consumable, and iCAD (Nashua, New Hampshire), a provider of computer-aided detection (CAD) solutions for the early identification of cancer, reported signing a two-year national distribution agreement. SourceOne will continue to distribute iCAD's Second Look film-based mammography CAD systems in the U.S. The Second Look systems are compatible with all digital and film-based mammography systems. SourceOne has sold iCAD since October 2003 as its only offering in the CAD category, shipping more than 100 Second Look systems.

SurModics (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), a provider of surface modification and drug delivery technologies, said that it has entered into a research and development agreement and license option with the University of Arizona (Tucson) to develop ad-vanced medical therapies. The program is being conducted in conjunction with Stuart Williams, PhD, a leader in the development of cardiovascular implants using tissue-engineering techniques.