A Medical Device Daily

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 endo-ocular probes (straight and angled, 20 gauge) and adjustable and intuitive (20 and 25 gauge) for endophotocoagulation for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, retinal breaks and detachments and neovascular glaucoma. The illuminating probes combine white light illumination with laser delivery in one handpiece.

The probes also feature a bayonet-style tip design for simultaneous wide field illumination and precise laser spots. The adjustable endo-ocular probes are designed to allow the fiber optic to be continuously adjusted over a wide range of angles for full coverage of peripheral retina without removing the probe from the eye.

• 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. Since October of 2003, SourceOne has sold iCAD as its only offering in the CAD category and has shipped more than 100 Second Look systems.

• Alliance Medical (Alliance; 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.

UHC members will have access to Alliance’s full complement of reprocessing services and its AIM program consultation services, which ensure proper implementation and maximum supply-cost savings.

• Manugistics Group (Rockville, Maryland), a global provider of synchronized supply chain and revenue management solutions, reported that Tyco Healthcare (Mansfield, Massachusetts) selected Manugistics for its Forecasting, Replenishment and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) solutions as part of Tyco Healthcare’s strategic imperative to optimize its existing supply chain.

Tyco selected Manugistics’ Forecasting, Replenishment, and Web-enabled VMI systems solutions specifically to improve its responsiveness to market demand, reduce costs and improve its supply chain efficiencies, Manugistics said.

• NovaVision (Boca Raton, Florida) reported the NYU Medical Center Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (New York) is the latest medical institution to offer patients the NovaVision Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT). VRT is an FDA-cleared, non-invasive medical device that can help restore vision lost as a result of stroke or traumatic brain injury, a condition previously considered untreatable. While speech, physical and occupational therapies are the long-standing treatment regimens for stroke and brain trauma patients, VRT is the first FDA-cleared clinical application of rehabilitation for vision loss.

• BioSurface Engineering Technologies (BioSET; 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 preclinical 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.

BioSET’s HepaSil drug delivery technology and synthetic peptides for tissue regeneration continue to show promising results in preclinical studies for the treatment of vascular, orthopedic and chronic wound diseases. The company intends to capitalize on the growing trend toward drug/device combination products and seeks to offer their novel peptides and methods of delivery to industry partners.

• The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR; Silver Spring, Maryland), of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command, and Maas BiolAB (Albuquerque, New Mexico) reported the signing of their Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop cyclosporin neuroprotection in indications relevant to military casualties and homeland security.

These indications include battlefield traumatic brain injury and military or civilian exposure to nerve agents. Since 2003, Maas BiolAB, under a Material Transfer Agreement with Walter Reed, provided its cyclosporin neuroprotection formula for severe traumatic brain injury studies.

Maas BiolAB and WRAIR will further collaborate to develop the Maas patented cyclosporin neuroprotection formula NeuroSTAT in models of military traumatic brain injury and nerve gas poisoning.