AMedical Device Daily Staff Report

CAMP Healthcare (Jackson, Michigan), a manufacturer of surgical supports and orthotic devices, on Friday reported that it had acquired Seattle Systems (Poulsbo, Washington).

CAMP’s parent company, Trulife Group (Dublin, Ireland), purchased all stock of Seattle Systems through the wholly owned subsidiary. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

The purchase, Trulife said, will make it the third-largest manufacturer of prosthetics and orthotics in North America.

Pearce Daley, CEO of CAMP, said that the merger “bodes well” for it and Seattle Systems “from a North American and a global perspective,” by expanding product offerings and ensuring quality.

The integration of Seattle Systems and CAMP will be a seamless transition to customers. CAMP will continue to manufacture and ship products from Seattle Systems’ production facility in Poulsbo.

“This is a great opportunity in every possible respect,” said David Adams, former vice president of sales and marketing for Seattle Systems and recently named executive vice president of marketing for CAMP. “There is minimal overlap between our two companies’ product offerings, and our employees will have the opportunity to take an active role in expanding the new organization.”

CAMP, nearly 100 years old,” describes itself as “a leader in surgical supports and orthotic devices.”

Seattle Systems makes orthotic, prosthetic and physical rehabilitation products.

Trulife Group manufactures orthopedic, breast care, pressure care, prosthetic and consumer products worldwide. It provides clinical orthotic and prosthetic services in the UK and Ireland.

Life Therapeutics (Frenchs Forest, Australia/Atlanta) reported signing a letter of intent to acquire privately held Pyramid Biological (Los Angeles) for $13 million, plus assumption of $7 million of its debt. An additional $5 million could be paid in milestones.

Dr. Hari Nair, CEO and managing director of Life Therapeutics, said, “Pyramid is a leading plasma and biodiagnostic supplier with employees and facilities of the highest quality. This is a major acquisition for our company, and directly supports our strategic plan to become a leading manufacturer of niche therapeutics.”

CFO John Manusu, added: “Essentially, this acquisition will complete the transformation of our company from one with limited small R&D revenue to substantial revenues and profits.”

Life Therapeutics has 220 employees in Australia and the U.S., with manufacturing operations in both countries and eight plasma donor centers in six states. Pyramid has 225 employees and operates five plasma collection centers, four in California and one in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nair said the company expects to achieve “significant cost savings brought about by synergies with the integration of Pyramid,” and anticipates the acquisition will result in a significant increase in FY06 sales and profits. It now forecasts sales for FY06 at $54.8 million, with earnings of $7.4 million.

The company said the acquisition will allow it to “significantly increase” its plasma collection capacity and expand its share of the global hyperimmune plasma and biodiagnostic markets.

The acquisition is expected to close mid-August.

Life Therapeutics has four divisions: Life Sera, Life Gels and Life Diagnostics, headquartered in Atlanta, and Life Bioprocess near Sydney, Australia.

Life Sera collects specialty plasma from more than 5,000 donors in eight U.S. collection centers. The plasma is then sold to blood fractionators who process it into hyperimmune therapeutic products.

Life Gels offers pre-cast gels for use in biological research and diagnostic testing, including electrophoresis systems, and it offers ultra-sensitive and rapid stains, molecular weight markers, and specially formulated buffers.

Life Diagnostics provides diagnostic tests for blood-clotting disorders and source plasma products for blood-borne diseases.

Life Bioprocess markets the Gradiflow technology, a patented process that simultaneously purifies proteins and removes viral pathogens and infectious prion proteins.

In other dealmaking activity, Vibra Healthcare (formerly known as Highmark Healthcare; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) reported closing on its acquisition of the Northern California Rehabilitation Hospital (Redding, California), operating acute medical rehabilitation beds along with skilled nursing beds as part of a transitional care unit. Vibra said it will convert most of these beds to long-term acute care hospital beds.

The transaction was financed by Medical Properties Trust (Birmingham, Alabama), a real estate investment trust primarily investing in specialty and acute-care hospitals.

Vibra also said it has entered an agreement with St. Francis Health Care Centre (Green Springs, Ohio) to manage, with an option to acquire, its 36-bed, long-term acute-care hospital (LTACH).

Brad Hollinger, founder, CEO and chairman of Vibra, said, “The acquisition of the Redding hospital and the St. Francis management contract represent important steps in Vibra’s growth plan. The addition of the Northern California Rehabilitation Hospital is a strategic and geographic fit for Vibra. The conversion of TCU beds to LTACH beds will help meet the demand for critical care beds in the greater Redding market and enable the hospital to better serve the medical community. The Ohio transaction gives Vibra a presence in a new geographic region targeted for future growth.”

Vibra acquires and operates freestanding medical rehabilitation and long-term acute-care hospitals. It currently operates eight hospitals in six states.