A Medical Device Daily

Compugen (Tel Aviv, Israel) and Biosite (San Diego) entered into a collaboration for the development and commercialization of diagnostic products. Biosite is licensed to develop and commercialize immunoassay-based diagnostic products using novel biomarkers discovered by Compugen.

Using its genomic platform and other computational tools, Compugen is expected to provide Biosite with data on several gene targets to be nominated by Biosite. Compugen grants to Biosite an exclusive license to use the selected Compugen targets for immunoassay-based diagnostic applications.

In return, Compugen is to receive milestone payments and royalties from the sales of each diagnostic product emerging from the collaboration. Compugen retains the exclusive right to pursue further development in the therapeutic field and Biosite will be entitled to receive from Compugen milestone payments and royalties arising from any successful therapeutic application.

CryoLife (Kennesaw, Georgia), a biomaterials and biosurgical device company, reported that CryoLife and the Magdi Yacoub Institute at Imperial College (London) have entered into a three-year research collaboration to develop methods to improve the utilization of unfixed xenografts (animal tissues) for human transplantation.

A primary focus of the collaboration will be on the technology that is used to decellularize porcine heart valves. This research effort will leverage the Magdi Yacoub Institute’s extensive knowledge of heart valve structure and biochemistry, and is designed to optimize decellularization technology in the preparation of animal tissues for human implantation.

Steven Anderson, president and CEO of CryoLife, said, “The studies in this collaboration will provide information on how a decellularized animal tissue may function similar to human tissues. This is significant because there is a large supply of porcine heart valves that may be used in reconstructive heart surgery to replace pulmonary and aortic valves that are damaged or have congenital defects.”

Instrumentation Laboratory (IL; Lexington, Massachusetts) reported that it has extended its existing contract, established in 2002, for its entire portfolio of critical care products with MedAssets Supply Chain Systems (Atlanta). The new contract period continues through July 31, 2006.

This agreement covers IL’s portfolio of critical care analyzers, reagents, consumables and service, including IL’s flagship product, the GEM Premier 3000 analyzer for blood gas, electrolyte and metabolite testing. That analyzer features Intelligent Quality Management (iQM), a real-time, automated, continuous quality assurance system, the company said.

iQM, coupled with its cartridge-based technology and ease of use, is designed to allow the GEM Premier 3000 to be used throughout the hospital, at the point of care and in the lab. It is the only critical care analyzer that offers “true standardization,” IL said.