Abiomed (Danvers, Massachusetts) said it has agreed to acquire Impella CardioSystems (Aachen, Germany), manufacturer of the Recover System line of heart pumps used to stave off cardiogenic shock following heart attack or myocardial infarction. Abiomed will acquire Impella for about 4.04 million shares of its common stock and some $1.8 million in cash. It also may make additional contingent payments to Impella shareholders based on stock price performance, unit sales and FDA approval milestones, which could range up to about $29 million. Acquisition of Impella also will take Abiomed into the cath lab, offering a large potential market upside. Impella manufactures "the world's smallest, minimally invasive, high-performance micro blood pumps with integrated motors and sensors for use in interventional cardiology and heart surgery," Abiomed said. These devices are used in the cath lab and are inserted percutaneously, much like a standard balloon pump procedure, to help restore blood flow. Impella has CE marks for each of its devices and markets them throughout Europe. An IDE application has been made to the FDA for the 5 liter-flow version of the pump and Abiomed is preparing an IDE application for the 2.5-liter pump.

Advanced Medical Optics (AMO; Santa Ana, California) reported exercising its option to acquire Quest Vision Technologies (Tiburon, California). Financial terms were not disclosed. The companies entered into a one-year research and evaluation licensing agreement in May 2004 to develop accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) technologies and designs to address presbyopia, which is the progressive loss of the natural lens' ability to change focus from far to near objects. At the time of the licensing agreement, AMO was given the option to acquire Quest Vision after one year.

Closure Medical (Raleigh, North Carolina) reported that the Federal Trade Commission has granted early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period for its previously disclosed acquisition by Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, New Jersey). In the deal which expands the healthcare titan's franchise in medical adhesives J&J will pay Closure shareholders $27 for each Closure share held, with the total deal valued estimated at about $370 million. It was first disclosed in March. Closure said the deal would close "as promptly as possible" after its special meeting of stockholders, set for June 2. Closure is expected to operate as a stand-alone entity reporting through Ethicon (Somerville, New Jersey), a J&J company with which Closure has worked since 1996 on the development of topical adhesives. Closure develops medical adhesives and delivery devices based on a proprietary medical-grade cyanoacrylate technology for applications in wound care and wound closure.

Genzyme (Cambridge, Massachusetts) has signed an agreement to acquire Bone Care International (BCI; Madison, Wisconsin) in an all-cash transaction valued at $33 per fully diluted share, or about $600 million, net of BCI's cash of $119 million. With the close expected in 3Q03, Genzyme said the acquisition brings it a complementary line of products and a profitable commercial organization that will strengthen and diversify its renal business. It said it intends to integrate BCI into its own renal operations in the U.S.

The acquisition of Guidant (Indianapolis) by Johnson & Johnson took another step forward last month with the approval of the merger by Guidant shareholders. Guidant said that its shareholders "overwhelmingly approved" the $24.5 million deal, unveiled in mid-December. Guidant said in a statement that terms of the agreement provide for a collar that could value the acquisition price at either more or less than the announced price of $76 a share. The agreement remains subject to European and U.S. regulatory reviews and other customary conditions and is expected to close by September.

IDX Systems (Burlington, Vermont) has agreed to acquire the assets of RealTimeImage (RTI; San Bruno, California/Tel Aviv, Israel), a developer of web-based medical specialty imaging solutions, for an estimated total of $15.5 million. RT's Pixels-on-Demand image streaming and multi-frame, cine-motion image viewing technology is integrated into the recently un-veiled IDX Imagecast for cardiology product offering. With RTI technology, Imagecast for Cardiology integrates cardiology information and imaging data across multiple modalities and locations. IDX said the technology extends its own Infrastructure for Procedural Medicine technology. The deal is expected to close in 2Q05.

Brachytherapy products specialist Theragenics (Buford, Georgia) reported that it plans to acquire CP Medical (Portland, Oregon), a maker of sutures, cardiac pacing cables, brachytherapy needles/spacers and related medical products sold in the surgical and veterinary fields. Theragenics will pay about $19.15 million in cash and issue more than 1.88 million shares of stock valued at around $6.25 million, for a total consideration of some $25.4 million. The addition of CP Medical provides Theragenics with "new growth platforms," the company said, and will diversify its offerings as "a fully integrated manufacturer, supplier and distributor" of brachytherapy products.