A Medical Device Daily

Clearant (Los Angeles), a developer of a pathogen inactivation technology, reported completing its reverse merger with Bliss Essentials (Burnaby, British Columbia), a company previously traded under the symbol BLSE.

As part of the transaction, Clearant raised gross proceeds of about $11 million through the sale of its common stock, of which roughly 2.8 million will be used to repay debt and the balance will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, it said.

As a result of the transaction, Clearant now has 35,829,350 shares of common stock outstanding.

This new round of financing closes as Clearant reports continuing to secure contracts for licensing its Clearant Process, a method used to sterilize tissue allograft implants in their final packaging.

Prior to the availability of this process, the tissue allograft implants being delivered to hospitals for use in surgical procedures were aseptically processed and then packaged in a clean environment and therefore, according to the company "cannot be sterile."

To date, Clearant has focused its marketing efforts on generating adoption of the Clearant Process within the tissue allograft industry. More than 750,000 tissue allograft implants are distributed annually in the U.S.

Effective in May, the FDA will begin the enforcement of the Good Tissue Practices (GTPs), expected to result in increasing the level of pathogen safety required for these tissue implants. Additionally, the FDA GTPs define the level of microbial safety for a sterile allograft implant.

Clearant said it "firmly believes" that its process meets the requirements for sterility as defined in the GTPs, thereby allowing Clearant licensees to offer their customers safer, sterile tissue allograft implants.

The Clearant Process is designed to reduce all types of pathogens for products across many market segments, including plasma proteins, tissue implants, recombinant products and blood products, and can be applied at various stages of product processing, including in the final container.

Spacelabs Medical (Issaquah, Washington), a manufacturer of patient monitoring systems, and Nellcor (Pleasanton, California) a developer of pulse oximetry systems, reported that they have teamed up for a global technology alliance enabling Spacelabs to offer Nellcor's OxiMax pulse oximetry technology as an integrated part of Spacelabs UltraviewSL patient monitoring products.

OxiMax, Nellcor's advanced digital signal processing technology, is designed to conquer difficult monitoring challenges and perform with greater accuracy than conventional oximetry, even for difficult-to-monitor patients.

In other dealmaking activities:

• VWR International (West Chester, Pennsylvania) reported the acquisition of Advanced Instruments Sales & Service (San Juan, Puerto Rico), a supplier of services, instrumentation, equipment and consumables to the Puerto Rican pharmaceutical, biochemical and scientific markets. Terms were not disclosed.

VWR said the acquisition will expand its service and product portfolio within the Puerto Rican sales and marketing region and the continental U.S.

Carlos Rodriguez, current president of Advanced Instruments' group of companies, will lead the new combined organization in Puerto Rico.

VWR International bills itself as a global distributor of scientific supplies and services, with worldwide sales of roughly $3 billion.

• Selas Corp. of America (Dresher, Pennsylvania) said it sold the remaining portion of its Heat Technology business, which includes the Selas name, for about $6.8 million in assets and $4.3 million in liabilities of its burner and components business. Sold to Selas Heat Technology, a company formed by equity firm Lionheart Holdings, the purchase price was about $3.6 million, of which roughly $2.7 million was paid in cash and $900,000 in the form of a subordinated promissory note.

With expertise in the robotic manufacture of miniature and micro-miniature electronic products, and the company's redefined focus, it has changed its name to IntriCon. Its new symbol on the American Stock Exchange is IIN.

The new company, to be headquartered in Arden Hills, Minnesota, will supply microminiaturized components, systems and molded plastic parts to the hearing instrument manufacturing industry and to the medical equipment, computer, government, electronics and telecommunications industries.

Mark Gorder, IntriCon president and CEO, said that the sale "marks an important milestone . . . . During the past three years we have reshaped our overall business by divesting non-core assets [shifting] from the company's traditional business segments to the emerging prospects in our precision miniature medical and electronic products business."

• Tenet Healthcare (Dallas) reported that several of its subsidiaries have completed the previously disclosed sale of four California home health agencies and an infusion center to CareSouth HomeCare Professionals (Augusta, Georgia). Included in the sale are the home health agencies at Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs), Alvarado Hospital Medical Center (San Diego), Community Hospital of Los Gatos (Los Gatos) and Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center (Garden Grove), as well as a related infusion center at Desert Regional.

Net after-tax proceeds, including the liquidation of working capital, are about $6 million. The company said it expects to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

Tenet Healthcare, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related healthcare services.

• Universal Health Services (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania) reported completing the previously disclosed sale of 430-bed Hospital San Pablo (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) and 180-bed Hospital San Pablo del Este (Fajardo, Puerto Rico). The combined sale proceeds were roughly $120 million, plus the value of certain components of working capital.

Universal is a large hospital company, operating acute care and behavioral health hospitals, ambulatory and radiation centers in the U.S., Puerto Rico and France.