Apogee Technology (Norwood, Massachusetts) said it has signed an agreement with the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey's (UMDNJ; Newark, New Jersey) Laboratory for Drug Delivery to conduct research and testing on the company's MEMS-based transdermal drug delivery device. The delivery device has been designed on a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) platform. The company said it offers multiple benefits in the use of proteins, vaccines and other large-molecule pharmaceuticals that currently provide therapies for the management of disease and chronic pain conditions. Apogee said it selected the Laboratory for Drug Delivery at UMDNJ to study the compatibility of representative large-molecule drugs with Apogee's patent-pending transdermal solution. The device is designed to be part of an alternate delivery solution for new and existing large-molecule drugs currently used to treat various conditions, such as diabetes, infectious disease, acute pain and chronic pain. Completion of preliminary studies by UMDNJ is expected by year-end, followed by the testing of Apogee's solution for use with selected target drugs for commercialization in 2007.

CSMG Technologies (Corpus Christi, Texas) said its subsidiary, Live Tissue Connect (LTC), has signed an exclusive worldwide product licensing and marketing agreement with ConMed (Utica, New York) to bring its live biological tissue bonding/welding technology to the U.S. and world markets. Under the agreement, LTC will continue its R&D program, regulatory filings, and production of power sources, while ConMed will be responsible for designing and manufacturing hand instruments as well as worldwide distribution, sales and service of the live tissue bonding/welding technology. Closing of the contract is subject to final due diligence approval by ConMed. Closing date is set for no later than May 31. The agreement with ConMed covers all parts of the world except the countries of the former Soviet Union that will be retained by LTC. CTUM owns the technology and exclusive world rights to the medical device through Live Tissue Connect, a subsidiary corporation formed for the development and exploitation of the platform technology.

Delphi Medical Systems (Troy, Michigan) has expanded its collaboration with SRI International (Menlo Park, California), a non-profit public benefit organization, to develop a patented, respiratory care family of devices for use primarily at home and in alternate sites. These new respiratory care devices will be a miniaturized version of what is used today. The Delphi Medical device could make it possible for patients to maintain their respiratory care or therapy while traveling or in the comfort of their own home. Delphi Medical Systems has worldwide exclusive rights for this technology in the medical field, and will develop, manufacture and distribute the new respiratory care device in the near future, either directly through distributors or through co-branding arrangements with OEMs. SRI International touts itself as one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations.

Medwave (Danvers, Massachusetts), a developer of sensor-based, non-invasive blood pressure measuring solutions, reported that it has signed an OEM supply and license agreement with Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of complete systems and subsystems, for medical imaging and patient monitoring platforms. Under the agreement, Analogic will incorporate Medwave's non-invasive blood pressure technology into its patient monitoring product line. This agreement also allows Analogic to integrate Medwave's sensor-based blood pressure solutions into their own products, or products that they design and manufacture for other medical device companies. Tim O'Malley, president and CEO of Medwave, said, "We have been working for several years to effect change in the blood pressure monitoring market where there has not been significant technology improvements in decades. Analogic's decision to implement our . . . technology is a strong testimonial that our technology is creating new standards for non-invasive blood pressure monitoring. [We have] worked with clinical researchers to prove that the performance of our technology is superior to conventional blood pressure cuff technology. Studies and user reports and testimonials have shown repeatedly that our sensor-based solutions are faster, more flexible, more comfortable and more accurate than cuff-based products."

Pall (East Hills, New York) said it has signed a new multi-year contract for leukocyte (white blood cell) re-duction filters with Gambro BCT (Lakewood, Colorado). Pall will be the sole-source, global provider of leukoreduction filters for red cells, plasma and platelets for Gambro BCT's automated blood collection and whole blood processing systems. The new agreement through 2010 is an expansion of a five-year-long relationship between the two companies. Pall currently provides red cell leukoreduction filters for Gambro BCT's Trima Automated Blood Collection System. The Trima system enables blood centers to collect multiple component combinations of leukoreduced, ready-to-store red cells including double red cells platelets and plasma, from a single donor, in a single donation. Gambro BCT said it is developing automated processing technologies for blood centers to separate whole blood into leukoreduced components in a single step. The company said blood centers generally carry out these processes manually with time-consuming, labor-intensive steps.