A Medical Device Daily

Lifestream Technologies (Post Falls, Idaho), a supplier of cholesterol monitors, reported assigning the intellectual property of its subsidiary, Secured Interactive Technologies, to LifeNexus.

Upon completion of LifeNexus' financing, Lifestream will receive a 49% equity position in LifeNexus, and rights to the technology will transfer to LifeNexus.

“We are pleased to have this opportunity to receive a benefit from the transfer of our smart card technology, since our current resources are being focused on our core business,“ said Christopher Maus, CEO of Lifestream.

He said the technology, “which has no material value to the company, has not been commercialized, as market conditions were not conducive to support the costs related to an effective rollout.“ With national attention focused on revamping the healthcare information system, Maus said, “we believe this sale provides the most favorable opportunity for Lifestream and its shareholders.“

He added: “LifeNexus has proposed an innovative approach, a portable medical record in concert with powerful healthcare financial services, to create a viable opportunity for commercializing this technology. We look forward to profiting from its success.“

Maus is required by LifeNexus to facilitate the early phase of product development, and it has entered into an independent agreement wherein Maus will receive compensation as a member of the board of LifeNexus. “I look forward to working directly with LifeNexus to make this proposition successful. It brings considerable value to consumers as it is a universal solution for the portability of medical records,“ he said.

LifeNexus, recently organized, describes its role as putting personal healthcare on a smart card platform that incorporates emergency medical information, emergency medical insurance, accidental life and other financial products.

Lifestream markets cholesterol monitors providing test results in three minutes to consumers and healthcare professionals for monitoring the risk of heart disease.

In other dealmaking activity:

• Align Technology (Santa Clara, California), the developer of Invisalign, a method of straightening teeth without wires and brackets, reported the acquisition of General Orthodontic (GO; San Francisco), strengthening, it said, its commitment “to providing clinical support for Invisalign doctors.“

Align agreed to purchase GO for about $2.4 million, including an initial payment of $1.4 million and up to $1 million for performance-based earnouts.

GO has provided a range of Invisalign treatment planning consulting and support services to doctors since 2003. Its services are designed to match the level of treatment planning support to the Invisalign experience of the doctor. GO will offer expert, individualized support services as a follow-up to Invisalign certification and other clinical courses.

“Adding GO to the Align team is the latest step in our initiative to provide enhanced clinical support to Invisalign doctors,“ said Thomas Prescott, president and CEO of Align Technology.

Align, founded in 1997, received FDA clearance to market Invisalign in 1998.

• Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS; Los Angeles) reported entering an agreement to acquire all rights, title and interest to the intellectual property of Biowell Technologies (Taiwan), including Biowell's DNA technology used in its security/anti-counterfeiting applications.

Biowell will transfer ownership of all of its intellectual property to a subsidiary that will then be acquired by a subsidiary of ADNAS, and Biowell shareholders will receive shares of ADNAS stock. Upon closing, Biowell's chairman and other staff will relocate to California to establish a DNA laboratory.

Peter Brocklesby, president of ADNAS, said the acquisition “delivers global control of the DNA security technology to Applied DNA Sciences . . . Having the DNA security solution produced within the U.S. borders by an American company in its own laboratories removes the natural reluctance of government and major corporations regarding dependency upon foreign technology for the provision of critically important security protection.“

Botanical DNA technology is a source of brand protection and anti-counterfeiting since it is based on identification of the encoded DNA in a product through forensic analysis, a scientific proof of authenticity.

Microscopic DNA markers can be integrated into products and packaging in inks, paper, coatings, adhesives, thread, textiles, polymers, liquids, holograms and micro-chips.

ADNAS recently reported a joint venture to develop and market DNA-embedded holograms with Holomex, a manufacturer of security holograms.

• Universal Health Services (UHS; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania) reported signing an agreement to sell two acute-care facilities in Puerto Rico, Hospital San Pablo (Bayamon) and Hospital San Pablo del Este (Fajardo).

The two facilities will be sold to a local hospital operator in Puerto Rico, Centro Medico and HIMA San Pablo Properties. The sale proceeds will be about $120 million, excluding net working capital. The sale is expected to close by March 31.

UHS operates acute-care and behavioral health hospitals, ambulatory and radiation centers nationwide, as well as in Puerto Rico and France.