Cardiac Science (Irvine, California) has expanded its multi-year strategic distribution agreement with GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) under which GE will begin marketing Cardiac Science's line of Powerheart-branded automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and fully automatic in-hospital defibrillator-monitors (CRMs) to hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. GE's hospital sales force will begin marketing Cardiac Science's recently FDA-cleared Powerheart AED G3 PRO, the Powerheart AED G3 and Powerheart CRM in 1Q05. Cardiac Science will support the GE sales effort via a group of sales specialists located in key North American locations.

Conor Medsystems (Menlo Park, California) has entered into an international distribution agreement with St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) for Conor Medsystems' Costar cobalt chromium paclitaxel drug-eluting stent for the treatment of restenosis. Under the agreement, St. Jude will be the exclusive distributor of the stent in Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, and will be responsible for sales and marketing in those territories. Conor Medsystems will retain manufacturing rights and sell the product to St. Jude Medical. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed. In connection with the distribution agreement, St. Jude Medical has provided a $5 million loan to Conor that will convert into shares of Conor Medsystems common stock in certain circumstances.

I-Flow (Lake Forest, California) unveiled a national agreement with Aetna (Hartford, Connecticut) to make I-Flow's InfuSystem service for oncology therapy delivery available to Aetna enrollees. The company said that the InfuSystem offers the most comprehensive system available for chemotherapy infusion, providing ambulatory infusion pumps and related disposable supplies from a variety of manufacturers while assuming regulatory functions to achieve overall efficiency and cost-effective clinical outcomes. I-Flow develops drug delivery systems.

GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) has signed a three-year agreement with VHA (Irving, Texas), a cooperative that serves more than 2,200 healthcare organizations nationwide. GE has been selected as one of VHA's suppliers for clinical information systems. The agreement, which took effect Oct. 1, covers GE's Centricity clinical information systems portfolio, which consists of acute-care core clinical products; computerized provider order entry; care team documentation; MAR with bar coding, pharmacy; lab; physician office electronic medical record; practice management and cardiology solutions.

Medtronic Minimed (Northridge, California), a leader in insulin pump therapy, and Novo Nordisk (Princeton, New Jersey), a provider of insulin products, entered into an agreement to develop the first prefilled cartridges designed for use with Medtronic's Paradigm external insulin pumps. The two companies also agreed to conduct clinical studies and expand medical education highlighting the benefits of maintaining good blood glucose control in people with diabetes who use Novo Nordisk's U-100 NovoLog (insulin aspart (rDNA origin) injection) and Paradigm pump therapy. Prefilled cartridges containing NovoLog are expected to offer a convenient option for people using Paradigm pump therapy. Currently, pump users must transfer insulin every two to three days from a vial to a reservoir that fits inside their pump.

Microtek Medical Holdings (Columbus, Mississippi) and Fischer Imaging (Denver) entered into an OEM supply agreement under which Microtek will manufacture and sell to Fischer Imaging certain imaging equipment drapes for Fischer's MammoTest Product. In addition, Microtek will collaborate with Fischer Imaging in the design and development of other infection control draping products suitable for Fischer Imaging's range of medical imaging systems. A manufacturer of infection control products, fluid control products and safety products to healthcare, Microtek will expand its experience in infection control products to medical imaging systems for women's health issues, particularly the diagnosis and screening of breast cancer.

Sanmina-SCI (San Jose, California), an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company, and Renal Solu- tions (Warrendale, Pennsylvania), a medical device and healthcare service company, reported that Sanmina-SCI's Medical Division will manufacture the Allient Sorbent Hemodialysis System. Sanmina-SCI's Medical Division is the largest medical EMS provider in the world. Its FDA-registered manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama, will fulfill Renal Solutions' capacity manufacturing requirements. The Allient system is not yet FDA-cleared for sale.

SourceOne Healthcare Technologies (Mentor, Ohio), a distributor of medical imaging systems, equipment, radiographic consumable supplies, and service to healthcare providers, and CompuMed (Manhattan Beach, California), a developer of computer-aided telemedicine and diagnostics technology in the cardiology and musculoskeletal fields, reported signing a new nationwide distribution agreement. SourceOne will market and distribute CompuMed's DICOM OsteoGram software that may be added to existing computed radiography and digital radiography systems enabling them to perform bone mineral density screening for early detection and treatment of osteoporosis.

U.S. MedSys (Denver) reported signing a marketing-and-distribution agreement with Ivivi Technologies, a subsidiary of ADM Tronics Unlimited (Northvale, New Jersey), to incorporate the SofPulse Electrotherapy Device into its wound care management program.