Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver, British Columbia) said the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has expired pertaining to the proposed granting of an exclusive license to Boston Scientific (Natick, Massachusetts) with respect to the use of paclitaxel and other agents on medical devices in the coronary vascular field of use. Angiotech is now free to provide an exclusive license to Boston Scientific in the coronary vascular field. Boston Scientific sells Taxus coronary stents that are coated with Angiotech's paclitaxel drug. The expiration of the waiting period triggers a $25 million payment to Cook (Bloomington, Indiana), co-licensee for coronary vascularuse of paclitaxel.

Animas (West Chester, Pennsylvania) has entered into license and development agreements with Debiotech (Lausanne, Switzerland) for micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology and intellectual property related to next-generation insulin pumps and micro-needles. Animas has acquired the exclusive worldwide license to make, use, and sell products using the intellectual property portfolio owned by Debiotech relating to micro-pumps and micro-needles for use related to insulin administration and in vivo glucose sensing. Included in this portfolio are more than 70 granted or issued patents. The launch of the first micro-pump utilizing this new technology is anticipated in 2007.

BSD Medical (Salt Lake City) said it has entered into an agreement with Best Medical International to act as BSD's sales agent for sales of its BSD-500 system in the U.S. Best Medical is a supplier of products for cancer treatment therapies using brachytherapy.

Cardiac Science (Irvine, California), a maker of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), has entered into a distribution arrangement with Hagemeyer North America (HNA; Charleston, South Carolina). Under the agreement, Cardiac Science Powerheart AEDs and AED/CPR training and program management services will be marketed by Hagemeyer's sales force to its industrial and safety supplies customers throughout the U.S.

CryoCath Technologies (Montreal) has agreed to terms on a partnership that grants ATS Medical (Minneapolis) co-promotion rights in the U.S. as well as exclusive distribution rights in the rest of the world, including Europe and in Asia – excluding areas where CryoCath has existing distribution agreements – for CryoCath's surgical cryotherapy products to ablate cardiac arrhythmias.

Fischer Imaging (Denver) has signed an agreement with Virtual Imaging (Delray Beach, Florida) to supply components to be incorporated into a digital X-ray system designed for trauma and general radiographic use. Fischer will sell U-arm assemblies, as currently used in Fischer's VersaRad-D digital X-ray system, that Virtual Imaging will integrate with the existing family of Canon (Lake Success, New York) digital radiography components to form a digital X-ray system to be made available through its network of distributors in the U.S. Virtual Imaging is the distributor for Canon digital radiography systems in the Americas. Fischer Imaging makes medical imaging systems for women's health, particularly the diagnosis and screening of breast cancer.

Hill-Rom (Batesville, Indiana) has signed a new license agreement for Span-America Medical Systems (Greenville, South Carolina) to develop and manufacture a therapeutic support surface for Hill-Rom's new VersaCare Bed System. VersaCare is a hospital bed designed to help deliver effective wound therapy and improved patient and caregiver safety in acute-care environments.

In Vivo Medical Diagnostics (IVMD; Inverness, Scotland) said it is supporting Inverness Medical Innovations (Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer and marketer of rapid diagnostic products for the professional and consumer markets, in its development of a Prothrombin Time monitor for use in U.S. clinical trials. The monitor is the first in a series of applications that measures the content and characteristics of blood through the use of the Hall Effect, a well-known physics phenomenon that can be used to measure the change in magnetic fields at a molecular level. IVMD is collaborating with Inverness Medical through a development contract with a licensing agreement including royalties upon commercialization.

R2 Technology (Sunnyvale, California) a developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) for medical imaging, reported a one-year contract extension with Consorta (Schaumburg, Illinois) a healthcare resource management and group purchasing organization. The agreement designates R2 Technology as a provider of CAD systems designed to assist radiologists in the early detection of breast cancer for Consorta's shareholders, who are among the leading integrators of non-profit healthcare in America, operating more than half of all Catholic hospitals in the U.S.

Wilson Greatbatch Technologies (WGT; Clarence, New York) reported signing an agreement with St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) to extend the terms of their current supplier partnering agreement through the end of 2008. The current agreement, which includes a commitment to WGT for the supply of a range of components including batteries, filtered feedthroughs, molded components and enclosures, went into effect on Jan. 1 and was scheduled to expire at the end of 2006. The agreement was amended to include WGT's expanding portfolio of battery technologies for use in future St. Jude cardiac rhythm management device product lines.