Emergency Filtration Products (EFP; Las Vegas, Nevada) reported an agreement with B&B Medical (Sacramento, California), a medical distributor specializing in respiratory and airway management products for the hospital market. This strategic agreement will place EFP's products into a network of distributors that also specialize in sales to hospitals. EFP said it believes this network will add significantly to the initial success of upcoming ventilator circuit filters and BVM portable resuscitator products, targeted for hospital use. The agreement also calls for EFP to add 19 of B&B's products to its military and government marketing program. EFP already possesses DAPA contracts and has met the other requirements necessary to institute such sales.

International Remote Imaging Systems (IRIS; Chatsworth, California), a manufacturer of urinalysis workstations, said that its Advanced Digital Imaging Research subsidiary has entered into a research and development agreement with Millar Instruments (Houston, Texas), a maker of catheter pressure sensors.

Micro Motors, a division of Pro-Dex (Santa Ana, California), a medical and dental products company, said it has an exclusive three-year agreement with Spinal Dynamics (Seattle, Washington) to supply an electric drive system for powering some of the surgical instruments used to implant the company's spinal disc prosthesis. The first version of the device, designed to replace cervical spinal discs, represents a revolutionary improvement in the treatment of disc disease with a market potential of $800 million, the company said. Spinal Dynamics is a private company that designs and develops surgical procedures and functional reconstructive implants to treat spinal disorders.

Nomos (Sewickley, Pennsylvania) said it has formed a partnership with Impac Medical Systems (Mountain View, California) and will incorporate Impac's new OpenRT Certification Program as part of its treatment planning offering. Nomos said this coupling of features will ensure that radiation therapy treatment plans can be seamlessly transferred, verified and delivered, improving overall process efficiency and the quality of care provided to patients. OpenRT Certification establishes compliance, validation, deployment and support standards for the interoperability of treatment planning systems with Impac's Electronic Medical Record (EMR), and subsequently from the EMR to the linear accelerator for treatment delivery. Nomos is a supplier of planning and delivery technology for Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.

Regeneration Technologies (RTI; Alachua, Florida) said it has signed an agreement for the distribution of a new allograft with Medtronic Sofamor Danek (MSD; Minneapolis, Minnesota). The terms of the new agreement call for an increased share of revenues for RTI. MSD, which has marketed and distributed RTI allografts since 1996, previously has retained 70% of product revenues; this agreement raises RTI's share of this new allograft to 40% of fees. This is the first allograft produced from RTI's new assembled composite technology; the cortical-cancellous allograft will be used in a cervical fusion application. RTI plans to roll out the new allograft on a limited basis to select surgeons this winter. RTI processes allograft tissue into shaped implants for use in orthopedic and other surgeries. By processing allograft tissue into forms that can be used in many types of surgical procedures including orthopedic, urologic, craniofacial and cardiovascular surgery.

Rochester Medical (Stewartville, Minnesota) has entered into a supply agreement with Mentor (Santa Barbara, California) for Silicone Male External Catheters. Rochester said it expects sales to begin this quarter, and starting April 1, 2002, Mentor will make minimum annual purchases of more than $2 million. Under the agreement, Rochester will supply Mentor with all its requirements of Silicone Male External Catheters for the UK and France. In those two territories, Rochester has granted Mentor exclusivity for distribution of the product. The exclusivity agreement provides that Rochester will add no new distributors of Silicone Male External Catheters in those territories during the term of the agreement. The agreement term is for five years. Rochester Medical makes latex-free disposable medical catheters and devices for urological and continence care applications.

Spinal Concepts (Austin, Texas), a maker of spinal implant technology, has signed an agreement with AlloSource (Centennial, Colorado), one of the nation's largest nonprofit tissue bank cooperatives, to produce, market and distribute the Natural Selection System PLIF (Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion) Wedge. The design of this new allograft product allows AlloSource to use tissue more effectively than before, the company said. Spinal Concepts is a privately held company providing the surgical community with spinal implant products used in the treatment of spinal disorders, diseases and injuries.

Thales Industrial Services (Arcueil, France) and Proteus International (Nimes, France) are collaborating on development of a novel system using genetic technologies to detect and monitor biological terrorism. This collaborative agreement has been entered into within the framework of a public tender from the Direction General des Armees of the Department of Defense of the French Republic.

Source: The BBI Newsletter