Nellcor (Pleasanton, California) and Optical Sensors (Minneapolis, Minnesota) have entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing and distribution agreement for Optical Sensors' CapnoProbe product and technology. The agreement, under which Optical Sensors will receive royalties on future sales and certain milestone payments, is effective immediately. Specific financial terms were not disclosed. The CapnoProbe system is a hand-held device with an optical carbon dioxide (CO2) probe that is slipped under the tongue like a thermometer. It measures the carbon dioxide tissue of the mouth's mucous membrane. According to the company, this measurement can assist physicians in diagnosing systemic hypoperfusion, which is an early indicator of impending or actual circulation collapse. The licensing agreement with Nellcor encompasses the current CapnoProbe system, as well as ongoing sensor and monitor development for the next-generation system. Nellcor will also assume all manufacturing and distribution of the CapnoProbe system. Nellcor makes pulse oximetry, fetal pulse oximetry and airway management products. The company develops products for measuring and regulating patient body temperature. Optical Sensors is a technology development company specializing in low-cost, fiber optic sensors and instruments.
Procorde AG (Martinsried, Germany) and Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany) entered into a two-year collaboration to identify new drug targets in the fields of heart and vascular diseases. Procorde plans to use its Sigscreen platform, which allows examination of targets directly in vivo in preclinical heart failure animal models, speeding up target validation, Procorde said. The company plans to validate 10 selected candidate genes. The agreement includes a basic payment and milestone payments for Procorde.
Somanetics (Troy, Michigan) has entered into a distribution agreement for its Invos Cerebral Oximeter patient monitoring system with Perfusion Resources Network (PRN), a Texas-based cardiopulmonary product management company. Through its partnership with hospitals and perfusionists, PRN currently provides cardiopulmonary disposables and capital equipment for use in more than 130 hospitals each year. PRN will represent Somanetics in select territories, incorporating the Invos Cerebral Oximeter into its customized open heart kits. PRN also will provide the system as a stand-alone product offering. The Invos system is the only patient monitoring system, commercially-available in the U.S., that noninvasively and continuously monitors changes in the regional blood oxygen saturation in the brain.