A Medical Device Daily

Natus Medical (San Carlos, California) reported that it has agreed to acquire privately held NeuroCom International (Clackamas, Oregon), which develops computerized systems for the assessment and rehabilitation of balance and mobility disorders, for a cash price of $18 million.

Natus said the acquisition, which it expects to complete in early October, adds to its growth opportunities by broadening its product offerings in the company's neurology business.

"This acquisition expands our neurology footprint into the growing balance and mobility assessment market," said Jim Hawkins, president/CEO of Natus. "We believe this acquisition affirms our position as the market leader in neurology and brings Natus one step closer to achieving our stated goal of growing revenue to a $250 million annual run-rate by the end of 2008," he added.

NeuroCom reported revenue of $11.3 million in the 12 months ended June 30, and is expected to have cash of at least $3.4 million as of the closing.

Natus believes the acquisition will be immediately accretive to earnings, excluding associated one-time charges.

Natus is a provider of healthcare products used for the screening, detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical ailments such as hearing impairment, neurological dysfunction, epilepsy, sleep disorders and newborn care.

ConvaTec (Skillman, New Jersey), a developer of wound therapeutics and ostomy care products, reported that it has completed its acquisition of Unomedical (Birkerod, Denmark), a manufacturer of single-use medical devices.

ConvaTec said the combination will create a company with $1.6 billion in annual sales, with a significantly expanded global footprint.

The combined company will be known as ConvaTec and will be led by current ConvaTec CEO David Johnson. ConvaTec will have four business divisions: Ostomy Care, Wound Therapeutics, Continence & Critical Care, and Infusion Devices. Infusion Devices will continue to operate separately.

As required by the European Competition Commission, the integration will not include the Unomedical Wound Care division, which will be divested within the next several months.

ConvaTec was spun off from Bristol Myers Squibb (New York) last month and was acquired by Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners for $4.1 billion (Medical Device Daily, Aug. 4, 2008). Nordic and Avista had reported their plans to merge the two companies after the ConvaTec acquisition. ConvaTec has more than 3,500 employees in 91 countries.

Unomedical makes infusion sets used by diabetics on pump therapy. It has product development, manufacturing and sales offices worldwide and employs some 4,500 persons in 14 countries.

In other dealmaking news:

• North American Scientific (NAS; Chatsworth, California) reported that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Non-Therapeutic Product Line to Eckert & Ziegler Isotope Products (Berlin) for about $6 million.

The product line includes radiation sources and standards used in a variety of areas for calibration, measurement, analysis and control. The transaction is subject to customary conditions with an expected close by tomorrow.

"This divestiture allows us the opportunity to focus solely on growing the therapeutic areas of our business with our Prospera and ClearPath product lines for local radiation treatment for the prostate and breast cancer patient, while also providing the company with important non-dilutive capital to invest in ongoing operations," said John Rush, president/CEO of North American Scientific. "Eckert & Ziegler is a market leader in the non-therapeutic radioisotope business. They will serve our customers as well or better than we would be capable of moving forward."

NAS provides radiation therapy products for treating cancer. Its products, Prospera brachytherapy seeds and SurTrak needles and strands, are used primarily in the treatment of prostate cancer. In addition the company said it plans to commercialize its ClearPath multi-channel catheter breast brachytherapy devices.

• BioMedical Technology Solutions Holdings (BTSH; Englewood, Colorado) changed its ticker symbol from CETR to BMTL, reflecting its previously reported reverse merger with CET Services (Centennial, Colorado) (MDD, Aug. 25, 2008). In conjunction with this ticker change, the company has completed a 1-for-3 reverse stock split.

BTSH said it received notification that the reverse stock split and ticker change became effective on the OTC Electronic Bulletin Board with the open of Wednesday's trading.

Giving effect to the issuance of about 78,033,189 additional shares of common stock in connection with the reverse triangular merger between CET Services and BMTS that was consummated last month, and giving further effect to the reverse split, the company will have about 27,880,000 shares issued and outstanding (before giving effect to the impact of rounding up in the reverse split).

BMTS sells and leases devices that convert infectious biomedical waste into non-biohazardous material using the patented Demolizer technology which it owns. BMTS's products provide biomedical waste treatment solutions for medical, dental and veterinary offices, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other healthcare facilities.