Company News

Medtronic and Edwards Lifesciences have buried the hatchet in their ongoing patent disputes with the former coughing up an immediate $750 million plus future amounts based on sales.

Spinal device company K2M Group has announced the closing of its initial public offering of 8,825,000 shares of common stock at $15, bringing $120 million into the business.

Less than a month ago we covered the news that InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. was ready to start the first trial of its Neuro-Spinal Scaffold. Now the biomaterials company has reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 and updated us on its business

One of three judges has departed the room. Then his replacement votes against his view. Then someone who voted against him last time, changes her mind. Not like this is important or anything.

Spinal device company K2M has announced that it will be offering 8,825,000 shares of common stock at a price of $15.00 per share, which should nett out at over $120 million, some $20 million more than was being estimated six weeks ago.

Thoratec Corporation has reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2014. International sales of the Heartmate device continue to dominate the revenue line, with 7% growth compared with the equivalent quarter a year ago.

EndoGastric Solutions® recently released data supporting its Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF®) procedure for treating Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD. Now the company has announced that it has a new President and CEO in the form of industry veteran, Skip Baldino.

Bausch + Lomb has announced it has entered into an exclusive license agreement for a three-dimensional surgical navigation technology, the Cirle Surgical Navigation System, from Cirle, Inc., a medical technology incubator based in Miami, Fla.

Intuitive Surgical has posted its most recent quarterly figures and they don’t pain a very happy picture. Revenue’s 24 percent off the equivalent period a year ago at $465 million vs $611 million.

Two of last week’s news items have moved on a bit over the Easter weekend: Medtronic’s increasingly acrimonious spat with Edwards over the respective companies’ transcatheter heart valve offerings, and Covidien’s recall being graded Class I by the FDA.

St. Jude is sounding punchy, expecting revenue gains based on a flurry of new product approvals.

Back in February 2014 we covered the news that Stryker Corporation was to acquire healthcare infrastructure business, Berchtold Holdings in a deal worth $172 million. Now that deal has gone through.

Medtronic has signalled its intent to get to the sharp end in a significant market, by acquiring a majority of the shares of Biostar, which will assume the distribution of Medtronic products in Turkey. Former distributor Medicall Biomedikal A.S. will assume management responsibilities.

Orthopaedic giant, Biomet, Inc has released its quarterly financial statements showing a consolidated net sales increase of 7.5% on a constant currency basis, compared with the equivalent period a year ago. The growth comes on the back of a similarly healthy picture a quarter ago.

Aptiv Solutions is to be acquired by ICON plc, for a cash consideration of $143.5 million, in a move that Icon says will enhance its own operations by helping customers identify promising drug candidates earlier.

It’s been stormy waters for Echo Therapeutics during 2013, a year that saw cash dwindling, shareholder angst and boardroom changes, before new money arrived and cost-cutting measures started to turn the ship around.