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Originally Published MX September/October 2005

MILESTONES

Milestones

Following the completion of $4 million in financing for its VeinViewer real-time infrared vein visualizer, Luminetx Corp. (Memphis) has announced the election of eight members to its board of directors:

  • James M. Phillips, chairman, president, and CEO of Luminetx.
  • Calvin Anderson, vice president of federal and community relations for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
  • Mark Darty, head of North American R&D at Brother International Corp.
  • Michael D. Easterly, chairman and CEO of Legacy Securities Corp.
  • Kimble L. Jenkins, managing director of Morgan Keegan & Co.'s investment banking group and founder of Morgan Keegan's private equity group.
  • Scott Morris, MD, a Methodist minister who founded and serves as executive director of the Church Health Center.
  • Edward P. Scott, president and CEO of Lifeblood Mid-South Regional Blood Center.
  • John H. Trezevant, president and CEO of Trezevant Realty Corp.

Pamela Bunes

Recom Managed Systems Inc. (Los Angeles), which develops continuous biomedical-signal-monitoring technology, has reported that it has been approved for listing on the American Stock Exchange. The move comes following a separate, earlier announcement from the company that its first product, the Model 100 heart monitor, is almost ready for distribution. "The listing of Recom's shares on the American Stock Exchange is a landmark achievement for the company and the culmination of all the hard work the management team has done over the past several months in advance of the commercialization of our revolutionary heart-monitoring technology," said Pamela Bunes, president and CEO of Recom. Previously, Recom stock had been traded on the OTC bulletin board.

Medtronic Inc. (Minneapolis) and Smiths Medical MD Inc. (St. Paul, MN) have settled litigation stemming from claims that Smiths Medical's Deltec Cozmo insulin pump infringed Medtronic's patents. Under the terms of the settlement, Smiths Medical will make an initial payment to Medtronic and will pay royalties on future sales of the current model. Smiths is not required to make any changes to the features or function of the Deltec Cozmo. Although neither company released details on the payment amounts, Smiths Group (London), Smiths Medical's parent company, said that settlement costs, subject to audit, are expected to total less than $26.5 million.

Allan May

Life Science Angels Inc. (LSA; Palo Alto, CA), a group of financial and scientific firms that invests in seed and early-stage biotech and medical device companies, has completed its first three investments, thereby meeting its midyear goal of distributing $1 million. Pegasus Biologics Inc. (Irvine, CA), a manufacturer of bioimplants for soft-tissue reinforcement, was one of the recipients. In June, Pegasus Biologics announced it had raised $10.2 million in Series B funding. Three Arch Partners and Frazier HealthCare Ventures led the Pegasus financing. "We set out to build the premier life science angel group actively funding early-stage biotechnology and medical device companies," said Allan May, chairman of LSA. "With the closing of our first three investments, we are pleased to say we are on a course to accomplish exactly that."

Scott Drake

Tyco Healthcare division Valleylab (Boulder, CO) has purchased Vivant Medical Inc. (Mountain View, CA) for approximately $66 million, with the potential for $35 million more in milestone payments. Vivant Medical's VivaWave microwave ablation system for soft-tissue treatment completed clinical studies late last year, and the company says it expects a commercial launch soon. Valleylab markets the Cool-tip radio-frequency technology and is developing an in-house oncology team. "This partnership addresses a tremendous unmet clinical need in the global marketplace," said Scott Drake, president of Valleylab.

Gyrus Group plc (Reading, UK), which produces products used during open and endoscopic surgery, has reached an agreement to buy ACMI Corp. (Southborough, MA) for $497 million. In May, ACMI announced that it had developed the world's smallest digital camera and video color sensor.

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