07.31.12
Teleflex Sells Orthopedic Division to Tecomet
Teleflex Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its original equipment (OEM) manufacturer orthopedics business to Tecomet for $45.2 million in cash. Tecomet majority owner Charlesbank Capital Partners financed the transaction. The OEM orthopedics business generated net revenues of approximately $36 million for Teleflex in 2011.
“The decision to divest the OEM orthopedics business is consistent with our strategy to focus on our branded products, invest in late-stage innovative technologies to support our long-term growth, and expand both our gross and operating margins,” stated Benson F. Smith, Teleflex chairman, president and CEO. “The proceeds from the divestiture of this business, along with our ability to continue to generate cash from operations, will enable us to continue to execute our strategic plan for future growth.”
Teleflex’s orthopedics business includes the Beere Medical and SMD brand product lines. Beere offers custom surgical instruments used for orthopedic and spinal procedures, while SMD makes micro-machined products ranging from simple components to complex devices. Core capabilities include implant systems (spinal, small bone, dental), mono- and poly-axial screws, flat or anatomic plates, straight or pre-bent rods, connectors and implant insertion instruments.
“We are very excited about the additional capabilities this acquisition adds to our portfolio and we welcome the talented and capable Kenosha, Wisconsin workforce to the Tecomet team,” said Tecomet CEO Bill Dow.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2012. As a function of entering into a definitive agreement, Teleflex will reclassify the OEM orthopedics business under “discontinued operations” in its future consolidated financial statements.
After the acquisition is finalized, the Teleflex Medical OEM division will focus its attentions on expanding its Deknatel (a line of sutures) and TFX OEM (custom extrusion, catheter fabrication, and medical devices) brands.
Based in Limerick, Pa., Teleflex produces products for the critical care market.
Biomedical Structures Introduces New Weaving Technique for Artificial Tendons and Ligaments
Warwick, R.I.-based Biomedical Structures LLC (BMS), developer of biomedical textiles for medical devices and other advanced clinical applications, now provides a new tapered medical textile solution for artificial tendons, ligaments and other orthopedic applications.
BMS already provides tapering and bifurcation capabilities for very fine fabrics, so this new weaving technique will complement existing capabilities. The hope is that this type of weaving will closely imitate natural tendon and ligament performance better than similar products have been able to before. In order to so closely mimic human anatomy, BMS shapes bio-absorbable and permanent fibers by developing precise dimensions and load-bearing performance characteristics within a functional shape that mirrors natural geometries. For tendon and ligament repair applications that require sutured tissue and subsequent re-growth of natural cells to replace the damage, this textile engineering approach has the power to enable a new class of implant solutions.
The company is backing up its new capabilities with its high-precision medical textile research and development and advanced new weaving equipment for synthetic polymers, including fibers such as polyester, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (commonly known as UHMWPE) and poly-L-lactide (commonly known as PLLA). These fibers, in a very fine form, are noted for their strength and flexibility. For artificial tendons and other orthopedic repair applications, this protection against stretch and control of tempered movement is extremely important to successful recovery and sustained performance over time. Recent figures cite nearly 32 million repetitive and traumatic tendon and ligament injuries reported annually, a figure expected to increase as the population ages, and currently available synthetic replacements become limited.
“BMS’ continual investment in cutting-edge equipment designed to enhance our biomedical textile production capabilities has delivered in a transformative way for device engineers looking to the next-generation solution for orthopedic repair,” said BMS CEO Dean Tulumaris. “Medical device OEMs will now be able to create synthetic tendon and ligament repair structures that match human anatomy more closely than ever before. As we marry our expertise in tapering very fine fibers for cardiovascular applications with deep experience in orthopedic reconstruction and repair device support, we are excited to bring this breakthrough capability to the market.”
The announcement of this new capability comes soon after BMS’s release of the Biofelt absorbable scaffold in January, for use in various applications including those used to make orthopedic devices. Produced from Polyglycolic Acid, PLLA and copolymers such as co-polylactic acid/glycolic acid, Biofelt is a non-woven structure that provides a fibrous matrix platform, enabling natural tissue in-growth in surgical applications, and is manufactured by a carding and needle-punch process.
The scaffold is three-dimensional with a high surface area and void volume designed to promote natural cell adhesion and regeneration. The felt-like material can be specified to absorb into the body from less than 30 days to up to a year, and can be customized in a variety of shapes including flat sheets, discs and tubes.
“Biofelt is a terrific example of how traditional tissue engineering technology and materials can be used in more innovative ways across medical device sectors,” said Tulumaris at the time of release.
Secant Medical Receives Award for Implantable Textiles
Secant Medical has been awarded the 2012 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Enabling Technology based on the company’s contribution to the implantable textile structures design market. Established in 2002 as a business unit within Prodesco Inc. (part of Fenner PLC), Secant develops biomedical textiles technologies, and is one of the few suppliers that can provide customized design solutions at competitive prices to medical device manufacturers and other notable clients in the biomedical device industry.
The Frost & Sullivan Award is awarded each year to companies that not only have developed a pioneering technology, but whose technology also promises to aid in the development of further, newer technologies. In addition, the award recognizes the high market acceptance potential of a technology.
In a laudatory statement announcing the award, Secant is described as a company able to combine variability in structure, delivery method, performance, physical composition, resorbability, and other unique elements that make up implantable textile construction. The company’s customized approach enables medical device manufacturers to develop a portfolio of more innovative, effective, and commercially successful medical device designs.
“There is an emerging industry need to completely understand the role that material selection plays in realizing component structure design, optimizing the development process, and largely defining the form and function of the end device,” said Prasanna Vadhana Kannan, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “One of the unique approaches adopted by Secant Medical toward design methodology is its ability to understand the medical device design requirements and leverage its technology to create a customized solution for the client's device application.”
A combination of established and emerging substrates, along with a carefully structured material selection process, offers an effective path toward enhancing the performance of a medical device design. In line with this trend, Secant Medical is focused on advancing textile constructs built from absorbable and bio-active polymers for tissue engineering and orthobiologics applications that require short-term tissue support while the body repairs itself, followed by long-term biologic integration.
The company’s approach also will enable niche applications for biomedical textiles. For instance, Frost & Sullivan expects that in the near future, spinal applications will benefit from woven structures that contain reinforced holes for screws and other fixative components used for attaching to a bone plate. In
effective filtration-involving applications, weaving with wires and other biomaterials paves the way for more open constructions that have highly controlled pore sizes for capturing emboli, while at the same time allowing normal blood flow through the material. Such prospects of woven biomedical textiles are useful in surgical techniques involving high-stroke patients. As such, the potential for Secant’s technology is far-reaching.
“Another crucial capability in woven biomedical textiles is the ability to provide vital properties by altering or modulating the geometry of the structures and the materials from which they are produced,” noted Kannan. “Secant Medical is working toward textile components engineered from materials designed to degrade at varying rates over time, thereby allowing the ability to fine-tune fabric degradation in sync with the desired tissue healing rate of the patient.”
Secant has formed strategic partnerships with leading biomaterial providers to boost innovation in the orthopedics segment involving tissue engineering, tissue scaffolding, and orthobiologics concepts. The firm realizes that with a seemingly endless need to customize materials and form technologies to suit new device applications, investing in biomedical textiles research and development will accelerate innovation and advance medical technologies available for surgical procedures. This foresight was cited as a further reason that made Secant worthy of this year’s Frost & Sullivan Award.
Frost & Sullivan is a New York, N.Y.-based company that partners with companies from various industries to aid in growth and innovation. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.
Perkasie, Pa.-based Secant Medical combines implantable biomaterials with medical fabric engineering technologies to develop the next generation of biomedical textile components for medical devices.
Cardinal Health Announces Orthopedic Line
Cardinal Health has developed orthopedic technology to serve hospitals and surgical centers, providing them with various products through the company’s medical distribution platform.
“Based upon our market and customer research, we believe that U.S. healthcare providers are ready to support a simpler, more transparent, fair-priced orthopedic business model,” said Lisa Ashby, president of category management at Cardinal Health. “We believe our blend of product and distribution expertise positions us well to help our orthopedic customers drive cost-effectiveness and efficiency.”
The Cardinal Health Orthopedic
Solutions offering comprises three key components: products, supply chain services, and data analytics. This model, according to the company, allows customers to buy medical devices through Cardinal Health, reducing ordering costs and on-hand inventory. The company claims the data analytics tools will allow hospitals and surgery centers to have better visibility to their total orthopedic procedural spending.
To support the Cardinal Health Orthopedic Solutions model, the company also introduced a specialized version of its ValueLink Par Optimization program to help reduce trauma implant inventory inside hospitals’ central processing area, as well as a strategic partnership with trauma products provider Emerge Medical Inc. Emerge trauma products, including cannulated screws, drill bits and guide wires, will be purchased through and distributed by Cardinal Health. According to Cardinal Health, these industry standard trauma products will be available at a 30 to 50 percent savings compared with other currently available products. The terms of the purchase agreement were not disclosed.
“We’re very excited to be entering into an exclusive distribution partnership with Cardinal Health so our customers can benefit from Emerge’s high-quality, fair-priced trauma products and Cardinal Health’s
efficient supply chain network,” John Marotta, CEO of Emerge Medical, said in prepared remarks. “Together we will provide a low-cost trauma solution that will drive simplicity and transparency to this pressured healthcare environment.”
Cardinal Health is based in Dublin, Ohio, while Emerge Medical is headquartered in Denver, Colo.
Merge Healthcare Releases New Image Management System
Merge Healthcare Inc. has announced the release of Merge OrthoPACS, a comprehensive image management and digital templating solution for orthopedics. Merge OrthoPACS is designed to allow orthopedic surgeons to access images taken at multiple locations in a single viewer, diagnose from anywhere at anytime, plan for surgery with digital templating, and securely archive studies.
“Merge’s OrthoPACS solution successfully demonstrates our large investment and commitment to the orthopedic market,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “We’ve combined new and innovative functionality with proven underlying technology to deliver a truly unified orthopedic-specific PACS solution. Additionally, we’re excited to now offer OrthoPACS in a subscription model that will address clients’ requirements for pricing that more closely aligns with their long-term operating plans.”
“We’ve already begun upgrading our practice to Merge OrthoPACS,” said Bradley Dick, chief information officer at Resurgens Orthopaedics, Georgia’s largest orthopedic practice. “With Merge OrthoPACS, we’ll migrate from a legacy product to true DICOM archive technology which will make it easier to share and manage images across our 21 offices in metro Atlanta.”
Merge claims orthopedic surgeons will find the imaging system will improve their work flow in the following ways: Orthopedic-specific work flows are built into OrthoPACS from clinic use to the operating room; the OrthoPACS zero-footprint client viewer can be the sole viewer for an orthopedic practice—this means reading images will be no different whether a surgeon reads from their workstation, their iPad, or another device; and the OrthoPACS viewer also provides access to pre-surgical templating, including advanced measurements and automated hip templating.
Based in Chicago, Ill., 25-year-old Merge Healthcare is a provider of clinical systems and cloud-based solutions for image intensive specialties.
Teleflex Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its original equipment (OEM) manufacturer orthopedics business to Tecomet for $45.2 million in cash. Tecomet majority owner Charlesbank Capital Partners financed the transaction. The OEM orthopedics business generated net revenues of approximately $36 million for Teleflex in 2011.
“The decision to divest the OEM orthopedics business is consistent with our strategy to focus on our branded products, invest in late-stage innovative technologies to support our long-term growth, and expand both our gross and operating margins,” stated Benson F. Smith, Teleflex chairman, president and CEO. “The proceeds from the divestiture of this business, along with our ability to continue to generate cash from operations, will enable us to continue to execute our strategic plan for future growth.”
Teleflex’s orthopedics business includes the Beere Medical and SMD brand product lines. Beere offers custom surgical instruments used for orthopedic and spinal procedures, while SMD makes micro-machined products ranging from simple components to complex devices. Core capabilities include implant systems (spinal, small bone, dental), mono- and poly-axial screws, flat or anatomic plates, straight or pre-bent rods, connectors and implant insertion instruments.
“We are very excited about the additional capabilities this acquisition adds to our portfolio and we welcome the talented and capable Kenosha, Wisconsin workforce to the Tecomet team,” said Tecomet CEO Bill Dow.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close during the third quarter of 2012. As a function of entering into a definitive agreement, Teleflex will reclassify the OEM orthopedics business under “discontinued operations” in its future consolidated financial statements.
After the acquisition is finalized, the Teleflex Medical OEM division will focus its attentions on expanding its Deknatel (a line of sutures) and TFX OEM (custom extrusion, catheter fabrication, and medical devices) brands.
Based in Limerick, Pa., Teleflex produces products for the critical care market.
Biomedical Structures Introduces New Weaving Technique for Artificial Tendons and Ligaments
Warwick, R.I.-based Biomedical Structures LLC (BMS), developer of biomedical textiles for medical devices and other advanced clinical applications, now provides a new tapered medical textile solution for artificial tendons, ligaments and other orthopedic applications.
BMS already provides tapering and bifurcation capabilities for very fine fabrics, so this new weaving technique will complement existing capabilities. The hope is that this type of weaving will closely imitate natural tendon and ligament performance better than similar products have been able to before. In order to so closely mimic human anatomy, BMS shapes bio-absorbable and permanent fibers by developing precise dimensions and load-bearing performance characteristics within a functional shape that mirrors natural geometries. For tendon and ligament repair applications that require sutured tissue and subsequent re-growth of natural cells to replace the damage, this textile engineering approach has the power to enable a new class of implant solutions.
Woven textile produced by Biomedical Structures. |
Biofelt non-woven textile in tube form. Photos courtesy of Biomedical Structures LLC. |
The company is backing up its new capabilities with its high-precision medical textile research and development and advanced new weaving equipment for synthetic polymers, including fibers such as polyester, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (commonly known as UHMWPE) and poly-L-lactide (commonly known as PLLA). These fibers, in a very fine form, are noted for their strength and flexibility. For artificial tendons and other orthopedic repair applications, this protection against stretch and control of tempered movement is extremely important to successful recovery and sustained performance over time. Recent figures cite nearly 32 million repetitive and traumatic tendon and ligament injuries reported annually, a figure expected to increase as the population ages, and currently available synthetic replacements become limited.
“BMS’ continual investment in cutting-edge equipment designed to enhance our biomedical textile production capabilities has delivered in a transformative way for device engineers looking to the next-generation solution for orthopedic repair,” said BMS CEO Dean Tulumaris. “Medical device OEMs will now be able to create synthetic tendon and ligament repair structures that match human anatomy more closely than ever before. As we marry our expertise in tapering very fine fibers for cardiovascular applications with deep experience in orthopedic reconstruction and repair device support, we are excited to bring this breakthrough capability to the market.”
The announcement of this new capability comes soon after BMS’s release of the Biofelt absorbable scaffold in January, for use in various applications including those used to make orthopedic devices. Produced from Polyglycolic Acid, PLLA and copolymers such as co-polylactic acid/glycolic acid, Biofelt is a non-woven structure that provides a fibrous matrix platform, enabling natural tissue in-growth in surgical applications, and is manufactured by a carding and needle-punch process.
The scaffold is three-dimensional with a high surface area and void volume designed to promote natural cell adhesion and regeneration. The felt-like material can be specified to absorb into the body from less than 30 days to up to a year, and can be customized in a variety of shapes including flat sheets, discs and tubes.
“Biofelt is a terrific example of how traditional tissue engineering technology and materials can be used in more innovative ways across medical device sectors,” said Tulumaris at the time of release.
Secant Medical Receives Award for Implantable Textiles
Secant Medical has been awarded the 2012 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Enabling Technology based on the company’s contribution to the implantable textile structures design market. Established in 2002 as a business unit within Prodesco Inc. (part of Fenner PLC), Secant develops biomedical textiles technologies, and is one of the few suppliers that can provide customized design solutions at competitive prices to medical device manufacturers and other notable clients in the biomedical device industry.
The Frost & Sullivan Award is awarded each year to companies that not only have developed a pioneering technology, but whose technology also promises to aid in the development of further, newer technologies. In addition, the award recognizes the high market acceptance potential of a technology.
In a laudatory statement announcing the award, Secant is described as a company able to combine variability in structure, delivery method, performance, physical composition, resorbability, and other unique elements that make up implantable textile construction. The company’s customized approach enables medical device manufacturers to develop a portfolio of more innovative, effective, and commercially successful medical device designs.
“There is an emerging industry need to completely understand the role that material selection plays in realizing component structure design, optimizing the development process, and largely defining the form and function of the end device,” said Prasanna Vadhana Kannan, senior research analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “One of the unique approaches adopted by Secant Medical toward design methodology is its ability to understand the medical device design requirements and leverage its technology to create a customized solution for the client's device application.”
A combination of established and emerging substrates, along with a carefully structured material selection process, offers an effective path toward enhancing the performance of a medical device design. In line with this trend, Secant Medical is focused on advancing textile constructs built from absorbable and bio-active polymers for tissue engineering and orthobiologics applications that require short-term tissue support while the body repairs itself, followed by long-term biologic integration.
The company’s approach also will enable niche applications for biomedical textiles. For instance, Frost & Sullivan expects that in the near future, spinal applications will benefit from woven structures that contain reinforced holes for screws and other fixative components used for attaching to a bone plate. In
effective filtration-involving applications, weaving with wires and other biomaterials paves the way for more open constructions that have highly controlled pore sizes for capturing emboli, while at the same time allowing normal blood flow through the material. Such prospects of woven biomedical textiles are useful in surgical techniques involving high-stroke patients. As such, the potential for Secant’s technology is far-reaching.
“Another crucial capability in woven biomedical textiles is the ability to provide vital properties by altering or modulating the geometry of the structures and the materials from which they are produced,” noted Kannan. “Secant Medical is working toward textile components engineered from materials designed to degrade at varying rates over time, thereby allowing the ability to fine-tune fabric degradation in sync with the desired tissue healing rate of the patient.”
Secant has formed strategic partnerships with leading biomaterial providers to boost innovation in the orthopedics segment involving tissue engineering, tissue scaffolding, and orthobiologics concepts. The firm realizes that with a seemingly endless need to customize materials and form technologies to suit new device applications, investing in biomedical textiles research and development will accelerate innovation and advance medical technologies available for surgical procedures. This foresight was cited as a further reason that made Secant worthy of this year’s Frost & Sullivan Award.
Frost & Sullivan is a New York, N.Y.-based company that partners with companies from various industries to aid in growth and innovation. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development.
Perkasie, Pa.-based Secant Medical combines implantable biomaterials with medical fabric engineering technologies to develop the next generation of biomedical textile components for medical devices.
Cardinal Health Announces Orthopedic Line
Cardinal Health has developed orthopedic technology to serve hospitals and surgical centers, providing them with various products through the company’s medical distribution platform.
“Based upon our market and customer research, we believe that U.S. healthcare providers are ready to support a simpler, more transparent, fair-priced orthopedic business model,” said Lisa Ashby, president of category management at Cardinal Health. “We believe our blend of product and distribution expertise positions us well to help our orthopedic customers drive cost-effectiveness and efficiency.”
The Cardinal Health Orthopedic
Solutions offering comprises three key components: products, supply chain services, and data analytics. This model, according to the company, allows customers to buy medical devices through Cardinal Health, reducing ordering costs and on-hand inventory. The company claims the data analytics tools will allow hospitals and surgery centers to have better visibility to their total orthopedic procedural spending.
To support the Cardinal Health Orthopedic Solutions model, the company also introduced a specialized version of its ValueLink Par Optimization program to help reduce trauma implant inventory inside hospitals’ central processing area, as well as a strategic partnership with trauma products provider Emerge Medical Inc. Emerge trauma products, including cannulated screws, drill bits and guide wires, will be purchased through and distributed by Cardinal Health. According to Cardinal Health, these industry standard trauma products will be available at a 30 to 50 percent savings compared with other currently available products. The terms of the purchase agreement were not disclosed.
“We’re very excited to be entering into an exclusive distribution partnership with Cardinal Health so our customers can benefit from Emerge’s high-quality, fair-priced trauma products and Cardinal Health’s
efficient supply chain network,” John Marotta, CEO of Emerge Medical, said in prepared remarks. “Together we will provide a low-cost trauma solution that will drive simplicity and transparency to this pressured healthcare environment.”
Cardinal Health is based in Dublin, Ohio, while Emerge Medical is headquartered in Denver, Colo.
Merge Healthcare Releases New Image Management System
Merge Healthcare Inc. has announced the release of Merge OrthoPACS, a comprehensive image management and digital templating solution for orthopedics. Merge OrthoPACS is designed to allow orthopedic surgeons to access images taken at multiple locations in a single viewer, diagnose from anywhere at anytime, plan for surgery with digital templating, and securely archive studies.
“Merge’s OrthoPACS solution successfully demonstrates our large investment and commitment to the orthopedic market,” said Jeff Surges, CEO of Merge Healthcare. “We’ve combined new and innovative functionality with proven underlying technology to deliver a truly unified orthopedic-specific PACS solution. Additionally, we’re excited to now offer OrthoPACS in a subscription model that will address clients’ requirements for pricing that more closely aligns with their long-term operating plans.”
“We’ve already begun upgrading our practice to Merge OrthoPACS,” said Bradley Dick, chief information officer at Resurgens Orthopaedics, Georgia’s largest orthopedic practice. “With Merge OrthoPACS, we’ll migrate from a legacy product to true DICOM archive technology which will make it easier to share and manage images across our 21 offices in metro Atlanta.”
Merge claims orthopedic surgeons will find the imaging system will improve their work flow in the following ways: Orthopedic-specific work flows are built into OrthoPACS from clinic use to the operating room; the OrthoPACS zero-footprint client viewer can be the sole viewer for an orthopedic practice—this means reading images will be no different whether a surgeon reads from their workstation, their iPad, or another device; and the OrthoPACS viewer also provides access to pre-surgical templating, including advanced measurements and automated hip templating.
Based in Chicago, Ill., 25-year-old Merge Healthcare is a provider of clinical systems and cloud-based solutions for image intensive specialties.