Medical Devices Today

Medtech Intellectual Property Highlights of 2009

Medtech Intellectual Property Highlights of 2009: Federal Circuit, USTPO and Beyond
By Jason R. Kraus and Brian W. Oberst Faegre & Benson

The past year heralded a number of events that could directly affect the way medtech companies do business. Among these are the Federal Circuit decision in Prometheus—which may shape the future of medical method claims—as well as possible policy shifts within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The following is an overview of some significant legal, legislative and regulatory developments medtech companies will want to monitor in 2010. Read more...

Medtech Deals—Recent Financing Trends

By Peggy Steif Abram, Angie D. Snavely and Jonathan R. Zimmerman - Faegre & Benson
The medtech industry was not immune from the economic woes of 2008 and 2009, and financing opportunities were greatly reduced. In 2008, overall financing for medtech companies in the U.S. dropped 53 percent. Read more...

Haiti Devices and Supplies Relief: BD Establishes $1.2 Million Fund for Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

Press release reprinted from www.BD.com - January 21, 2010

Franklin Lakes, NJ (January 15, 2010) – BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE:BDX), a leading global medical technology company, announced today that it is donating $550,000 in support of relief efforts to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. A financial donation of $250,000 will be split equally between the American Red Cross and the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. BD will distribute the remainder to AmeriCares, Catholic Medical Mission Board, Direct Relief International, Heart to Heart International, Partners In Health, Project HOPE and Save the Children. 

Haiti Devices and Supplies Relief: Baxter Supports Haiti Relief Efforts

Press release reprinted from www.Baxter.com - January 21, 2010

Baxter International Inc. and The Baxter International Foundation have committed $1 million to support disaster relief efforts in response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Haiti Devices and Supplies Relief: Medtronic Pledges $1 Million To Haiti Earthquake Relief

Press release reprinted from www.Medtronic.com - January 21, 2010

Funding provided for immediate and long-term relief efforts

MINNEAPOLIS – Jan. 21, 2010 – Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced today that it has pledged $1 million through the Medtronic Foundation to support earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.

Haiti Devices and Supplies Relief: Carefusion To Donate $3.1 Million In Products For Ongoing Earthquake Relief Efforts In Haiti

Press release reprinted from www.CareFusion.com - January, 21, 2010

SAN DIEGO, January 21, 2010 – CareFusion (NYSE: CFN), a leading, global medical device company, today announced it will donate 100 CareFusion ventilators and 200 infusion pumps to aid in the ongoing humanitarian efforts in Haiti. Additionally, the company has purchased and will donate 100,000 bottles of silver dihydrogen citrate, a water purification product that can purify and make drinkable up to 20 million gallons of water.

CareFusion’s donation is valued at approximately $3.1 million.

CDRH Taps Shuren As Permanent Head, Sets Ambitious 2010 Agenda

Breaking news alert reprinted from "The Gray Sheet" - January 20, 2010

FDA named Jeffrey Shuren as permanent device center director today, while launching an ambitious 2010 agenda that includes changes to the 510(k) and PMA pre-market programs by this fall, harmonized international inspection activities by 2011 and unique device identification by 2013.   Read more...

Haiti Devices and Supplies Relief: Vidacare Corporation Donates EZ-IO Vascular Access Systems to Partners In Health for Haiti Relief Efforts

Press release repinted from www.vidacare.com - January 21, 2010

EZ-IO System Helps Gain Essential Vascular Access in Critically Injured Patients

(SAN ANTONIO) – Vidacare Corporation has joined forces with Partners In Health (PIH) to provide vital medical supplies in Haiti following the devastating earthquake which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.  Vidacare Corporation is donating over $50,000 worth of equipment to help gain vascular access in earthquake survivors at PIH clinics and operating rooms around Haiti. An initial shipment of drivers and needles has already been sent to meet PIH’s request for medical supplies, and additional shipments are eminent.

U.S. Home Healthcare Products Market Report

 The combined U.S. market for home healthcare products reached $4.3 billion in 2007 and (despite current economic recession and uncertainty), is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of more than 4%, reaching nearly $5.2 billion in 2012. It is one of the largest and most stable in the United States (U.S.) due to the burgeoning aging population and corresponding increase in lifespan, the critical need for cost-effective medical equipment for patients suffering from long-term chronic conditions, and the increasing usage of technology by the baby-boomer population. Read more...

U.S. Diabetes Management Products Market Report

Diabetes affects nearly 24 million people in the U.S. and is the 5th leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. This costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $130 billion per year. To constrain spiraling healthcare costs, the development of more affordable and effective diabetes management (self-testing and treatment) products has become a top priority not only in the U.S., but worldwide. Diabetes management products have become one of the largest medical device and pharmaceutical markets in the U.S., totaling more than $15 billion. As the population of diabetics continues to increase, the market is expected to continue to grow at a double-digit rate over the next five years, reaching nearly $28 billion by 2013. Read on...