Chad and Salter Form Alliance

Chad Therapeutics, Inc, Chatsworth, Calif, and Salter Labs, Arvin, Calif, have announced the formation of a strategic sales, marketing, manufacturing, and engineering alliance. The purpose of the alliance (each company will remain an independent business entity) will be to capitalize on each other’s unique strengths and expertise. The two companies will mutually agree on specific projects to be jointly pursued.

“Under this alliance, Chad’s highly interactive sales force and Salter’s 120-person field sales force will, over the next several months, be teamed to provide Chad customers with the ultimate in customer service,” said Thomas E. Jones, CEO of Chad. “Responsive telephone sales support will be combined with proactive in-person sales coverage including product demonstrations and technical assistance.”

“In addition to this sales and marketing alliance, Chad and Salter anticipate working together in a variety of areas, including manufacturing, product development, and engineering in order to optimize each other’s unique capabilities and strengths to improve efficiencies, improve quality, and reduce costs,” said Peter W. Salter, CEO and president of Salter.

Datex-Ohmeda Unveils New Logo and Symbol

Datex-Ohmeda, Liberty Corner, NJ, and Helsinki, Finland, the world’s only company specializing in anesthesia and critical care, is introducing its new identity this month. A new logo and symbol, signifying the union of two of the most respected names in anesthesia and critical care, were introduced to customers, employees, and the public in June. The new logo and symbol illustrate the strength, innovativeness, and tradition of its two predecessor organizations, Datex-Engstrom and Ohmeda.

Datex-Ohmeda was established in April when Instrumentarium Corporation, a public Finnish company, acquired Ohmeda Medical Systems and combined it with Datex-Engstrom to create the new organization.

“Datex-Ohmeda is more than a union of two complementary product rosters,” said Olli Riikkala, president and CEO of Instrumentarium and chairman of Datex-Ohmeda. “We have created a powerful new company by bringing together the best available thinking in clinical technology and customer solutions. These enhanced capabilities enable Datex-Ohmeda to operate globally, while remaining close to customers.”

The new company inherits Datex-Engstrom’s and Ohmeda’s shared dedication to anesthesia and critical care. It also draws on a history of shared values. “We are deeply committed to safeguarding the trust we’ve built among clinicians, patients, and employers,” said Donald J. Spence, president of Datex-Ohmeda North America. “All of us at Datex-Ohmeda look forward to using our new capabilities to bring customers innovative, cost-effective solutions across the preoperative and critical care processes.”

BCI Announces Marketing Agreement with Pryon Corp

BCI International, Waukesha, Wis, has announced it has signed a joint development agreement with Pryon Corp, Menomonee Falls, Wis, to produce and manufacture products specific to the patient monitoring market. Initial development will include an end-tidal CO2 device that combines mainstream and sidestream sampling technology in a single, stand-alone system. The device will be marketed under the BCI label and the trademark of CapnocheckT DualStream.

“Immediate access to market Pryon’s combined mainstream/sidestream End Tidal monitor, along with the future addition of other Pryon technology, will round out BCI’s patient monitoring line. We are confident the arrangement will enhance the market presence of both companies,” said Frank A. Katarow, president of BCI.

Instrumentation Laboratory Announces Agreement

Instrumentation Laboratory SpA, Milan, Italy, and Lexington, Mass, has entered into a sole-source 5-year supply agreement with Joint Purchasing Corporation, New York City, one of the largest group purchasing alliances of hospitals and health care systems in the United States. The agreement covers the supply of blood gas, co-oximetry, coagulation, electrolyte and metabolite testing instruments; consumables; service; and information systems for use in hospital laboratories and at the point of care (POC).

Under the agreement, JPC hospitals will have access to the full product line of IL critical care testing systems, such as SynthesisTM for laboratory applications, and GEMr PremierT and GEM PCLT for point-of-care testing. The agreement is in line with IL’s aggressive growth strategy aimed at market expansion through solidification of core product lines and expansion into the high-growth POC testing segment.

The company has also completed its Rights Offering to holders of its Ordinary Shares and its American Depository Shares. A total of 27,329,977 Rights were exercised, resulting in subscriptions for a total of 27,329,977 new Ordinary Shares (including American Depository Shares representing Ordinary Shares). At the subscription price of Lit 2,500 per Ordinary Share, the company received total proceeds of approximately Lit 68.325 billion (approximately $38,976,000).

Respironicsr Announces Organizational Changes

Respironics, Pittsburgh, has made several organizational changes to better focus the company and its resources to achieve its strategic objectives. Robert D. Crouch, formerly senior vice president of sales and marketing, has accepted the position of senior vice president-new ventures. Dennis S. Meteny, president and CEO, said, “In his new role, Mr. Crouch will lead the new ventures group in product licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and product research and development in areas where the company does not currently offer products.” Crouch’s sales and marketing responsibilities will be assumed by John L. Miclot, group vice president-sleep disorders.

Respironics has finished converting its core business application software at its Pittsburgh headquarters and Murrysville, Pa, manufacturing locations to a new software system, known as SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning software. Also, as part of the system upgrade, the company successfully centralized all domestic customer service processes at its headquarters location.

Mallinckrodt Spirometer Receives FDA Approval; New Product Announcement

Mallinckrodt Inc, St Louis, has announced that its new Nellcor Puritan Bennett (NPB) SimplicityT Spirometer-a device that measures lung capacity and performance-has been approved for marketing by the FDA. The company also announced the availability of the new NPB VentNetT, a system that provides comprehensive, real-time remote monitoring of the company’s ventilators.

The Simplicity Spirometer has been specifically designed to support the new National Lung Health Education Program, a joint initiative of the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Association for Respiratory Care, the American Thoracic Society, the National Cancer Society, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The program’s theme for this year is “Test Your Lungs/Know Your Numbers,” which strives to detect chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchitis through spirometry tests.

The VentNet consists of an IBM-compatible PC central station, an SVGA monitor, remote annunciators and either 900-MHz radio transceivers or direct cable connections for communications between each ventilator and central station. Radio frequency (RF) systems can monitor up to 24 ventilators; hard-wired cabled systems will handle up to 16 ventilators.

The central station can be configured to customize alert notifications from the ventilators to caregivers by visual displays, audible alarms, electronic message boards and pagers. VentNet is designed to work with existing in-house paging systems and will contact both the primary caregiver and his or her backup or supervisor.

Abbott and i-STAT Announce Alliance

Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill, and i-STAT Corp, Princeton, NJ, have announced a long term alliance that calls for Abbott to assume sales and marketing responsibility for i-STAT’s products-which include an innovative, handheld point-of- care blood analyzer-in the human health market. Abbott will also collaborate in the development of new products leveraging both i-STAT’s and Abbott’s technology.

“Abbott gives i-STAT the marketing and distribution strength we need to realize the full potential of our technology,” said William P. Moffitt, president and CEO of i-STAT. “This alliance will also help us achieve the economies we need to maximize the efficiency of our production process, making our products even more cost-efficient.”

Abbott expects to continue the successful growth of i-STAT’s products by building upon the increasingly strong position of the company’s MediSense subsidiary point-of- care testing. MediSense manufactures and markets blood glucose monitoring and data management products. Blood glucose testing is the single largest segment of the point-of-care testing market.

Chiron Announces Release of Critical Care System

Chiron Diagnostics, East Walpole, Mass, a business unit of Chiron Corp, has announced the release of sale of the Rapidlab 800 Critical Care System with advanced technology that improves processing time, co-oximetry results, and connectivity solutions for critical care testing.

The Rapidlab 800 System, based on the 800 Series Critical Care System, incorporates significant improvements to one of the world’s best-selling critical care testing platforms. The system includes a faster processor with additional software features such as on-screen reagent tracking, A-V studies, and shunt calculations, and an improved color user interface. These features are specifically designed to enhance operation and reduce clerical tasks for laboratory personnel. The co-oximetry features include such improvements as a unique measuring system that scans the blood with 40 wavelengths and applies a proprietary algorithm that can identify and correct sample measurement problems caused by interference or small clots and bubbles in the sample. This ensures the quality of co-oximetry results and improves the overall system uptime.

The Rapidlab 800 is also specifically designed to connect with RapidlinkT Critical Care Information and System Management (launched in October 1997) to provide both critical care testing and information management capabilities. These two systems form the foundation of Chiron’s Rapidsystems portfolio, offering a total system solution for an institution’s critical care needs.

“Chiron Diagnostics is dedicated to technical innovation, improving testing platforms and information management,” said Chris Gleeson, vice president and general manager Critical Care Diagnostics. “By working to incorporate all time-sensitive Critical Care Testing on RapidSystems platforms, Chiron strives to bolster the clinical decision process while meeting the economic needs of the health care institution.”

NAMDRC Launches Membership Campaign

The National Association for the Medical Direction of Respiratory Care (NAMDRC), Chevy Chase, Md, recently launched its 1999 Membership Campaign, inviting future NAMDRC members to take advantage of all the services the association has to offer. For more than 2 decades, NAMDRC has operated on the belief that quality patient care is essential, and, therefore, has concentrated its efforts on assisting pulmonologists and other physicians who provide clinical and management leadership in respiratory/critical care. The association is dedicated to providing support for physician management of the full range of pulmonary-related care services.

NAMDRC members also are invited to attend annual meetings that afford physicians interested in respiratory care a unique opportunity. Three days of educational sessions are devoted to the most recent scientific and management advances in respiratory care. Topics at recent meetings have included diagnosis of sleep apnea in the lab and at home, national emphysema treatment trial status reports, coding and reimbursement issues, the role of pulmonologists and intensivists in the hospitalist movement, and the role of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation for patients with severe stable COPD. The next meeting will be held February 25-27, 1999, at the Ritz Carlton, Amelia Island, Fla. For more information about NAMDRC membership, call (301) 718-2975, or fill out the attached Business Reply Card. Additional information can be found by contacting their Web site at www.namdrc.org.

Courses Offered in Sleep Therapy and Medicine

The Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and Technology is offering the following courses in sleep therapy and medicine:

The Technician Registry Exam Review Course will be offered October 10-11. Registered polysomnographic technologists will serve as lecturers and facilitators. Ten contact hours will be awarded through the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). Participation is limited to 20.

A Pediatric Sleep Medicine Course will be offered November 6-8. This innovative two-and-half-day course is designed for physicians and technicians. Upon course completion, participants will be able to synthesize clinical and polysomnographic data, accurately interpret PSG and MSLT data in children, and to formulate an age-appropriate differential diagnosis, appropriate diagnostic plan, and treatment strategies.

For more information, contact Gail Reid, education coordinator at (404) 303-3385 or e-mail at [email protected].

PDS Instrumentation Awarded Certification

PDS Instrumentation, Louisville, Colo, manufacturer of the KoKo line of cardiopulmonary equipment, has been awarded ISO 9002 certification and CE marking status. ISO 9002 registration certifies that PDS operates under a comprehensive quality system. The CE mark signifies that these devices conform to the Medical Device Directive and meet stringent requirements for product safety and electromagnetic compatibility.

Duke Selects AVL Testing

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, has selected AVL Medical Instruments, Roswell, Ga, to provide complete critical care testing and related information-management services for its health care system, including outpatient facilities.

The AVL instrumentation will be interfaced with the Radio Frequency Communications Backbone at Duke to enable the easy transfer of data into the hospital information system without the physical connection of wires and cables.

Duke’s critical-care testing pathway will be updated to include both benchtop and point-of-care instruments. The AVL OMNITM modular analyzer, a random-access benchtop system, will be used in the critical care blood gas laboratories and in specific near-patient settings, such as the operating suites. Duke has already incorporated the recently FDA-cleared AVL OPTITM critical care analyzer, a fully automatic, point-of-care instrument, in other point-of-care settings within its health care system. Duke also will be using the AVL Datacare ABGr system, a powerful, easy-to-use blood gas data management software and flexible networking solution.

“We selected AVL as our partner for critical care testing because of their ability to provide us with a complete solution for all our needs and their state-of-the-art technology,” said Dr Gordon Edwards, the executive director of clinical laboratories at Duke.

AVL is an industry leader in the development, manufacture, and marketing of AVL and private-label electrolyte analyzers and sensor technology for clinical laboratory markets worldwide. The current AVL product line offers flexible solutions including both benchtop and point-of-care devices as well as integrated data management.

ResMed Receives 510(k) Clearance; Announces Staff Changes

ResMed Inc, San Diego, has announced that its VPAP II ST Ventilatory Support System, with associated alarms, has received 510(k) clearance in the MNT product category. The company also reported that Vic Yerbury, vice president operation in Australia, has retired.

The device is intended to assist in the ventilation of spontaneously breathing adult patients with respiratory insufficiency or respiratory failure in either a hospital or healthcare facility. According to Dr Peter Farrell, CEO of ResMed, this clearance provides the company with the opportunity to enter the hospital critical care market with a product whose precursor has been well received in the home care market.

ResMed also announced that Dr. Klaus Schindhelm will replace Yerbury as vice president of product development. Schindhelm was professor and head of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering in Sydney before joining ResMed.

Radiometer Acquires SenDx Medical

Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark, has purchased the assets of SenDx Medical Inc, Carlsbad, Calif. As a result of the acquisition, the SenDx100-a portable, highly advanced blood gas and critical analyte analyzer-will join the Radiometer product family as the ABLT70.

The ABLT70 measures blood gases, pH, electrolytes, and hematocrit and is based on innovative thick-film sensor technology that allows up to 200 patient samples to be measured on a single set of miniaturized sensors. The sensor technology of the ABL70 has simplified the traditional measurement process, while achieving the high quality standards for which Radiometer is widely recognized. The device is ideally suited for point-of-care and near-patient-testing locations within larger and smaller hospitals, locations where daily test volumes are typically low to moderate.

The ABLT70 analyzer is virtually maintenance-free. The multitest sensor cassette offers cost-per-test advantages over the competition’s single-use test cartridge systems that have struggled to penetrate the near-patient-testing and point-of-care segments. This lightweight, portable device can also interface with LIS/HIS information systems. (800) 736-0600, ext 333

Mallinckrodt Appoints New President

John Q. Hesemann has been named president of Mallinckrodt’s respiratory group. Hesemann-who has been with the St Louis-based company since 1976-has served as vice president, contrast media, with global responsibility for diagnostic imaging agents used in X-ray, CT, and MRI since 1994.

“John has made significant contributions to Mallinckrodt during his 22-year career with the company,” said C. Ray Holman, Mallinckrodt chairman and CEO. “He directed the successful launch of Mallinckrodt’s single largest-selling product, OPTIRAYr, and also guided the commercialization of our Ultrajectr prefilled syringe system. With an excellent knowledge of the medical industry and solid leadership abilities, John will guide our respiratory business to great success.”

Scandipharm Signs Distribution Contract

Scandipharm Inc, Birmingham, Ala, has named Critical Care Concepts (3Ci) as the primary US distributor of its Flutterr mucus- clearance device.

“This new alliance significantly increases the number of salespeople promoting the device,” said Dale Brakhage, director of marketing. “Our customers, including hospitals, subacute facilities, and home health providers, will enjoy improved levels of service and support.”

Flutter is the only airway-clearance device that simultaneously offers positive expiratory pressure, airway oscillation, and intermittent flow acceleration, providing a beneficial means of airway clearance for patients.