Milestones 4143

MILESTONES

FlowCardia Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA), a medical device company focused on coronary and peripheral catheter-based systems for chronic total occlusion recanalization, has completed enrollment in a pivotal study designed to assess the safety and efficacy of its Crosser catheter in chronically occluded coronary arteries. Wick Goodspeed, president and CEO of FlowCardia, noted that patients in the study require only a 30-day clinical follow-up and that the company had hoped to file a request for Crosser 510(k) clearance this past fall. "At this point, we anticipate clearance from FDA before the end of this year," he said.

Water Street Capital Partners LLC (Chicago), a private equity firm specializing in healthcare investments, has agreed to acquire Facet Technologies from Matria Healthcare Inc. (Marietta, GA) for approximately $122 million. Facet Technologies specializes in diabetes product design, development, and assembly. "We have optimized the value for our shareholders, and we believe Water Street is the right partner for Facet," said Parker H. Petit, chairman and CEO of Matria. "Water Street's healthcare expertise, operating focus, and growth strategies for Facet will serve Facet's customers extremely well and provide the best opportunities for Facet management and employees."

Affinergy Inc. (Research Triangle Park, NC), a Duke University spin-off that develops site-specific biological delivery systems, has entered into a multiyear development and license agreement with Synthes Inc. (Solothurn, Switzerland). Under the agreement, Affinergy will work exclusively with Synthes on multiple product applications across the spine, trauma, and craniomaxillofacial sectors. "Synthes built its leadership position in the orthopedics market by continually providing innovative products," said Peyton Anderson, Affinergy's CEO. "Affinergy is very excited by the potential of these development programs to improve patient outcomes while better serving surgeons' clinical practices. The market-leading position of Synthes is an excellent platform to leverage the full potential of Affinergy's technology."

Effective January 1, 2007, St. Jude Medical Inc. (St. Paul, MN) plans to combine its cardiac surgery and cardiology divisions to create a new cardiovascular division. Daniel J. Starks, chairman, president, and CEO of St. Jude Medical, said the move will boost operating efficiencies and increase funds available for investment in research and development. "Our cardiology and cardiac surgery businesses will be stronger together than each business is separately," he said.

FoxHollow Technologies Inc. (Redwood City, CA) has agreed to acquire Kerberos Proximal Solutions Inc. (Cupertino, CA) for $32 million in cash and stock. Kerberos is a private manufacturer of medical devices for the removal of blood clots from arteries. "We believe the Kerberos thrombectomy system is a great first addition to FoxHollow's product portfolio, which previously has been focused exclusively on SilverHawk plaque excision in peripheral vessels," said John B. Simpson, PhD, MD, FoxHollow's founder and CEO. "We believe the Kerberos products will find wide application in both the coronary and peripheral arteries and bring relevant clinical value to our patients."