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Device Reprocessor Completes Merger
Alliance Medical Corp. and Vanguard Medical Concepts have finalized their merger to become Ascent Healthcare Solutions Inc. (Phoenix). Last fall, the companies joined to become the largest third-party reprocessor of single-use devices (SUDs).
Ascent also announced FDA clearance of SUDs that it reprocesses. The products include external fixation devices manufactured by DePuy Orthopedics Inc. (Warsaw, IN) and phacoemulsification tips from Alcon Laboratories (Fort Worth, TX). Ascent states that the 510(k) clearances of these devices indicate the company's compliance with the Medical Device User Fee and Modernization Act of 2002, which requires validation data for reprocessed SUDs. The company currently has 74 FDA-cleared 510(k)s and expects this number to grow.
Ascent has reprocessed more than 40 million SUDs. It anticipates that its customers will save $92 million in supply costs this year.
