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Strategies & Market Trends : Speculating in Takeover Targets -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: richardred who wrote (979)	1/10/2006 12:48:03 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7243

Mergers, Safety Top Medical Device Focus Monday January 9, 3:52 pm ET By Wallace Witkowski, AP Business Writer Medical Device Industry Mergers, Safety Awareness to Continue As Themes in 2006 NEW YORK (AP) -- Industry analysts predict the medical device sector will continue to place emphasis on more rigorous safety standards and mergers designed to jump-start growth in 2006. Piper Jaffray medical device analyst Thom Gunderson said safety came to the fore in 2005 because of an event outside the immediate sector: the withdrawal of Merck & Co.'s top-selling arthritis drug Vioxx and the resulting liability trials. With Vioxx, Gunderson said, nobody questioned whether the drug worked, but the risks came to outweigh the benefits and forced the company to pull the drug off the market. "For devices, we generally talk about safety and efficacy, and Wall Street just assumes safety but looks at efficacy," Gunderson said in an interview. "What happened in 2005 was that the safety issues were raised up and re-examined." Gunderson said Johnson & Johnson elevated the safety discussion within the industry in March in a clinical trial presentation that compared its Cypher drug-coated stent to Boston Scientific Corp.'s Taxus Express2 stent. Stents are tiny wire mesh tubes that are expanded inside plaque-congested arteries to act as scaffolding. Drug coatings help prevent the artery from reclogging by keeping tissue from growing through the mesh. "What Johnson & Johnson did was imply with some data that their stent was safer, with fewer adverse events," Gunderson said. "That worked and got them 10 points of market share." Boston Scientific held about two-thirds of the U.S. drug-coated stent market at the beginning of 2005, a stake that has dwindled recently to about 55 percent. AG Edwards analyst Jan Wald agreed that safety was one of the main industry themes in 2005 at the demand of investors and patients alike after well-publicized device recalls, such as Guidant Corp.'s recall of thousands of implantable defibrillators and pacemakers over the summer. CIBC World Markets analyst John Calcagnini remarked that companies going forward will likely have to start disclosing lower failure rates of devices. "It's good in that it will probably raise the bar for quality control," Calcagnini said. The issue of safety clashed with the year's other dominant trend, device company mergers, particularly in the case of J&J's bid to acquire Guidant. Just over a year ago, J&J had offered about $25.4 billion for Guidant but managed to lower its bid to $21.5 billion after the summer recalls had caused J&J to reconsider the deal. Then, Boston Scientific made a surprise $25 billion bid the company in December. On Sunday, Boston Scientific made a formal offer of $72 per share, compared with J&J's $64 per share offer. Piper's Gunderson called 2005 a "banner year" for medical device mergers and acquisitions, comparing the recent flurry of activity to a five-year harvest cycle, where new technologies mature and make the whole company desirable enough to acquire. One recent merger drama involved Allergan Inc., the maker of wrinkle treatment Botox, and its successful bid for Inamed Corp., which is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval for silicone-gel filled breast implants. Allergan offered $3.2 billion for Inamed, trumping a $2.8 billion offer from Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp., to get a larger stake in the cosmetic surgery products market. CIBC's Calcagnini said growth in most core device markets like drug-coated stents, defibrillators and orthopedics are slowing down, and that large cap companies need to find growth engines. That is why Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific aren't just battling it out for domination in the drug-coated stent market: they also need Guidant to fill out a heart device portfolio that lacks cardiac rhythm management devices. Calcagnini rates the whole medical device sector as "Sector Perform," claiming most large capitalization companies are trading in line with their historical price-earnings ratios, or about a 35 percent to 40 percent premium to the S&P 500. New safety strategies and mergers will play heavily in the growing neurostimulation device market, AG Edwards' Wald predicted. The analyst cited the recent acquisition of Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc. by St. Jude Medical Inc. as the heart device maker's play to take advantage of a field with "tremendous upside." Advanced Neuromodulation makes pacemaker-like devices that treat chronic pain. Another company, Cyberonics Inc., gained FDA approval in 2005 to use a stimulation device to treat drug-resistant depression. Wald said that neurostimulation clinical trials have traditionally required far less data than trials for stents and other devices. But the analyst said that may change with Medtronic Inc.'s hiring of Richard Kuntz in September to head their neurostim business. Wald said that Medtronic plans to have Kuntz "up the ante" in the neurostim market by generating larger amounts of clinical trial data to support marketing efforts over the next year. biz.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (979)	1/24/2006 12:33:27 PM
From: richardred	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7243

Cytori Gets EU OK for Stem Cell Machine Tuesday January 24, 10:55 am ET Cytori Therapeutics Gets European Approval to Sell Stem Cell Processor SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Cytori Therapeutics Inc. said Tuesday that European regulators approved its stem cell processing device for sale, triggering an $11 million payment to Cytori from the joint venture it operates with Tokyo's Olympus Corp. The two companies joined up in November to collaborate on regenerative medicine products. The recently approved Celution System processes adult stem cells from fat tissue in about an hour, making these important regenerative cells available for re-implantation into a patient during a surgical procedure. Cytori shares rose 1 cent to $7.05 in recent Nasdaq trading. Olympus, which makes cameras and electronics along with microscopes and measuring equipment, trades over the counter in the United States. biz.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (979)	1/24/2006 12:34:06 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7243

FDA Approves New Merit Medical Catheter Tuesday January 24, 10:53 am ET Merit Medical Systems Gets FDA Approval for New Line of Catheters SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP) -- Merit Medical Systems Inc., a maker of disposable medical products used for heart and radiation procedures, said Tuesday it received Food and Drug Administration approval to market its new Impress catheter. The Merit Impress is a new line of diagnostic, peripheral catheters designed to minimize kinking and provide improved steering capability with wet, gloved hands, the company said. Shares of Merit fell 2 cents to $13.06 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. biz.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (979)	1/24/2006 12:46:54 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7243

ATS Medical to Buy 3F Therapeutics Tuesday January 24, 9:58 am ET ATS Medical to Buy Privately-Held 3F Therapeutics in an All-Stock Transaction MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- ATS Medical Inc., a maker of cardiac surgery products, said Tuesday it agreed to buy privately-held early stage medical device company 3F Therapeutics, in a stock-for-stock transaction. ATS said it will issue 9 million of its shares to 3F stockholders, and will issue up to another 10 million upon the achievement of certain milestones. ATS said it currently has about 31 million shares outstanding. Irvine, Calif.-based 3F is "at the forefront of the emerging field of minimally invasive beating heart tissue valve replacement," the company said in a statement. ATS added it expects to close the transaction by the second quarter of 2006. ATS added it reaffirmed its revenue outlook Monday, and said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $9.9 million and full-year sales of $34.6 million. Analysts, on average, are looking for sales of $9.9 million for the quarter, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Shares fell 10 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $2.97 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has changed hands between $2.60 and $4.34. biz.yahoo.com

To: richardred who wrote (979)	1/28/2006 2:02:46 AM
From: richardred	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7243

Stryker Strikes Back By Melissa Davis Senior Writer 1/27/2006 12:18 PM EST Stryker (SYK:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) shares showed a full range of motion Friday. The company's stock jumped 11%, hitting levels unseen since last fall, after Thursday's quarterly report. The Kalamazoo, Mich., orthopedic device maker met fourth-quarter profit targets but fell short of revenue forecasts. Stryker also issued full-year earnings guidance that due to a lower tax rate came in just ahead of current expectations. The company's comments were mostly reassuring to investors who had been concerned on a number of fronts. Still, even a bullish analyst who upgraded the stock on Thursday failed to see the rally coming. "Stryker's shares have pulled back recently," noted Wachovia analyst Michael Matson, when raising his rating on the stock from market-weight to outperform. "And there may be further weakness Friday, which represents a good entry point in our view." Instead, the stock immediately soared to $49.48 -- putting it very close to Matson's target range of $50 to $54 a share. Matson upgraded the stock due to the company's planned rollout of a new spine putty, its recent success with a high-end knee replacement and its continued strength in medical/surgical equipment sales. Notably, his upgrade had nothing to do with perhaps the biggest driver of orthopedic stocks -- pricing for artificial joints in the crucial U.S. market. Nevertheless, his note sent other less-diversified orthopedic players soaring as well. Zimmer (ZMH:NYSE - commentary - research - Cramer's Take), which is set to report its own results on Monday, jumped 5.4% to $70.22. And smaller Biomet (BMET:Nasdaq - commentary - research - Cramer's Take) surged 6% to $37.83. Falling Prices Many experts saw reasons for a fall instead. "Management said specifically for implants that pricing was down -- from flat last quarter -- as pricing pressure has increased in the U.S.," Leerink Swann analyst Jason Wittes noted on Friday. "In addition, we saw continued evidence of mix pressure. ... (So) we expect the stock to trade down this morning." thestreet.com

To: richardred who wrote (979)	3/12/2007 1:54:24 PM
From: richardred	Respond to of 7243

Smith & Nephew Buying Plus Orthodepics Monday March 12, 1:00 pm ET Smith & Nephew Says It Agreed to Buy Plus Orthopedics for About $890M LONDON (AP) -- Smith & Nephew PLC, a British maker of artificial hips, said Monday it agreed to buy Plus Orthopedics Holding AG, a private Swiss orthopedic company, for about 1.09 billion Swiss francs ($890 million) in cash. The deal would make Smith & Nephew the world's fourth-largest operator in the orthopedic reconstruction market with a market share of about 12 percent. The British company will also assume debt of about $190 million in the deal. Smith & Nephew expects the acquisition to boost earnings in 2008 and beyond. Plus Orthopedics Holding had gross assets of 436 million francs ($357 million) as of Dec. 31, 2006, the company said in a statement. Plus develops a range of orthopedic implants, primarily hips and knees, and also small joint and shoulder products. The company posted revenue of 367 million francs ($300 million). Smith & Nephew will finance the acquisition through bank borrowings. The shares rose 2.6 percent to close at 631.75 pence (US$12.23) on the London Stock Exchange. biz.yahoo.com