A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

On June 15, William Chandler III, chancellor for the State of Delaware, granted Galil Medical's (Yokneam, Israel) motion for an expedited trial in Galil's recently-filed lawsuit against Endocare (Irvine, California) arising out of Endocare's alleged breach of the Galil/Endocare merger agreement.

The chancellor granted Galil's motion after oral argument, and ordered that a two-day trial would be held on July 9-10 in Chancery Court in Georgetown, Delaware. Chandler further indicated that he expected to issue a judgment in the suit by July 13.

Under the expedited schedule, Endocare is required to submit its answer to Galil's complaint by June 19. Additionally, the previous termination date for the Galil/Endocare merger agreement (June 30) now has been extended so that Galil and Endocare will have additional time to complete their planned merger once the Chancellor rules.

Galil, a global cryotherapy company, filed the suit on June 9 to enforce the merger agreement between it and Endocare that was first disclosed in November and to enjoin the proposed $16 million cash and stock acquisition of Endocare by HealthTronics that was reported last week.

Martin Emerson, president/CEO of Galil, said that Galil welcomed the decision to grant Galil's motion for an expedited trial. "Galil remains committed to resolving this case as quickly as possible, and then concluding our merger with Endocare," he said. "The merger between Galil and Endocare remains in the best interests of both companies, as well as the interests of the doctors and patients we serve."

Galil makes products using a cryotherapy platform that incorporates powerful freezing technology and 17-gauge cryoablation needle design. According to the company, its systems enable minimally invasive, targeted ablation of benign and cancerous tumors while ensuring rapid recovery and enhanced quality of life for patients.

The Presice Cryoablation System features multi-point thermal sensors and advanced IceVue planning software for "excellent" procedure control in treating prostate and renal cancer, Galil says. The SeedNet MRI system provides physicians with an easy-to-use cryoablation solution to precisely ablate tumors while protecting adjacent structures, under MRI guidance.

Endocare has initially concentrated on developing cryoablation technologies for the treatment of prostate cancer and believes that its technologies have broad applications across a number of markets, including the ablation of tumors in the kidney, lung and liver and palliative intervention (treatment of pain associated with metastases).