A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

CompView Medical (Beaverton, Oregon), a provider of audio-visual systems for healthcare environments, reported a partnership with GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) through its General Electric Healthcare OEC Surgery Division (GE OEC).

GE OEC will distribute the CompView Medical NuBOOM video integration and equipment management system. The company said the agreement would provide a complete surgical solution for in-patient hospital facilities and outpatient ambulatory surgical centers. This is the first time video integration equipment has been represented by a surgical fluoroscopic imaging company, according to CompView.

NuBOOM is an equipment management and video visualization system designed to deliver four fully adjustable high definition monitors around the operating room table. The system is intended to provide surgeons and operating room staff ergonomically-sound viewing angles of high quality images from anywhere within the operating field, the company said.

GE OEC develops computer-based X-ray and fluoroscopic imaging systems for hospitals, outpatient clinics and surgical centers.

CompView, a private company, specializes in the design/integration of audio-visual systems for healthcare.

In other agreement news:

• Celera (Rockville, Maryland), an Applera (Norwalk, Connecticut) business, said it has entered into a research collaboration with Merck (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey) to develop biomarker and pharmacogenomic tests for cancer patients.

Celera will evaluate the use of certain gene expression profiles identified by Merck with the goal of developing diagnostic predictors for use in Merck’s clinical trials, and to potentially form the basis for commercial companion diagnostic tests for oncology therapies.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

“This collaboration with Merck is a strong validation of Celera’s diagnostic expertise in targeted medicine and our development capabilities,” said Thomas White, PhD, chief scientific officer at Celera. “The potential outcomes from this collaboration could lead to the development of tests that may improve individualized therapy for the treatment of cancer.”

• Xenomics (New York), a developer of next-generation medical DNA diagnostic technologies, said it has signed a licensing agreement with lpsogen SAS (Marseille, France), a molecular diagnostics company, for rights to develop research and diagnostic products for the stratification and monitoring of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

AML is a clinically and molecularly heterogeneous disease with about 13,500 new cases a year in the U.S. and a similar number in Europe, according to the company.

• Dade Behring (Deerfield, Illinois) and Premier (San Diego) reported a three-year agreement for Dade Behring’s MicroScan microbiology instruments and reagents. Dade Behring will continue to offer Premier members access to its entire U.S. clinical diagnostic product portfolio. The companies also have agreements for the rest of Dade Behring’s products, including all core chemistry and coagulation instruments and reagents.

• Ultrasonix Medical (Richmond, British Columbia) said it has signed an agreement with Global Medical Imaging (GMI; Charlotte, North Carolina) for distribution rights in the Southeastern U.S. The agreement covers Ultrasonix customers in Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Eastern Tennessee.

GMI is a full service ultrasound sales and service company.

Ultrasonix is a privately-held company that makes diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems.

• Sysmex America (Mundelein, Illinois), a diagnostic instrument manufacturer and health information systems developer, reported a five-year Cost Per Reportable Result (CPRR) agreement with the Rocky Mountain Network, Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN) 19. Sysmex will standardize hematology instrumentation, training, technical support and services for seven U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming.

Sysmex said it also holds Veterans Affairs hematology standardization contracts with VISNs 2, 6, 10, 15 and 23 as well as stand-alone within many other VISN networks.

VISN 19’s hospitals, community-based outpatient clinics and veterans’ centers offer veterans acute medical, surgical and psychiatric inpatient services as well as outpatient services.

Sysmex America is the U.S. headquarters of Sysmex (Kobe, Japan).

• Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis) and Ingenuity Systems (Redwood, California) reported a partnership to develop a plan to enhance Sigma-Aldrich Web-based systems. The search capability will be available to researchers to enable them to locate and purchase the Sigma-Aldrich products most relevant to their research.

Sigma-Aldrich is a Life Science and High Technology company. Ingenuity Systems gives research information on chemical systems foundational to human health and disease.

• Affinity BioReagents, (Golden, Colorado) reported forming distribution agreements with Genesis Biotech (Hsintien, Taiwan) and Good Biotech (Taichung, Taiwan).

The company said these agreements will add additional products to the ABR-Affinity BioReagents antibody portfolio, which has surpassed 32,000 quality-guaranteed antibodies and research reagents.