A Medical Device Daily

Cytori Therapeutics (San Diego) said it has granted Olympus (Tokyo) an exclusive right to negotiate a commercialization collaboration for the use of adipose stem and regenerative cells for a specific therapeutic area outside of cardiovascular disease. In exchange for this right, Cytori will receive a $1.5 million payment from Olympus.

As part of this agreement, Olympus will conduct market research and pilot clinical studies in collaboration with Cytori over a 12- to 18-month period for the therapeutic area. The studies would be performed using the Celution System, which achieved European regulatory approval in January.

Acacia Research (Newport Beach, California) reported that its CombiMatrix (Mukilteo, Washington) group has established a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Biosciences and Protection Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch (AFRL/ HEPB).

The CRADA will focus on “Development of a Biomonitor Device with Biomarker-based Microarrays.“

AFRL/HEPB and CombiMatrix will develop a personal health monitoring system using the company's CustomArray technology. The goal of the program is to develop a miniaturized device capable of analyzing multiple biomarkers (either DNA or protein) that would aid the Department of Defense in its mission to effectively monitor the health status of military service personnel before, during, and after deployment where untoward exposures may impact on their performance or health.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) reported that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut) to commercialize the university's new blood testing technology for epithelial ovarian cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, Yale will receive signing, milestone and royalty fees. Additional terms were not disclosed.

The Yale technology is based on a collection of known serum proteins associated with cancer biology. Each protein marker is analyzed using a routine ELISA assay, and a straightforward statistical analysis is then performed to score the combined results. In published research, multiple statistical analyses on preliminary sample sets for a population of 206 women, including 24 patients with early stage (I/II) EOC and 76 with later stage (III/IV) EOC, showed very favorable sensitivity and specificity, as well as positive predictive value.

Yale expects to conduct additional clinical studies on the test technology prior to its commercial introduction by LabCorp.