CIBC World Markets Healthcare Conference In Brief

Integra finds Newdeal for foot repair: Acquisition of French reconstructive surgery device maker Newdeal for $50 mil. Nov. 14 adds specialty implants and instruments for foot and angle surgery. Key offerings include Bold screws, Hallu-Fix plates and Hintegra total ankle prostheses sold through direct reps in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as distributors in the U.S. and other countries. Newdeal sales totaled about $18 mil. in 2003. Integra expects the devices to dovetail with its own regenerative offerings, including Integra dermal regeneration templates and wound dressings, and NeuraGen and NeuraWrap nerve repair products - which can be used to treat foot and ankle wounds. During a Nov. 9 session of the CIBC meeting in New York, Integra CEO Stuart Essig noted that the firm's peripheral nerve injury offerings were "growing quickly," aided by the September launch of the 510(k)-cleared NeuraWrap collagen nerve repair conduit for injured, compressed or scarred nerves. The line includes NeuraGen, launched in 2001 for completely severed nerves...