Medtech stories we missed this week: May 26, 2017

From Merck’s new licensing agreement to surgical study data being touted, here are medtech stories we missed this week but thought were still worth mentioning.

1. Merck inks exclusive licensing agreement for Alzheimer’s antibody

Merck announced in a May 25 press release that it has entered an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Teijin Pharma. The licensing agreement is going to help with the development, manufacture and commercialization of an investigation preclinical antibody candidate that targets the protein tau. Merck will have exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the anti-tau antibody while Teijin Pharma will receive an upfront payment for development, regulatory and sales milestone payments. Teijin Pharma will also get royalties on product sales.

2. Thermi wins Brazilian nod for ThermiRF

Thermi has received regulatory clearance in Brazil to market and distribute its ThermiRF, according to a May 25 press release. ThermiRF is a temperature-controlled radiofrequency platform that can be used for a variety of aesthetic applications. MedSystems will also help Thermi expand its technology worldwide.

3. Life Spine receives approval for its new study

Life Spine announced in a May 17 press release that it has received approval for its open versus minimally invasive posterior lumbar spine surgery study. The study intended to help determine the outcomes of the surgery and which procedure is less traumatic to the patient while using Life Spine’s Nautilus Thoracolumbar Pedicle Screw System and Centerline Thoracolumbar Cortical Screw System. The study also wants to demonstrate muscular injury and recovery by comparing baseline preoperative electrodiagnostic functional assessment to postoperative tests to determine which surgical techniques resulted in faster recovery.

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