Zimmer Biomet Announces Quarterly Dividend for Fourth Quarter of 2018

WARSAW, Ind.Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. (NYSE and SIX: ZBH), a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved the payment of a quarterly cash dividend to stockholders for the fourth quarter of 2018.

The cash dividend of $0.24 per share is payable on January 31, 2019 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 28, 2018.

About the Company

Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer Biomet is a global leader in musculoskeletal healthcare. We design, manufacture and market orthopaedic reconstructive products; sports medicine, biologics, extremities and trauma products; office based technologies; spine, craniomaxillofacial and thoracic products; dental implants; and related surgical products.

We collaborate with healthcare professionals around the globe to advance the pace of innovation. Our products and solutions help treat patients suffering from disorders of, or injuries to, bones, joints or supporting soft tissues. Together with healthcare professionals, we help millions of people live better lives.

We have operations in more than 25 countries around the world and sell products in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit www.zimmerbiomet.com or follow Zimmer Biomet on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zimmerbiomet.

ZBH-Fin

SOURCE Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.zimmerbiomet.com

EDGe Surgical Secures $4 Million in Series A Financing

December 12, 2018

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–EDGe Surgical, Inc., a privately held medical device company dedicated to innovative precision measurement solutions for orthopedic surgery, announced today that it has completed $4 million in financing. The Series A round includes $3 million raised plus a convertible note, bringing total funding secured by the company to $5.7 million, all from angel investors. Proceeds will be used for increased manufacturing, marketing and sales surrounding the company’s first device, the EDG® Ortho 65mm, as well as development and launch of a second device focused on the spinal surgery market.

The EDG Ortho 65mm is the first and only single-use electronic depth gauge. It is designed to more accurately measure length for orthopedic surgical screws, and also mitigate bioburden contamination, a leading cause of surgical site infections. EDGe Surgical’s device provides healthcare professionals, hospitals, and outpatient medical facilities with a digital alternative to analog depth gauges for greater accuracy at a decreased cost, all while mitigating infection risk.

“The positive reception we’ve received from surgeons to our pilot launch, which started earlier this year, illustrates that our device fills a major market need for a depth gauge that enables more accurate screw selection without the worry of bioburden contamination risk,” said Christopher Wilson, president and CEO of EDGe Surgical. “We appreciate the continued support of our sophisticated angel investors, who bring surgical and medical device C-suite expertise, to help us quickly move the needle. Closing our Series A round will allow us to expand availability of our EDG Ortho 65mm and develop additional new products to serve customers seeking cost-effective and highly advanced solutions.”

Until now, the most common approach for orthopedic surgical measurement has been using a traditional analog depth gauge with a sliding metal scale to determine drill depths and screw lengths. The EDG Ortho 65mm can overcome the drawbacks of these traditional depth gauges, invented almost a century ago, by eliminating many of the inefficiencies and financial costs, such as:

  • Up to 20 percent of measurements using the traditional analog depth gauge are inaccurate. Mismeasurement is a leading cause for wasted screws/implants, which is estimated at a $200 million a year cost to the healthcare system.
  • Traditional analog depth gauges are reusable by design and are difficult if not impossible to clean properly, and sterilization is not effective on insufficiently cleaned surgical instruments based on a recent study at a university hospital Level 1 trauma center.
  • Per case costs associated with using a traditional depth gauge are estimated to be greater than $400, with traditional device downsides including bone non-unions, implant-related complications, infection risk, and unnecessary radiation exposure.

The EDG Ortho 65mm can significantly reduce costs as a result of greater accuracy (i.e., less wasted screws), reduced infection risk, and greater measurement consistency. For example, the EDG Ortho 65mm reduced measurement error by up to 90 percent in recent cadaver and sawbones accuracy labs, and a study presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) found a significant reduction in the rate of major measurement error in sawbones models compared to the traditional analog depth gauge.

For more information on EDGe Surgical and its products, visit www.edgesurgical.com and follow the company on TwitterLinkedInand YouTube.

About EDGe Surgical, Inc.

EDGe Surgical is a privately held medical device company that is innovating state-of-the-art digital technology to set a new standard in orthopedic surgery instrumentation that is bringing better outcomes to patients and reducing healthcare system costs. Founded in 2015, EDGe is focused on developing and delivering products that deliver precision to healthcare professionals specializing in orthopedic trauma and spine surgery – a potential $1.1 billion U.S. market. Located in Chicago, Illinois, EDGe is a proud member of MATTER and an active company within the iBIO Institute PROPEL Center.

Contacts

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jim Hughes
Merryman Communications
jim@merrymancommunications.com
323-397-7077

Appeals Court OKs $248m Stryker win over Zimmer Biomet

 / BY 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit this week affirmed Stryker‘s (NYSE:SYK) enhanced $248 million win in a surgical tool patent case against Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH).

The Federal Circuit court affirmed the judgement in a per curiam ruling dated on Monday, according to recently released court documents.

The damages in the case were previously enhanced due to a US Supreme Court ruling which made it easier to award enhanced damages. In July, Western District of Michigan Judge Robert Jonker reaffirmed an earlier decision to award enhanced damages “in light of the Supreme Court’s clarification of the governing standard in Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc.,” according to court documents.

The court was also asked to reconsider its award of attorney’s fees, due to a Supreme Court ruling in Octane Fitness, LLC, v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., which it also reaffirmed.

Judge Jonker reaffirmed both decisions for triple damages for the 2013 jury verdict, which had been vacated on appeal by the Federal Circuit last year. He ruled that in the case, Stryker had “proven by clear and convincing evidence” that Zimmer had willfully infringed on 1 or more claims in all 3 of the patents-in-suit, according to court documents.

 

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Institutional Investors to Pump $200B More Into Healthcare Infrastructure

By Fred Donovan

 – Global institutional investors are forecast to increase their investment in healthcare infrastructure by $200 billion over the next five years.

For its report, the Octopus Group surveyed more than 100 global institutional investors with a total of $6.8 trillion in assets under management.

The institutions said they currently allocated 6.1 percent of their investment portfolio to healthcare infrastructure but expect that allocation to rise to 9.5 percent over the next five years.

Around 37 percent of respondents expect to boost allocations to healthcare infrastructure investment by up to 10 percent over that same time period. Insurance companies will increase their allocations more than any other type of investor.

“The investment case for healthcare infrastructure is already resonating with institutional investors. Across region and investor type there is demand for opportunities to allocate funds to the sector,” the report observed.

More than half of respondents said that demographics is the key driver for investing in healthcare infrastructure.

Around 71 percent of global institutional investors said their healthcare infrastructure investments are performing as expected or better than expected.

For UK institutional investors, 22 percent said their healthcare infrastructure investments are overperforming. Close to one-quarter of UK respondents said they plan to increase allocations, and one-quarter plan to do so by more than 10 percent.

Asian respondents had the highest level of current allocations to healthcare infrastructure, 10.6 percent, and will invest the most into the sector of any other region in the coming years. They said they expect 12.1 percent of their portfolio to be allocated to healthcare infrastructure in the next five years.

Australian investors plan to increase investment by the largest margin. Although Australian investors have a relatively low current investment allocation to healthcare infrastructure at 4.1 percent, this is expected to increase by 5.3 percent over the next five years to 9.4 percent.

 

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Photo Source: Thinkstock

 

The $49 billion/year of waste in healthcare spending we can solve

December 8, 2018 / Peter Nichol

It is estimated that 30% of healthcare costs are lost to waste in the system. These costs get passed on to the insurer and ultimately the patients. With healthcare bills being the leading cause of personal bankruptcies in the country (60%) that 30% is the difference between solvency and destitution for a lot of people.  This is a compelling moral argument to wring all waste out of the system as quickly as possible. That moral argument is even stronger when one considers that poverty is the greatest threat/risk to one’s health.

So, what if I told you that there is a segment of healthcare spending that accounts for $165 billion/year and we could eliminate the waste in that space ($49 Billion) in the next ten years. That we have a very sound grasp of the root causes of that waste, that we have all the technology to solve it.

That segment is sterile processing or the cleaning and sterilization of surgical instruments and medical equipment. And most of us are completely unaware of this critical pillar in surgical services unless something goes terribly wrong and a lawsuit ensues.

Sterile processing employees work in windowless rooms typically in the basement of hospitals, the rooms are hot, they have to wear personal protective equipment which makes it hotter. They are frequently injured by the errant sharp instrument or scalpel blade left on the knife handle. Their wages are miserable ($15-$22/hour) meaning that many live in poverty in major metropolitan areas. They are relentlessly pushed by clinicians to rapidly turnover instruments knowing that they are sacrificing safety and quality. They are verbally abused when they can’t meet these demands and to most people in the hospital, they are invisible. Yet, the entire economic engine of the hospital hinges on their performance.  And under these brutal conditions they somehow perform this critical task at a very high level in an environment that can best be characterized as a pre-Henry Ford assembly line.  Everyone one of them that I have met is purpose driven in knowing that their work will touch multiple patients in a day. This is the one reason they do what they do and hospitals should be kissing the ground they walk on.

But I digress.

This really is an argument about economics and waste because in this agency driven world of western capitalism, large, impersonal organizations really do not care about these people unless it affects their bottom line. So, let me begin by telling you that every hospital is losing hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars a year because they ignore these people.

 

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Stryker increases dividend 11%, declaring a $0.52 per share quarterly dividend

Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kalamazoo, Michigan – December 4, 2018 – Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share payable on January 31, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 31, 2018, representing an increase of approximately 11% versus the prior year and the previous quarter.

“We continue to deliver strong financial results, and consistent with our stated capital allocation philosophy, are raising our dividend 11%,” said Kevin A. Lobo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies and, together with its customers, is driven to make healthcare better. The company offers innovative products and services in Orthopaedics, Medical and Surgical, and Neurotechnology and Spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes. More information is available at www.stryker.com.

Contacts

For investor inquiries please contact:
Katherine A. Owen, Stryker Corporation, 269-385-2600 or katherine.owen@stryker.com

For media inquiries please contact:
Yin Becker, Stryker Corporation, 269-385-2600 or yin.becker@stryker.com

PMC board approves $7.7 million expansion of orthopedic program

December 2, 2018 / Special to the Herald Times / By DOC WATSON

MEEKER, CO | The primary emphasis of the Nov. 27 Pioneers Medical Center board meeting was the future vision held by both staff and board in the areas of orthopedics as well as hospital expansion.

In preparation for that discussion, Development Director Margie Joy outlined PMC’s Strategic Plan for 2019–2022, elaborating on five focus areas: quality (excelling in all we do); finance (breaking even in 2020); growth (meeting the needs of local healthcare, such as orthopedics); people (being a premiere employer); and community (being a leader in public health concerns, such as tobacco, alcohol, suicide prevention, etc.). Also presented was the 2019 budget with projected revenues of $30.313 million and projected operating expenses of $26.633 million. The projected revenues are actually a 20.6 percent increase driven mainly by orthopedic surgeries. After other factors are figured in, the net projected income is $2.706 million.

The meeting then turned to the future vision. Meeker’s own Dr. Kevin Borchard—a highly acclaimed, board certified (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons) orthopedic surgeon—was on hand to propose the purchase of the Mako Total Knee Robotic-Arm to assist in knee surgeries. This $1 million piece of technology guarantees greater accuracy and precision in planning and performing knee replacement than manual technique. It also replaces several other surgical instruments and makes the job much easier for the surgeon and assistants.

While there are currently three locations on the Western Slope that have robotic surgery, none of them have joint fellowship-trained surgeons such as Dr. Borchard (and Dr. Dan Ward). “This, coupled with zero percent infection rate, low remission rate and short length of stay (in the hospital), would make Pioneers probably the top place on the Western Slope to get a joint replacement,” Borchard said.

This discussion then led to another need this robotic advancement and patient increase will demand, namely, building expansion. Joy elaborated on this by presenting three options. The most practical and cost effective one is option two, an approximately $7.7 million expansion that will add two operating rooms, three recovery rooms, six hospital rooms and additional clinic space.

 

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Stryker announces pricing of €2.25 billion senior notes offering

Kalamazoo, Michigan, Nov. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stryker (NYSE:SYK) announced today that it has priced the following notes: (i) €550 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 1.125% Notes due 2023 (the “2023 Notes”), (ii) €750 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2.125% Notes due 2027 (the “2027 Notes”), (iii) €650 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2.625% Notes due 2030 (the “2030 Notes”) and (iv) €300 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s Floating Rate Notes due 2020 (the “Floating Rate Notes” and together with the 2023 Notes, 2027 Notes and 2030 Notes, the “Notes”).  Unless previously redeemed pursuant to their terms, if applicable, the 2023 Notes will mature on November 30, 2023, the 2027 Notes will mature on November 30, 2027, the 2030 Notes will mature on November 30, 2030 and the Floating Rate Notes will mature on November 30, 2020.  The Notes are expected to settle on November 30, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of all of the $500 million principal amount of outstanding 1.800% Notes due January 15, 2019 at maturity and the repayment of all of the $750 million principal amount of outstanding 2.000% Notes due March 8, 2019 at maturity, as well as the repayment of any commercial paper then outstanding.

Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities plc are acting as active joint book-running managers for the offering. This offering was made pursuant to a prospectus supplement, filed today, to the Company’s prospectus, dated February 12, 2016, filed as part of the Company’s effective shelf registration statement. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the notes may be obtained by contacting: (i) Barclays Bank PLC, 5 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 4BB, United Kingdom, or by calling 1-888-603-5847 or emailing barclaysprospectus@broadridge.com, (ii) BNP Paribas, 10 Harewood Avenue, London NW1 6AA, United Kingdom, or by calling 1-800-854-5674, (iii) Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, or by calling (866) 471-2526, by faxing (212) 902-9316 or emailing prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com or (iv) J.P. Morgan Securities plc, 25 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London E14 5JP, United Kingdom, or by calling collect on +44-207-134-2468.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains information that includes or is based on forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law that are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: weakening of economic conditions that could adversely affect the level of demand for our products; pricing pressures, including cost-containment measures that could adversely affect the price of or demand for our products; changes in foreign exchange markets; legislative and regulatory actions; unanticipated issues arising in connection with clinical studies and otherwise that affect U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of new products; potential supply disruptions; changes in reimbursement levels from third-party payors; a significant increase in product liability claims; the ultimate total cost with respect to the Rejuvenate and ABG II recall matter; the impact of investigative and legal proceedings and compliance risks; resolution of tax audits; the impact of the federal legislation to reform the United States healthcare system; changes in financial markets; changes in the competitive environment; our ability to integrate acquisitions; and our ability to realize anticipated cost savings. Additional information concerning these and other factors is contained in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies and, together with its customers, is driven to make healthcare better. The Company offers innovative products and services in Orthopaedics, Medical and Surgical, and Neurotechnology and Spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes.

Contacts

For investor inquiries please contact:
Katherine A. Owen, Stryker, 269-385-2600 or katherine.owen@stryker.com

For media inquiries please contact:
Yin Becker, Stryker, 269-385-2600 or yin.becker@stryker.com

Medicrea Announces $30 Million Senior Secured Notes Issue and a Warrants Issue wholly subscribed by Perceptive Advisors

November 27, 2018

LYON, France & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Medicrea Group (Euronext Growth Paris: FR0004178572- ALMED ; OTCQX Best Market – MRNTY & MRNTF), pioneering the transformation of spinal surgery through Artificial Intelligence, predictive modeling and patient specific implants with its UNiD™ ASI (Adaptive Spine Intelligence) proprietary software platform, services and technologies, today announced the closing of a $30 million senior secured notes issue by Medicrea and wholly subscribed by Perceptive Advisors, a leading multi-strategy healthcare investment firm. In conjunction with the senior secured notes, Medicrea has issued to Perceptive Advisors warrants for the Company’s new ordinary shares.

Denys Sournac, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, states “We are glad to execute this financing with Perceptive Advisors. The new secured notes will give us the necessary capital to continue to fuel our UNiD™ ASI growth strategy in the United States and will give us the required funds to continue the development of other proprietary products. We look forward to working with Perceptive, one of the leading healthcare focused investment firms in the world. We believe this refinancing is another validation of our proprietary, patient specific technology focused on restoring sagittal and coronal alignment.”

Sam Chawla, Portfolio Manager at Perceptive Advisors states, “We are excited about this investment in Medicrea. This refinancing retires most of the Company’s existing debt, and gives the company the financial flexibility to accelerate UNID™ ASI adoption. The company has a unique service and product offering in the Spine market and has delivered superior patient outcomes. With a clean capitalization, simplified balance sheet, and excess cash, Medicrea has a significant opportunity to grow over the coming years.”

Key Terms of the Notes

The refinancing facility will consist of $30 million senior secured and guaranteed notes, governed by New-York law with coupon based on the greater of Three-Month LIBOR or 2.5% plus a margin of 8.5%. The notes will be issued at par value on the 27th of November 2018, the expected date for the settlement and delivery, and will mature on the 27th of November 2022. The notes will be guaranteed by Medicrea USA Corp, a 100 % fully owned subsidiary of Medicrea and will be secured by pledges on certain assets and receivables of the Group.

This refinancing will help Medicrea fund its UNiD ASI growth strategy in the United States as well as continue to focus on new product development. Five years after its initial launch in September 2013, over 3,000 patients have benefited from UNiD™ ASI 100% proprietary pre-operative planning technologies and services associated with patient-specific spinal realignment rods. UNiD products have seen a strong acceleration in adoption rate in 2018 especially in the USA (+62% cases year-to-date 2018 and +90% in Q3 2018).

Medicrea has also retired all of its outstanding €15 million convertible debt with Athyrium Capital Management and will use the proceeds to pay down portions of other secured outstanding debt for a total amount of €1.55 million.

Medicrea believes this refinancing (excluding the exercise of the warrants) should support the development of the Company until it reaches operational profitability.

Key Terms of the Warrants

Perceptive Credit Holdings II,LP subscribed to 1,000,000 warrants. The settlement and delivery of the warrants should take place on the 27th of November, 2018. These warrants will not be subject to a request for admission to trading on the Euronext Growth market in Paris and will therefore not be listed.

One warrant entitles its holder to subscribe to one new Medicrea International ordinary share, at an exercise price of € 2.19, corresponding to the volume-weighted average of the share prices of the last 10 trading days prior to the fixing of the subscription price, decreased by a 10 % discount pursuant to the 14th resolution of the General Meeting of May 17, 2018. The warrants will be exercisable for a period of seven years after their issuance.

The new shares to be issued upon exercise of the warrants will carry current dividend rights and will be tradable on Euronext Growth and will be listed on the same line as the existing shares (ISIN : FR0004178572).

The shares that would be issued in the event of the exercise of all the warrants represent 4.93% of the Company’s share capital as of today (on a fully diluted basis).

For illustrative purposes, the interest of a shareholder holding 1% of the share capital of Medicrea would be brought to 0.94% if all the warrants were to be exercised.

 

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Verrix Completes Initial Close on $8 Million Funding Round to Advance Sterility Assurance Technology for Hospitals

November 27, 2018

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Verrix, a medical device company developing solutions for rapid and accurate sterilization confirmation, has completed an initial close on a Series B funding round for $8 million, which will bring the company’s total funds raised to $17.5 million. The Series B funding will allow the company to finalize development, regulatory submission, and commercialization of its Verrix EVA™ Biological Indicator (BI) System.

“We are excited to see the rapid advancement of Verrix with strong support from our investors,” said Cameron Rouns, CEO of Verrix. “The company has achieved significant progress in the development of the Verrix EVA™ BI System and is well positioned to successfully transition to commercialization as it prepares to introduce new technology for the fight against hospital acquired infections.”

Biological indicator systems are used to verify the success of sterilization cycles and detect failures, as inadequately sterilized surgical instruments and implants are a major contributor to infection outbreaks in hospitals. Despite a strong focus on improvements in infection control practices and advancements in technology, 1.7 million hospital acquired infections (HAIs) occur every year in the U.S.,1 resulting in a $28-45 billion impact to the healthcare system.2 Recognizing that up to 70 percent of HAIs are preventable,2 Verrix technology is taking a new approach to sterilization monitoring to deliver BI results with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

Verrix was founded as a standalone company in 2013 to develop sterility assurance products and technologies based on planetary protection technology developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Mars Rover program. In 2016, Verrix closed a Series A round of funding to develop the technology from patented concept to prototype. Verrix is now transitioning from research and development to commercialization of its unique method of spore detection. The first BI system developed based on Verrix’s technology advances is expected to be introduced in 2019.

To learn more about the history of Verrix, click here.

About Verrix

Verrix is a San Clemente, Calif.-based medical device company that is using the most advanced technologies to help protect patients from healthcare-associated infections. The foundational sterility assurance technology, originally discovered at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, integrates cutting-edge optical physics, chemistry spectroscopy, and molecular biology. Based on scientific expertise and close partnerships with healthcare professionals, Verrix is developing market-changing solutions for sterility assurance, environmental monitoring, and infection control. Visit www.verrix.com for more information.

References

  1. Klevens RM, Edwards JR, Richards CL, et al. Estimating health care-associated infections and deaths in U.S. hospitals, 2002. Public Health Rep. 2007;122(2):160-166.
  2. Stone P.W. Economic burden of healthcare-associated infections: an American perspective. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2009;9:417-422.

Contacts

Media Contact
Andrea Sampson, Sullivan & Associates
asampson@sullivanpr.com
714/374-6174

Erin Manning, Vice President, Marketing, Verrix
erin.manning@verrix.com
949/668-1229