Mauna Kea Nixes Deal with Cook Medical

Citing a lack of commercial progress, Mauna Kea Technologies is calling off an agreement with Cook Medical that was signed a little over three years ago involving Mauna Kea's Cellvizio platform. Paris, France-based Mauna Kea said the decision to terminate the development and distribution agreements with Cook was mutual. Cook has not officially commented on the news. Cellvizio is a multidisciplinary probe and needle-based confocal laser endoscopy platform. The device enables direct visualization of human tissues at the cellular scale and allows doctors to detect anomalies invisible with standard techniques, particularly within the gastrointestinal, urinary, and pulmonary tracts. The technology is what enabled researchers to discover a new human structure last year. Instead of waiting several days for results of a biopsy, doctors can touch various tissues with the tiny probe and usually make diagnoses instantly because they are able to look at microvessels, cells, and other microstructures that can only be seen under a microscope. Back in 2015, Mauna Kea shifted its commercial strategy and moved to an expanded marketing system to commercialize Cellvizio in new clinical applications through strategic sales partnerships with established medical device companies, CEO Robert Gershon said. In December 2015, the company signed the first such partnership agreement with Cook to use the Cellvizio in urological applications. Mauna Kea agreed to develop a private-label version...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Business Source Type: news