Atlanta, Ga.-based Medovex Corp., closed its acquisition of Streamline Inc., a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based medical technology company.
Streamline shareholders approved the transaction at a meeting held March 25. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This was the first merger for Medovex, which trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol MDVX.
Medovex will combine Streamline's expertise in patient safety specialty medical equipment with its vision for acquiring and developing medical technology that solves challenges faced by healthcare providers. Streamline developed the IV Suspension System (ISS), a patient equipment management device that makes the management of patients and their equipment easier, safer and more efficient within hospitals by combining the advantages of both standalone and bed-mounted intravenous pole in one system.
"We are pleased to have closed our first acquisition in Streamline," said Jarrett Gorlin, CEO of Medovex. "According to Critical Care Medicine (a healthcare journal), there are roughly 100,000 critical-care beds in U.S. hospitals. It is a turnkey acquisition and its product can immediately be brought to market in scale. The technology is patent protected, FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) cleared, already manufactured and tested. With the transaction now closed, we are already in the process of launching a U.S. marketing partnership to be followed by a full scale product launch."
Gorlin said Streamline's ISS technology "serves a growing need for safety and efficiency for both patients and caregivers." in the hospital setting.
"The product provides caregivers with a more efficient means of handling the growing amount of patient equipment that remains with patients as they are moved about a hospital," he said.
Current methods of intra-hospital transportation require cumbersome handling and control of patient beds, mobile IV stands and equipment during the transport process. It's during such transports that patient care can be compromised. The ISS also is designed to reduce IV line pull incidents.
"The acquisition is expected to support the expansion of Streamline's future product line under its current patent portfolio with the opportunity to create other products using the base technology IP (intellectual property) offered by the ISS platform," said Peter Blankenship, Streamline's president, co-founder and co-inventor. "Streamline is focused on unlocking new value within the current space. Everyone benefits when caregivers are equipped to do more with limited time and personnel. The Streamline ISS provides value in such a way that provides efficiencies while also helping to facilitate a safer environment for both the caregiver and the patient. Now as a part of the Medovex team, we expect to be able to deliver innovative equipment management solutions to hospitals in a way that actually saves them money."
A study from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine revealed that adverse events occurred in 68 percent of the 340 transports observed. A total of 49 percent of those events were related to the equipment, and more specifically 26% were related to equipment IV lines.
Medovex was formed to acquire and develop a diversified portfolio of medical technology products. The Company's first pipeline product, the DenerveX device, is intended to provide relief from pain associated with facet joint syndrome at less cost than currently available options. The company recently opened a research and operations center in Minneapolis.