MPO’s Most-Read Stories This Week—April 8

MPO cybervisitors celebrated the season of new beginnings this past week by fancying a story about … new beginnings. 

Website loyalists overwhelmingly favored Teleflex Inc.’s news about its expansion project in Jaffrey, N.H. The project for its Teleflex Medical OEM facility in southern New Hampshire includes an 8,200-square-foot-plus addition to boost extrusion capacity. The expansion is driven by accelerated global demand for Teleflex Medical OEM’s precision extrusion and access devices used in cardiology, neurology, radiology, and other areas. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

MPO top 30 stalwarts Boston Scientific Corp. and Philips proved popular with virtual guests as well—the former for closing a deal and the latter for negotiating a business agreement. 

Boston Scientific officially closed its $615 million acquisition of Apollo Endosurgery, a company focused on design, development, and commercialization of next-generation, less invasive medical devices for gastrointestinal therapeutic endoscopy and endobariatrics. First announced in November 2022. the deal will build on Boston Scientific’s current endoluminal surgery portfolio and capabilities, particularly in closure and suturing.
 
Meanwhile, Philips and Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York, announced a seven-year agreement to help the health system standardize patient monitoring, boost patient care, and improve outcomes while driving interoperability and data innovation. The agreement allows Northwell Health to lay the groundwork for a future-proof, enterprise-wide platform and support innovative technologies as they evolve. Northwell will also have the flexibility to scale its patient monitoring systems quickly and efficiently. 

Other significant page views this past week came from LifeQ and a medtech industry initiative to improve device quality and supply chain resliency.

LifeQ revealed on April 3 that its smart watches and other wearable devices can detect as many as 40 sleep and cardiovascular disorders. The company plans to increase that total to 100 diseases/disorders within the next two years.

The medical device quality improvement effort is being spearheaded by industry representatives, government, and industry associations. Together, these different entities have formed a working group to identify and recommend best practices to improve medical device quality and enhance supply chain resiliency. The purpose of the Best Practices in Supply Chain Resiliency and Quality Working Group is to improve medical device quality and supply chain resiliency by expanding MedAccred adoption through the tiers in the supply chain, identifying best practices to supplement efforts in quality assurance and procurement strategies, and to help mitigate supply chain risks.

1. Teleflex to Expand Facility in Jaffrey, New Hampshire

2. Boston Scientific Closes $615M Deal for Apollo Endosurgery

3. Philips, Northwell Health Begin Patient Monitoring Partnership

4. LifeQ’s Wearable Devices Can Detect 40 Sleep and Cardiovascular Disorders

5. New Initiative Aims to Improve Medical Device Quality, Supply Chain Resiliency