St Jude Medical acquires MediGuide

31 December 2008

St Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) and MediGuide Inc. has announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement and simultaneous closing of the merger whereby St. Jude Medical has acquired all of the outstanding shares of MediGuide Inc., including the 41.3% interest owned by Elbit Systems Ltd., for $283 million in cash and the assumption of net liabilities totalling approximately $17 million.

MediGuide has developed a sophisticated navigation system, the Medical Positioning System (gMPS), that uses proprietary technology for real-time tracking of sub-millimeter sized sensors. These sensors can be mounted on needles, guidewires, catheters, or other medical devices used for minimally-invasive intra-body navigation. The 3-D position and orientation of the sensors can be calculated in real time and projected graphically on a fluoroscope, CT, MRI, ultrasound, or 3-D reconstructed image of the anatomy.

The gMPS system is intended to provide a comprehensive solution for motion artifacts caused by patient heartbeats, respiration, or other movements. The goal of the gMPS system is to increase the accuracy and amount of information available to a physician during a catheterization or other minimally invasive procedure while reducing the risk of exposure to radiation for the patient and medical team.

MediGuide's gMPS technology and its gMPS Enabled Guided Measurement Catheter (GMC) are European CE Mark certified and are currently limited to investigational use only in the United States.
“Today’s announcement reflects St. Jude Medical’s commitment to product leadership and our strategy of supporting superior technology that gives physicians the most control possible in their effort to enhance patient outcomes," said Daniel J. Starks, chairman, president and chief executive officer of St. Jude Medical.

“In addition to continuing our strong commitment to developing our atrial fibrillation platform, we believe MediGuide’s proprietary technology may also extend across a variety of other product categories, including cardiac rhythm management, interventional cardiology, neurology and structural heart disease. We look forward to bringing this technology into our portfolio so that we can further develop and capture these potential opportunities.”

Gera Strommer, president and chief executive officer of MediGuide, said, “We look forward to working with the St. Jude Medical team. With their support, we will have the resources to more fully capitalize on MediGuide’s innovations and successfully move through the next stage of our development plans.” Mr. Strommer and Uzi Eichler, vice president of technology for MediGuide, are expected to join St. Jude Medical.

Joseph Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of Elbit Systems, said, “We are pleased to have a company such as St. Jude Medical recognize the value of MediGuide. We believe the acquisition provides MediGuide an excellent opportunity to continue its growth, while allowing Elbit Systems to focus on its core business areas.”

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