Health sector M&A activity on record pace
Measured by dollars, merger and acquisition activity in the health care sector is poised to break previous records, according to a Norwalk consultancy that tracks M&A in the sector.
In the second quarter, $73.5 billion was spent to finance nearly 250 mergers and acquisitions in the health care industry, according to Irving Levin Associates, up 44 percent from the first quarter and up 61 percent from a year ago. The company includes in its data both product companies like drug-makers as well as service providers like physician groups.
Locally, Danbury Hospital announced a deal last year to acquire New Milford Hospital.
“Hospitals continue to digest the new health care reform law and to wrestle with its implications,” said Stephen Monroe, managing editor at Irving Levin Associates, in a prepared statement. “One conclusion they have drawn is, come what may, there is strength in numbers. Accordingly, they are buying other hospitals and physician medical groups to build up local and regional systems.”
State awards $10M for stem-cell projects
A state panel approved nearly $10 million in funding to 20 Connecticut research teams working with stem-cell technologies.
Nearly 80 groups had applied for funding in January. Most of the awards went to scientists at Yale University and the University of Connecticut, with one startup also securing funding: Chondrogenics Inc., a Farmington company developing stem-cell therapies for osteoarthritic cartilage damage.
“These awards signal Connecticut”™s commitment to stem-cell research and the life-sciences sector,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, in a prepared statement. “Connecticut continues to conduct some of the finest stem-cell research in the country and these awardees further demonstrate Connecticut”™s promise as a leader in bioscience.”
GE moves unit HQ to China
GE Healthcare designated Beijing as the headquarters for its GE Healthcare X-ray business, citing the increased importance of China to its operations and sales.
General Electric is based in Fairfield and GE Healthcare has its headquarters in the United Kingdom.
Late last year, GE Healthcare committed $2 billion to create six new customer innovation centers in China and this year announced a “spring wind” initiative as that government builds out its primary care capabilities.
Philips unit debuts new flossing system
Philips Sonicare released a new flossing system that uses micro bursts of air and water droplets to remove food, bacteria and plaque from in between teeth.
Stamford-based Philips Sonicare to date has focused on sales of power toothbrushes.
Philips said consumer tests showed that 86 percent of users found the device easier to use than string floss.
Philips Sonicare is a division of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands.
Feds take down insurance fraud ring
A Danbury woman admitted to defrauding insurance companies by routinely charging them for chiropractic care on people who had been involved in auto accidents, one of multiple indictments against a small ring conspiring together.
Jennifer Netter, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements regarding health care matters, according to the office of U.S. Attorney David Fein.
As an employee of a chiropractor with offices in Stamford and Bridgeport, Netter admitted she routinely established six-month treatment regimens for patients who had been in accidents, regardless of medical need, while submitting medical reports that exaggerated patients”™ ailments.
As part of the same investigation, an unlicensed Fairfield physician named Francisco Carbone, 54, admitted to illegally prescribing prescription medicine to patients. In March, a Monroe doctor named James W. Marshall Jr. admitted to prescribing drugs to Carbone”™s customers without having examined them.
