Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) decided to raise up to $27.3 million in gross proceeds, before placement agency fees and other expenses, by offering 9,084,032 shares of the company’s common stock at a purchase price of $3.00 per share. The offer is only for select institutional investors and is expected to close on Nov. 18, 2009. Merge will use the proceeds primarily to prepay in full its senior secured notes held by Merrick RIS, L.L.C. due June 2010. The remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes like the working capital financing. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is the lead placement agent for the fund raising offer. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated are the co-placement agents for the offering. Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care ...

National healthcare wherever is implemented squeezes prices and profits of the private businesses involved in the system.

Obamacare in the U.S. will be no different.  For investors in healthcare companies, it is a good idea to begin to think through which companies will be most severely negatively impacted or least impacted, to potentially make  deletions or substitutions.

One dimension of healthcare companies is research and development, which has been an important driver of future growth and value for many companies in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.

To the extent that the rewards of research and development are reduced by price pressures due to national healthcare, research and development will decrease, and therefore growth in sales, profits and value of those private companies will slow.

One way to begin the process of determining the sensitivity of biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies to a switch from a private to a public U.S. healthcare

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MMR Information Systems today described to investors the benefits of its MMRPro system for Electronic Medical Records (EMR). This system will utilize a proprietary, Kodak-branded architecture and will enable any medical practice, even small or mid-sized, to achieve standards in medical record computerization that qualifies them for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The entire MMRPro system should come in at under $20,000 over three years, a price point that trounces all competitors, as a typical EMR solution requires many times that much for only a single year. CEO and Chairman of MMRF, Robert H. Lorsch, quieted concerns raised last week in an article by the Washington Post that cited gross inconsistencies and inaccurate medications resulting from EMR systems by detailing the universality of the approach enabled by his Company’s MMRPro system.

Lorsch boldly proclaimed his Company’s commitment to resolving this situation through its software, saying that mistakes

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Wound Management Technologies Inc. operates through its subsidiary Wound Care Technologies to market and distribute wound care products to the healthcare market. The company today announced that Wound Care Innovations will present at the 24th Annual Clinical Symposium on Advances in Skin & Wound Care: The Conference for Prevention and Healing beginning October 22 in San Antonio, Texas.

Dr. Jane Fore MD, medical director of the Tri-State Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center in Clarkston, Wash., will present results of her clinical study of Wound Care Innovations’ CellerateRx, demonstrating its increased efficiency of healing skin tears and flaps. Dr. Fore will present the findings to more than 1,100 practitioners attending the conference.

“I am delighted to be presenting this abstract on the use of CellerateRx on skin tears and flaps. I have been using CellerateRx in my wound care protocols for over five years. It is an essential part

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ENGLEWOOD, CO — (Marketwire) — 10/07/09 — Biomedical Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (”BMTS” or the “Company”; www.bmtscorp.com) (OTCBB: BMTL) is pleased to announce an agreement with Med Pro Associates of Colorado to serve as a non-exclusive independent sales and marketing representative to solicit sales, obtain orders and provide sales and marketing support for the company’s Demolizer(R) II within the U.S.

Med Pro Associates, based in Idaho Springs, Colorado, is one of the nation’s largest independent representation firms specializing in the healthcare industry. They represent leading manufacturers in a sales support role through all distribution channels and market into the hospital, long term care and dental markets. The Med Pro team of highly qualified, professional field sales representatives provides national coverage and specializes in both medical equipment and disposable devices.

“Med Pro Associates is extremely excited about the addition of the BMTS line given the high profile and sensitivity

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Skinvisible, Inc., a pharmaceutical research and development company, announced that the company has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Mayquest Pharmaceuticals Pte. This license agreement grants Skinvisible the exclusive rights for the product Dermsafe in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Dermsafe is a patented antimicrobial hand sanitizer lotion proven to kill the H1N1 swine flu virus.

Under the terms of this agreement, Mayquest is to pay an upfront license fee in milestones for the exclusive manufacturing and marketing right. Skinvisible will also receive on-going royalties derived from product sales.

Mr. Terry Howlett, President and CEO of Skinvisible, stated, “Mayquest is an excellent partner to bring DermSafe to both the retail and healthcare market in Southeast Asia”

Howlett added, “This agreement represents an important step in accelerating our worldwide approval and commercialization of DermSafe for the prevention of the spread of the swine flu and other viruses and bacteria. Mayquest

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Manhattan Scientifics Inc. capitalizes on inventions and technology by earning profits through licensing. It identifies, develops, patents, supports and markets these innovations to bring them into the marketplace. The company today announced an agreement with Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE: CRS) in which Carpenter will develop, manufacture and market a new class of high-strength metals under an exclusive license from Manhattan Scientifics and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

“Carpenter continues to forge ahead as the leading developer of stainless steels and specialty alloys,” Anne L. Stevens, Carpenter’s chairman and CEO stated in the press release. “Our relationship with Manhattan Scientifics will ultimately give us new, cutting-edge manufacturing techniques that we can apply to many of our alloys to service an increasing global need for high strength materials.”

The noted process utilizes super-strength metals and alloys to produce lower-weight products without costly premiums. The Los Alamos National Laboratory, along with a team

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Merge Healthcare Incorporated (MRGE) has expanded its agreement with Rosslyn Medical, a large medical imaging solution provider serving the Russian market. The agreement calls for expanding the portfolio of Merge OEM products available to Rosslyn. The new agreement widens Merge’s Russian footprint and increases its international revenues. The Russian market presents a tremendous opportunity having been valued at $2 billion in 2007 (Source: Frost and Sullivan estimates). The country has few national initiatives such as the ‘National Health Program’ and project ‘Health’ that empower hospitals, specialized health centers and clinics with advanced medical technology. Merge’s products meet the strong quality standards and support these initiatives. Merge is a healthcare software and services company focused on integrating radiology workflow to improve productivity, profitability and patient care by fusing business and clinical workflow, and intelligently managing and distributing diagnostic images and information throughout the healthcare enterprise. Merge was ...

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers, recently announced that the company has entered into a research and license option agreement regarding its ICT-69 antibody with Roche Group (SWX: ROG.VX; RO.S, OTCQX: RHHBY). As one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, Roche Group will pay royalties to ImmunoCellular Therapeutics based on the company’s worldwide sales of ICT-69 products.

Under the terms of the agreement, ImmunoCellular Therapeutics will license to Roche the rights to investigate the potential of ICT-69 in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple myeloma and ovarian cancer. ICT-69 is one of several monoclonal antibodies currently being developed for multiple cancer indications by ImmunoCellular Therapeutics. Following the evaluation period, Roche has the right to acquire for an option exercise payment a commercial license for ICT-69 from

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The Cooper Companies Inc. (COO) reported fiscal third-quarter results yesterday after market close. The company posted GAAP earnings of $21.9 million or 48 cents per share, compared to $17.9 million or 39 cents per share in the year-ago period. Excluding restructuring charges, pro forma earnings per share came in at 54 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 13%, or 8 cents. Cooper manufactures and markets specialty healthcare products through its CooperVision and CooperSurgical units. CooperVision makes contact lenses to correct visual defects. CooperSurgical markets diagnostic products, surgical instruments and accessories to the women's healthcare market. The company has manufacturing facilities in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Spain. The Pleasanton, CA-based company posted a 2% year-over-year growth in sales to $285.2 million. CooperVision unit’s revenue grew 2% year over year to $240.9 million driven by a 7% and 8% growth in multifocal and single-use ...