Volcano bids for assets

Laguna Hills, CA-based Volcano Therapeutics has signed a letter of intent to acquire the global intravascular ultrasound and functional measurement businesses of Jomed, a high-tech medical research company headquartered in Helsingborg, Sweden. Bankruptcy is forcing Jomed to divest its assets, some of which were sold to Abbott Laboratories in June. The company plans to sell the remainder in the coming months. Volcano Therapeutics has tagged several as complementary to its efforts to develop products for the detection and treatment of atherosclerosis and vulnerable plaques in the coronary and peripheral arteries. Jomed's IVUS technology is synergistic with Volcano's Virtual Histology IVUS system, recently demonstrated at the Paris Course on Revascularization, according to Scott Huennekens, Volcano president and CEO. The California company's intravascular thermography catheter products also promise to integrate well with the pressure catheter and flow wire interventional products of Jomed's functional measurement business, he said.