Abiomed expects FDA OK for blood-pumping device

August 30, 2007

Abiomed Inc. moved a step closer to winning federal approval for a blood pump. The Danvers company, which also makes the AbioCor artificial heart, plans to say today it has received Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a key clinical trial with 654 patients. Abiomed's Impella 2.5 Circulatory Support System is designed to temporarily help pump blood during certain procedures and while patients recover in the hospital. Abiomed acquired the Impella technology when it bought Impella CardioSystems AG for $45 million two years ago. (Todd Wallack)

Boston lawyer Susan M. Prosnitz has been named the first executive director of the Jerome Lyle Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service, which was established last fall at Suffolk Law School to advance opportunites for law students and lawyers to engage in public service. Prosnitz was previously general counsel for the state Executive Office of Public Safety. She has also been a legal adviser for the state Highway Department and the Boston Police Department, and she directed a panel that reviewed the Massachusetts Port Authority's operations after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Sacha Pfeiffer)

Analogic Corp., a Peabody maker of health and security imaging equipment, said it elected medical executive and engineer Fred Parks to its board of directors. Parks, whose term expires in 2010, will serve on the corporate governance and compensation committees. Parks is chairman and chief executive of Urologix Inc., which develops medical products to treat urological diseases. (AP)

Restaurant operator Friendly Ice Cream Corp. yesterday said its shareholders approved a $337 million acquisition offer by Freeze Operations Inc., an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc. About 98.5 percent of shares were voted in favor of the deal. Shareholders will receive $15.50 per share. The deal for the Wilbraham-based company is expected to close today. (AP)

Food Quality Sensor International Inc. of Lexington completed a $5.6 million Series B financing. The company's new product, SensorQ, is a smart label applied by a meat packer to the inside of packages to provide an indication of the product's freshness; as the product spoils, the bacterial count increases, and the label changes color. The financing round was led by Swiss-based Inventages Venture Capital Inc. and Dutch-based DSM Venturing BV. (Chris Reidy)

THE NATION

An online video site backed by media companies NBC Universal and News Corp. took a step closer to launching, saying it will call itself "Hulu" and begin a trial run in October. Little had been heard of the venture since it was originally disclosed in March in response to the rapid growth of YouTube, an amateur video-sharing site owned by Internet search leader Google Inc. Hulu is intended to provide an alternative to watching TV programming online, in a way that's supported by advertising and endorsed by copyright holders. (AP)

Microsoft Corp. will begin testing the first collection of fixes to its Windows Vista operating system with a goal of releasing the service pack in the first quarter of next year. Microsoft also said its next Windows system for server computers, due this year, won't be ready until February 2008. The product may not be available to all customers then, the company said. The release of the service pack is important because many corporate customers won't adopt new versions of Windows until the first update is available. (Bloomberg)

Alltel Corp. shareholders overwhelmingly approved a $24.7 billion buyout that put the wireless company in the hands of two private investor groups. The buyout must still be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The sale should close by year-end, an Alltel spokesman said. Alltel, with 12 million customers in 35 states, agreed in May to a proposed $71.50-a-share buyout by Fort Worth-based TPG Capital and New York-based GS Capital Partners.(AP)