Invacare acquires negative-pressure wound therapy system

Home health products manufacturer Invacare (NYSE:IVC) has acquired a negative-pressure wound therapy system to be sold through its rental business for long-term care providers.

But the Elyria, Ohio-based company wouldn’t reveal much more than that, such as the deal’s price or the company it acquired the technology from.

Invacare revealed the acquisition in its (pdf) third-quarter earnings announcement.

“This line of products will add to the company’s current offering of wound therapy solutions available through Invacare’s rental services to long-term care providers,” Invacare said at the time. “The company anticipates this to be a long-term growth platform.”

An Invacare spokeswoman said the product is still in development. Invacare plans to file a 510(k) application for regulatory clearance of the product and hopes to have it on the market in the second half of 2012, the spokeswoman said.

Negative-pressure wound therapy works by applying controlled subatmospheric pressure to remove fluids and infectious materials from a wound, while stimulating the formation of vessels and drawing the wound closed.

The technology can be used to treat diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, vascular ulcers, burn wounds, surgical wounds and trauma-induced wounds.

In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public health notification to healthcare providers about negative-pressure wound therapy, describing “deaths and serious complications” associated with the technology. The FDA said it had received reports of six deaths and 77 injuries associated with negative-pressure wound therapy systems over the two years prior to the notification.

Photo from flickr user jennecy