Olympus has agreed to buy Redmond, WA-based Spiration for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition marks a culmination of a relationship that's been growing between the two companies over the last two years, as Xconomy points out.
In 2008, the companies signed an exclusive distributorship agreement that granted Olympus exclusive rights to market and distribute through its distribution channels in Europe and Japan Spiration's IBV valve system, a device for the bronchoscopic treatment of emphysema and air leaks of the lung, according to a company statement. The system is in clinical trials for emphysema in the U.S., and is approved for limited use to control prolonged air leaks following certain lung surgeries, the Seattle Times reports.
Olympus plans to keep the entire 50-person staff that Spiration had assembled to carry out R&D, sales and marketing, and manufacturing, COO Greg Sessler says, as quoted Xconomy. The operation will be re-named Olympus Respiratory America, he adds.
Spiration has raised more than $100 million in equity and debt financing since its founding from Three Arch Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Versant Ventures, Sprout Group, InterWest Partners, Investor Growth Capital, GE Capital, Saints Capital, and Olympus, Xconomy notes.
- see the Olympus release
- read the story in the Seattle Times
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