Australian AtCor jumps on Japanese A&D distro deal

AtCor Medical Holdings said today it inked an exclusive, multi-year distribution deal with A&D Company to distribute the AtCor SphygmoCor Xcel device in Japan, sending stocks up as much as 10%.

The SphygmoCor Xcel provides both central blood pressure and pulse wave velocity, which the Japanese Society of Hypertension have set as a marker of advanced cardiac disease and end organ damage, respectively, AtCor said.

“We are excited to begin this partnership with AtCor Medical, which is acknowledged as the global gold standard in central aortic blood pressures and arterial stiffness. While A&D reviewed alternative technologies, we selected SphygmoCor as it was the clear global market leader and the most validated device. The understanding of central blood pressure and arterial stiffness is growing in Japan, and we look forward to helping to educate the market with SphygmoCor Xcel,” A&D CEO Hikaru Furukawa said in a press release.

The SphygmoCor Xcel will be initially marketed to researchers as a class 1 device under Japan’s Ministry of Health regulations as the company pursues class 2 clearance. Both companies said they expect clearance in early 2016.

News of the deal sent stocks up approximately 10%, closing at 22¢.

“We look forward to working with A&D in Japan, which is the largest medical device market in Asia-Pacific and the world’s 2nd largest market after the USA. A&D are the perfect partner for AtCor, with their focused sales team in the blood pressure market and relationships with key doctors. A&D is a strong, well respected brand with considerable scale as both a global manufacturer and marketer of medical devices,” AtCor CEO Duncan Ross said in prepared remarks.

The companies said they planned to meet in early 2016 to discuss other opportunities, such as distribution in other regions.

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