VeriTeQ Acquisition Corporation Friday said it will offer its FDA-cleared VeriChip microchip, a rice grain-sized, passive RFID microchip, for the identification of breast implants and other medical devices.
Following the international breast implant scare involving breast implants from French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), which used industrial silicone for its breast implants to decrease costs, it was announced yesterday that the European Union is contemplating a manufacturer requirement to embed microchips in breast implants to provide for accurate and immediate traceability of these and potentially other medical devices. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 PIP implants were sold around the world.
VeriTeQ is already working to identify medical devices, specifically vascular ports, for the proper identification of the port and medication dosing requirements through an existing contract with a medical device manufacturer.
On January 12, 2012, VeriTeQ announced it acquired the VeriChip implantable microchip and related technologies, and Health Link personal health record from PositiveID Corporation (PSID.OB). VeriTeQ said VeriChip is the first human-implantable passive RFID microchip cleared for medical use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. VeriChip has been cleared for sale by the FDA since 2004.
Scott Silverman, chairman and CEO of VeriTeQ, said, "The current system for identifying surgically implanted medical devices is archaic and flawed. Once a device is in a person's body, there is no way to know for certain which company manufactured the device or what the specific device is. Embedding our VeriChip within a medical device prior to insertion enables a healthcare professional to scan the area of the patient's body where the device is implanted and receive immediate and accurate confirmation of what the device in question is and its manufacturer."
In January, VeriTeQ announced it signed a Letter of Intent to merge with Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group, Inc. (CTYX.PK) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Connectyx Technologies Corp., the manufacturer and distributor of the MedFlash, an innovative Personal Health and Wellness Management System (ePHM) designed for maintaining personal health records. Upon consummation of VeriTeQ's merger with Connectyx, the company will be renamed VeriTeQ Corporation and will continue to trade on the OTC Pink market, under the new ticker symbol "VTEQ."
PositiveID has retained a 10 percent ownership interest in VeriTeQ.
CTYX.PK is currently trading at $0.0095, up $0.0017 or 21.79%. PSID.OB is currently trading at $0.13, down $0.02 or 13.33%.
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