Hansen Medical rises on new patent license deal

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Hansen Medical Inc. jumped Wednesday after the company said it expanded a patent license agreement with Intuitive Surgical Inc., a fellow robotic surgical device company.

THE SPARK: The Mountain View, Calif., company said Intuitive Surgical bought 5.3 million shares of Hansen stock for $10 million, and agreed to pay $20 million to get an extended license to patents owned by Hansen. Intuitive bought the stock for $1.89 per share, a 4.4 premium to their closing price on Friday — the last day of trading before "superstorm" Sandy shut down the markets on Monday and Tuesday.

The deal will give Intuitive patents relating to "certain non-vascular approaches," or procedures that don't go through blood vessels.

THE BIG PICTURE: Hansen makes products that use robotics to manipulate and control catheters. Its Sensei robotic system was approved in 2007 and the company is seeking approval to market a newer system called Magellan. European Union regulators cleared Magellan in 2011. Intuitive Surgical, of Sunnyvale, Calif., makes the da Vinci robotic surgery system, which is used in prostate, gynecology, urology, and other types of surgical procedures.

Hansen said it is focusing on intravascular robotics, and the capital from the deal will help support the launch of Magellan.

The two companies signed their first license agreement in 2005. Intuitive granted Hansen a license on patents for intravascular approaches to cardiovascular, neurovascular, peripheral vascular disease procedures, and Intuitive received a license for technologies used in other types of surgeries.

SHARE ACTION: Shares of Hansen Medical rose 36 cents, or 20 percent, to $2.17 in afternoon trading.