Given Imaging

From Rafael to medical devices

Given Imaging was incorporated in Israel in January 1998, and RDC, the partnership of Rafael and Elron for commercializing technologies in the civilian market, was one of its largest shareholders. Dr. Gavriel Iddan developed the technological idea, and Dr. Gavriel Meron led the building of the company and its business. Globes described how Iddan teamed up with a group of developers at Rafael, including Meron, to turn a tiny camera into a medical device. The company operated from Yokneam and focused on imaging the digestive tract. Its main product was a capsule that is swallowed and takes pictures from inside the body, along with equipment to receive the images and software that lets the doctor view them. This step required developing a whole system around the camera.

How the camera pill worked

The capsule contained a camera, a light source and a transmitter, and sent images to a receiver worn by the patient. After the exam, the doctor could review the images with the company's software. Marketing began in 2001 under the name M2A, and in 2004 the small bowel capsule was renamed PillCam SB, according to the company's report to the SEC. Later, products for imaging the esophagus and the colon were added. These are products with different uses and approvals, not one capsule that fits every exam. The small bowel capsule made it possible to image an area that is hard to examine with regular endoscopy; the imaging itself did not require inserting a long tube through the mouth or the anus.

Milestone: an exam that reached millions of patients

In an August 2013 announcement, Given reported more than two million exams with PillCam products since the first generation was introduced. A 2017 medical review described use of the capsules in two million patients by 2014 and the development of capsule endoscopy. The company's report for 2009 already recorded sales of more than 1.1 million capsules in more than 65 countries. The system combined tiny imaging, wireless transmission and reading the images as part of the doctor's work, and turned the invention into a medical product used internationally.

The agreement and completion of the sale

On 9 December 2013, Given and Covidien announced a binding agreement to acquire all the shares at $30 per share. Calcalist reported about $860 million net of cash and investments, and a value of about $980 million including them. Covidien announced on 27 February 2014 that the acquisition was completed, and described a price of about $860 million net of cash and short-term investments acquired. The net amount is not the full value of the shares before the financial assets are deducted. The company, which had gone public on Nasdaq in 2001, ceased to be an independent public company, and its products were merged into Covidien's gastrointestinal business.

Legacy

The PillCam line continued at Medtronic after the business moved over from Covidien. In 2021 Medtronic announced FDA clearance for the PillCam SB 3 system for remote use in the United States. In the process it described, the patient received a test kit, was guided in a telehealth call and returned the recording equipment; the doctor received the images to read. In the same announcement, Medtronic said that PillCam SB, now in its third generation, had been used by more than 4 million patients worldwide. Given is also an example of commercializing knowledge from Rafael through a partnership with Elron: a technological invention became devices, software and a medical sales business. Its legacy lies in the way the exam is done and in the products that kept selling, beyond the original company name.