Smiths Medical, a medical device manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Arden Hills, said that its ViaValve Safety I.V. Catheter has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and can be marketed in the United States. The ViaValve catheter,designed to help reduce the risk of blood exposure and needle-stick injury, will be available for sale by the end of the summer.

St. Jude Medical Inc., Little Canada, and Abbott Vascular, Abbott Park, Ill., have bolstered an alliance that essentially joins their medical device products into one portfolio to be marketed to U.S. doctors and hospitals. The portfolio includes Abbott's heart and endovascular products, such as the company's heart stent Xience, along with St. Jude's pacemaker and heart defibrillator portfolio and other cardiac-related products.