Utah Company May Buy OB Tech

A Salt Lake City company said Friday that it has tentatively agreed to buy OB Tech Inc., a 3-year-old Orange County company that has developed an obstetrical product to be used during births.

Utah Medical Products Inc. said it will purchase the Huntington Beach company, subject to several conditions, for about 60% of the $4 million that investors put into the firm, plus “substantial” royalties over the next 17 years on its newly patented product.

Several of OB Tech’s employees and recently laid-off employees will be asked to join Utah Medical’s operation, said Kevin Cornwall, Utah Medical’s president. OB Tech now has less than a dozen employees.

OB Tech developed Cordguard, a disposable umbilical blood sampling system that minimizes worker exposure to blood while cutting the umbilical cord and collecting newborn blood samples.

The purchase of the company is subject to Utah Medical’s evaluation of Cordguard’s efficacy and completion of a formal agreement, both of which must be resolved within 30 days. The purchase includes other OB Tech products, for which patents will be filed.