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Emergent awarded $107M HHS BARDA contract to develop large-scale manufacturing of BioThrax

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that it has signed a contract valued at up to $107 million with the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to develop and obtain regulatory approval for large-scale manufacturing of BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) in Building 55. Building 55 is the company's large-scale state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing facility in Lansing, Michigan.

14 Jul 2010

Researchers investigate oral cancer, periodontal disease relationship

Today during the 88th General Session & Exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, in Barcelona, Spain, presenting author J. Meyle, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany, will present an abstract titled "P. gingivalis Infection and Immune Evasion of Oral Carcinomas."

14 Jul 2010

Valentus Medical Technologies signs partnership agreement with Medical Tactile for SureTouch technology

Medical Tactile, Inc. and Valentus Medical Technologies, Inc. announced today that Valentus Medical Technologies, Inc., based in Victoria, Canada, has signed a partnership agreement with Medical Tactile, Inc., and has taken on the exclusive Sales & Marketing rights for SureTouch™, the non-invasive digital breast imaging technology, worldwide, with the exception of China.

14 Jul 2010

Slow-starting high risk pools look for bigger wave of enrollees, other reform issues

States have seen a "slow trickle" of enrollees for new federally funded high-risk pools but are expecting more to begin enrolling as word spreads about the coverage option, Politico reports.

14 Jul 2010

First comprehensive U.S. HIV/AIDS strategy to draw on lessons from PEPFAR

President Barack Obama plans to "unveil the first formal national HIV/AIDS strategy on Tuesday, a plan that aims to reduce the number of new cases [in the U.S.] by 25 percent in the next five years, officials said," the Washington Post reports.

14 Jul 2010

New research shows there is great need for culturally-appropriate Alzheimer care resources

Racially and ethnically diverse older adults are one of the fastest growing population segments in the United States and new research presented today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2010 in Honolulu reveals that older African-Americans and Latinos with significant cognitive impairment have a lower likelihood of nursing home placement and longer survival than White older adults in the study.

14 Jul 2010

CMAJ publishes new, updated guidelines on vitamin D

New and updated guidelines on recommended vitamin D intake have been published this week in the online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

14 Jul 2010

Hospitals hope to improve outlook by turning for-profit

"For decades, the Detroit Medical Center and its network of eight hospitals have served as a safety net for thousands of poor patients throughout southeastern Michigan. So when its pending sale to a for-profit hospital system was announced in March, pediatrician James Collins began worrying whether the poor would still get the care they need" (Gold, 7/13).

14 Jul 2010

Metamark Genetics closes $22M Series B financing

Metamark Genetics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company addressing a major challenge in cancer medicine, has completed a $22 million Series B financing. Metamark's Prognosis Determinants platform has illuminated the genetic drivers governing the lethal metastatic progression of major cancers and is now focused on pivotal translational and commercialization efforts to bring these breakthrough discoveries to cancer patients worldwide.

14 Jul 2010

LSUHSC Professor awarded $2.1M grant to determine role of PCP

Dr. Jay Kolls, Professor and Chairman of Genetics at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has been awarded a $2.1 million grant over five years by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to determine the role and identify which T-helper cells fight the opportunistic infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, which can be a complication of HIV/AIDS.

14 Jul 2010

Advocates lobbying for passage of International Violence Against Women Act

"Supporters of the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) are ramping up their lobbying efforts as Congress prepares to bring the measure to a vote," The Hill reports. More than a dozen organizations and advocacy groups have written a letter requesting the support of Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. The bill currently has two Republican sponsors in the senate and "advocates say his support will be vital to obtaining the desired amount of funding from Congress: up to $1.3 billion over five years," the newspaper writes.

14 Jul 2010

Administration to unveil first national HIV/AIDS strategy today

The White House will unveil the first formal national HIV/AIDS strategy on Tuesday, a plan that aims to reduce the number of new cases by 25 percent in the next five years, officials said. Noting that the number of new infections in the United States has been static -- and that the number of people living with HIV is growing -- the new policy would direct more resources toward African Americans and gay and bisexual men. Latinos and substance abusers should also be a priority, the report says.

14 Jul 2010

Mass. lawmakers may strip ban on medical-industry gifts

Massachusetts lawmakers may repeal a two-year old law requiring medical firms to disclose gifts to doctors, The Associated Press/Boston Herald reports. "Health care advocates say such a move could put a quick halt to efforts to rein in health care costs and increase transparency in the industry. Those pushing for repeal say the law has made it harder to attract those businesses to the state.

14 Jul 2010

Britain planning a health overhaul of its own

Britain's new, conservative-led coalition government says it will overhaul the national, government-financed health system by cutting back on the bureaucracy - to the tune of $30 billion between now and 2014 - and increasing funding for health services.

14 Jul 2010

Obama Administration approves direct federal funding of abortion: FRC Action

Family Research Council Action responded today to a discovery made by the National Right to Life Committee that the Obama Administration has given federal approval to send Pennsylvania $160 million in taxpayer funds which will directly fund abortions through President Obama's recently enacted health care law.

14 Jul 2010

Opinions: Haitian rebuilding; Nuclear state vaccine initiatives; HIV rights abuses in China; HIV vaccine

The "paltry scale of the Pentagon's reconstruction endeavor [in Haiti] -- 1.6 million people displaced and the American military is contributing a few classrooms? -- is emblematic of the international response," columnist Dana Milbank writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

14 Jul 2010

Study: Disruption of genes that control circadian rhythms may lead to diabetes

Disruption of two genes that control circadian rhythms can lead to diabetes, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found in an animal study. Mice with defective copies of the genes, called CLOCK and BMAL1, develop abnormalities in pancreatic cells that eventually render the cells unable to release sufficient amounts of insulin.

14 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: The Berwick backlash; HIV screening a part of routine care; And why Congress should provide Medicaid help to states

As is well-known, Congress has a constitutional duty to examine presidential nominees like Dr. Berwick. But apparently, the prospect of giving the American people an opportunity to hear this nominee defend his past praise for government-run systems that ration healthcare was worrisome enough for the administration that it sought to ignore congressional oversight altogether (Sen. Mitch McConnell, 7/12).

14 Jul 2010

Health on the Hill – July 12, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey talks with KFF's Jackie Judd about President Obama's decision to use his recess appointment powers to nominate Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services continues to anger Republicans who wanted a public examination of Berwick's record (7/12).

14 Jul 2010

New research shows Alzheimer's disease may increase risk of other potentially disabling health conditions

Having Alzheimer's disease may increase the risk of getting other potentially disabling health conditions, including seizures and anemia, according to new research presented today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2010 in Honolulu, HI.

14 Jul 2010