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WebMD Health reports 20% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

WebMD Health Corp., the leading source of health information, today announced financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

5 May 2010

Most women pay for abortions out of pocket; Okla. and Fla. abortion restrictions in the news

"Most women getting abortions pay for them out of their own pockets, with private insurers picking up the cost for just 12%, according to a new survey" from the Guttmacher Institute. The Journal adds that abortion coverage was "a flash point" in the health reform debate, "with abortion opponents seeking to block plans that include abortions from the new federally mandated insurance exchanges set to launch in 2014."

5 May 2010

Study: Flaxseed diet reduces ovarian cancer, increases survival rates

In the race to find answers about ovarian cancer, researchers now have something to cluck about. For five years, University of Illinois researchers have been using the chicken as a model to study this deadly disease and have recently discovered that a diet enriched with flaxseed decreases severity of ovarian cancer and increases survival in hens.

5 May 2010

IBI to present data on Verisome Liquid Drug Delivery System for cystoid macular edema at ARVO 2010

Icon Bioscience, Inc., (IBI), a privately held biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel ophthalmic pharmaceuticals announced today that it will present an abstract demonstrating the utility of its Verisome™ Liquid Drug Delivery System in cystoid macular edema, at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2010 annual meeting, taking place May 2-6, 2010, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

5 May 2010

CombiMatrix first-quarter diagnostic lab revenues up 29% sequentially

CombiMatrix Corporation today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

5 May 2010

Myriad Genetics' third-quarter fiscal 2010 revenues increase 5% to $90.8M

Myriad Genetics, Inc. today reported financial results for the third fiscal quarter and the nine-month period ended March 31, 2010.

5 May 2010

Adjuvant chemotherapy after gastric cancer procedure may reduce mortality

Patients who have gastric cancer surgery followed by chemotherapy have an associated decreased risk of death and improved disease-free survival compared to patients who have surgery alone, according to an analysis of previous studies, reported in the May 5 issue of JAMA.

5 May 2010

Polls show slowly shifting opinion on health law

USA Today: "Fifty-five percent of Americans rate the nation's health care system as good or excellent, compared with 44% in February and 35% when President Obama first proposed his health care legislation, according to a poll released today by Rasmussen Reports." USA Today notes that even though many of the changes are not going to be implemented until 2014, many insurance companies are voluntarily changing some practices early (Fritze, 5/3).

5 May 2010

Mayo Clinic researchers identify genetic variants in serotonin genes that impact IBS

Most people associate serotonin with brain neurology, but over 95 percent of the body's serotonin occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, which has a complex neuronal circuit that has been called "the second brain" of the body.

5 May 2010

Understanding the biology of postpartum blues

Greater levels of a brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) - may explain why postpartum blues and clinical depression are so common after childbirth according to an important study published today in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

5 May 2010

Cardica reports net loss of $3.0 million for third-quarter fiscal 2010

Cardica, Inc. today announced financial results for its fiscal third quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2010. Cardica's management will host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the financial results and provide an update on the company's business.

5 May 2010

High risk pools, medical loss ratios and other health law implementation issues

News outlets report on state high risk pools and other implementation issues for the new health law.

5 May 2010

Idera Pharmaceuticals reports net loss of $1.9M for first-quarter 2010

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of DNA- and RNA-based drug candidates targeted to Toll-like Receptors, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

5 May 2010

Iowa State University researcher works on faster method to detect salmonella from contaminated foods

Using technology available through a local company, an Iowa State University researcher is working on a faster method to detect and genetically identify salmonella from contaminated foods.

5 May 2010

Teaching doctors the price of primary care

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The New York Times, Susan Okie writes: "Doctors in training have traditionally been insulated from information about the cost of the tests and treatments they order for patients — in fact, for decades, the subject was virtually taboo when professors and trainees discussed treatment decisions during hospital rounds.

5 May 2010

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

Biotech industry reviews effects of the recession

Minneapolis Star Tribune, on the Biotechnology Industry Organization's convention in Chicago: "The biotechnology industry, hurt by the recession, is looking for inspiration from Charles Darwin. Leading executives say unless biotech companies adapt to a less-robust economy and changing industry standards, they won't survive the downturn. Biotech start-ups, seen as the lifeblood of the industry, have been among the worst hit by a decline in venture capital investments."

5 May 2010

Scientists discover key molecular mechanism in breast cancer metastasis

Scientists at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center have identified a key molecular mechanism in breast cancer that enables tumor cells to spread to adjacent or distant parts of the body in a process called metastasis.

5 May 2010

Health law program may benefit early retirees, big firms

A health law program that will go into effect next month will steer $5 billion to buttress employer-sponsored health plans for retirees who are not yet old enough to qualify for Medicare and have no other options for buying coverage, The Associated Press reports.

5 May 2010

CBO: Medicare payment 'doc fix' is more expensive than expected

The debate over what to do about Medicare payments to doctors continues. Physicans have been lobbying "to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, which triggers automatic Medicare payment cuts if spending rises above a certain level," CongressDaily reports. Those cuts have been put off for years.

5 May 2010