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New, affordable technology for cervical cancer screening

Current cervical cancer screening is time consuming and expensive, but now new breakthrough technology developed by European researchers should allow large-range screening by non-medical personnel with almost immediate results and at a much lower cost.

15 Oct 2010

Anger, seniors and Ad campaigns: Health reform politics

A poll released Tuesday shows most seniors in Medicare's prescription drug benefit program don't know that the health law "closes Part D's coverage gap," The Hill's Healthwatch blog reports.

14 Oct 2010

TearLab receives patent for non-invasive tear collection platform

TearLab Corporation today announced that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 7,810,380, entitled "Systems and methods for collecting tear film and measuring tear film osmolarity." This patent provides the company with broad and blocking intellectual property regarding the measurement of genetic and protein biomarkers within the tear film.

13 Oct 2010

Gene Biodesign joins Roche NimbleGen Certified Service Provider Program

Roche NimbleGen announced today that Taipei-based genomic services provider Gene Biodesign Enterprises Co. has officially joined the Roche NimbleGen Certified Service Provider (CSP) Program.

13 Oct 2010

Retina Implant announces opening of new manufacturing plant in Tübingen-Reutlingen

Retina Implant AG, a leading developer of subretinal implants for the visually impaired, today announced the opening of a new manufacturing plant to meet anticipated demand for their implants. The company's second human clinical trial will be expanding outside of Germany in early 2011 to European countries including the U.K. and Italy and discussions are underway for potential clinical trials in the United States and Asia. Also looking ahead, the new facility meets manufacturing capabilities required for CE mark approval.

13 Oct 2010

Redesigned version of CTC-Chip effective in capturing rare circulating tumor cells

A redesigned version of the CTC-Chip a microchip-based device for capturing rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) appears to be more effective and should be easier to manufacture than the original. Called the HB-(herringbone) Chip, the new device also may provide more comprehensive and easily accessible data from captured tumor cells.

13 Oct 2010

TriReme Medical closes $17M Round D financing

TriReme Medical, a leading developer of innovative catheters and stents for the treatment of complex vascular disease, announced today the closing of a $17M Round D financing. The financing was led by Bio*One Capital, a subsidiary of Singapore based EDB Investments with strong support from current investors, Three Arch Partners and Adams Street Partners.

11 Oct 2010

Health insurance: Coverage expands for children, young adults; not necessarily for retirees

Glenn Franco, a retired community-college instructor in Michigan, tried to get his 24-year-old daughter on his health plan—and was turned away. Many large employers are telling retirees the same thing.

11 Oct 2010

Political cartoon: 'Don't Worry'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Don't Worry" by Chip Bok.

1 Oct 2010

Researchers discover new factors that regulate fat formation

By creating a "map" of histone modifications in fat cells, investigators have discovered two new factors that regulate fat formation, a key step on the road to better understanding obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

1 Oct 2010

Researchers develop C5 technology to identify CTCs in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a novel, dual-platform technology, the On-Q-ity Circulating Cancer Capture and Characterization Chip (C5), which they believe is more efficient than the commonly used single-platform device in identifying circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer.

30 Sep 2010

HIV AIDS drugs’ universal access dream remains improbable: Report

In a disappointing new report jointly commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN's AIDS programme and UNICEF it was revealed that only one third of people worldwide who need life-saving HIV drugs are actually getting treated. Universal access to these medicines has been the theme of effort but it was seen that that targets would not be met. The report urges the poorer countries must “substantially ramp up” the funds for HIV/AIDS.

29 Sep 2010

Progenika receives CE Mark approval to market LPLchip in Europe

Progenika Biopharma S.A., a pioneer in the field of personalized medicine, announced today that it has obtained the CE Mark allowing the sale in Europe of its LPLchip(R), the first DNA chip to detect mutations in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene.

27 Sep 2010

Maine receives federal grants to upgrade electronic public health systems, scores of criminals provide home health care in Cal.

The Boston Globe: "Caritas Christi Health Care executives have told union negotiators they will shutter St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton and Carney Hospital in Dorchester if they can't close a deal for the six-hospital chain to be bought by a New York private equity firm. The warning was made during contract talks last week with the Massachusetts Nurses Association, according to two people who attended the meeting.

24 Sep 2010

Efforts to reduce worker exposure to hazards during disaster response, cleanup

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is awarding $36 million in grants to 20 organizations that develop safety and health training for workers involved in hazardous waste operations and transportation, environmental restoration of contaminated facilities, and chemical emergency response. These training programs can receive annual funding for up to five years.

24 Sep 2010

At six month anniversary, Obama touts benefits of health care law

Six rocky months after winning passage of the landmark health-care law, President Obama celebrated the half-year mark by holding a sunny backyard get-together in the Virginia suburbs with a sampling of Americans from across the country who he said are already benefitting.

24 Sep 2010

Surefil emerges from Chapter 11 protection with Federal Court approval

Surefil, a contract manufacturer of liquid-fill products for the personal care, home care, oral care, medical industries, and energy drinks, emerged from Chapter 11 protection with Federal Court approval on September 15, 2010.

23 Sep 2010

Agilent, ISB and ETH Zurich enter second phase of mapping complete human proteome

Ninth Annual World Conference of the Human Proteome Organization -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced that its collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) for the mapping of the complete human proteome by mass spectrometry is entering its second phase.

22 Sep 2010

AACR to host fourth International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics

The American Association for Cancer Research will host its Fourth AACR International Conference on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development from Sept. 27-30, 2010, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown in Denver, Colo.

22 Sep 2010

Republicans plan to chip away at health law; Senators call for insurance rate hearings

The New York Times: Republicans are hopeful they can pick up enough seats in November's midterm elections to chip away at the new health law. "This goal, though not fleshed out in a detailed legislative proposal, is much more than a campaign slogan. That conclusion emerged from interviews with a wide range of Republican lawmakers, who said they were determined to chip away at the law if they could not dismantle it." Republicans are expected to release specifics of the plan Thursday.

22 Sep 2010