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Medtronic to appeal U.S. jury verdict in CoreValve system patent infringement case

Medtronic, Inc., announced today that it will appeal the $73.5 million jury verdict returned in the U.S. District Court in Delaware deciding that the CoreValve® transcatheter aortic valve system infringes a valid U.S. Andersen patent owned by Edwards Lifesciences.

2 Apr 2010

News outlets report on developments from Agricultural Research Conference

Nature News examines potential funding reforms for the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), which are under discussion at a the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) in Montpellier, France. The CGIAR "supports thousands of scientists working on agriculture and food security in developing countries," according to Nature News.

2 Apr 2010

Opinion: Job development for Haiti; NTDs in Africa; U.S. investment in TB

"Even before the earthquake, the Haitian economy was already on shaky ground. There is 70 to 80 percent unemployment in the formal economy. ... U.S. policy helped build this disastrous economy," AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker writes in a Miami Herald opinion piece. Baker says previous employment efforts in Haiti resulted in "stop-gap jobs," which do not provide "employment stability or social protections."

2 Apr 2010

UK NICE recommends Eli Lilly's ALIMTA as maintenance therapy for nonsquamous NSCLC

Eli Lilly and Company announced today that its chemotherapy ALIMTA® (pemetrexed for injection) received a positive "Final Appraisal Determination" from the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

2 Apr 2010

Biotech reports record financial results for 2010 first quarter

Biotech racked up impressive gains for both the month of March and the first quarter of 2010. The Burrill Biotech Select Index posted a 3.7 percent jump in value in March and an 8 percent overall gain for Q1 '10.

2 Apr 2010

International, four-year study finds dutasteride reduces risk of prostate cancer diagnosis in men

A drug already prescribed to shrink benign, enlarged prostates has been shown to reduce the risk of a prostate cancer diagnosis by 23 percent in men with an increased risk of the disease, a large international trial has found. Results are reported April 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Apr 2010

Mouse study indicates rapamycin drug prevents Alzheimer's disease, extends lifespan

If research results continue to be repeated and are turned into clinical trials, a drug already approved for some uses could be marshaled - sooner than we expect - to prevent Alzheimer's disease in humans and improve health to the end of life.

2 Apr 2010

FDA clears Sysmex America's XT-4000i Automated Hematology Analyzer

Sysmex America, Inc., a leading medical diagnostic instrument manufacturer and information systems developer, today announced that its Sysmex XT-4000i™ Automated Hematology Analyzer has been cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

From Sysmex America, Inc. 1 Apr 2010

Cipher Pharmaceuticals' enrollment milestone in CIP-ISOTRETINOIN study triggers $2.0M milestone payment

Cipher Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that it has reached the enrollment mid-point in its Phase III safety study of CIP-ISOTRETINOIN, the Company's novel, patented formulation of isotretinoin, which is used in the treatment of severe, nodular acne. To date, more than 400 patients have been enrolled. Achieving this milestone triggers a US$2.0 million milestone payment from Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc., Cipher's U.S. marketing and distribution partner.

1 Apr 2010

Neogen announces acquisition of GeneSeek

Neogen Corporation announced today that it had purchased all the outstanding shares of GeneSeek, Inc., of Lincoln, Neb. GeneSeek is considered the leading commercial agricultural genetics laboratory in the United States.

1 Apr 2010

Radio show on ways to reduce sugar intake and live healthier

Monday, April 5th at 7pm EDT (4pm PDT) on the Telonauts Hour Radio Show Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum MD, author of Beat Sugar Addiction Now, will join longevity expert Dr. Dave Woynarowski MD and fitness pioneer Greta Blackburn, both of Telonauts.com, to discuss ways people can reduce their sugar intakes and live healthier, less sugar-addicted lives.

1 Apr 2010

BELLUS Health initiates Phase I clinical study for NRM8499

BELLUS Health Inc. announced today that, on March 30, 2010, the Company initiated a Phase I clinical study for NRM8499, a prodrug of tramiprosate. NRM8499 is intended for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2010

Radiology benefit management programs can protect patients from radiation exposure

Making sure patients receive the right diagnostic imaging tests at the right times in high-quality facilities significantly reduces unnecessary radiation exposure, HealthHelp chief medical officer Mark Hiatt, M.D., testified at a public meeting held by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

1 Apr 2010

Investment report on ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals

BeaconEquity.com announces an investment report featuring ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals Inc. The report includes financial, comparative and investment analyses, and pertinent industry information you need to know to make an educated investment decision.

1 Apr 2010

Stakeholders, experts meet to develop agriculture reform roadmap

Experts meeting in Montpellier, France, for the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development are calling for restructuring agriculture "to focus as much on new seed varieties as on good governance, women's empowerment and things like curbing commodities speculation," Reuters/Independent Online reports.

1 Apr 2010

U.S. lays out goals for role in Haiti recovery

As donors from more than 100 countries gather at the U.N. in New York Wednesday to discuss the rebuilding of earthquake-ravaged Haiti, Cheryl Mills, an advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, said that the U.S. "will be focusing on agriculture, energy, health and security. Also (on) support to the government in holding elections," Agence France-Presse reports (3/30).

1 Apr 2010

Pfizer admits paying $35 million to doctors over last 6 months

Pfizer among other large pharmaceutical companies recently disclosed payments to doctors and other medical professionals for consulting and speaking on its behalf and also some sponsorship of clinical trials. On Wednesday in an announcement the company spokesperson revealed that they had paid a whopping $20 million to 4,500 doctors and other medical professionals in the last six months of 2009. Pfizer also accepted that they paid $15.3 million to 250 academic medical centers and other research groups for clinical trials in the same period. This disclosure is only about payments made within the US.

1 Apr 2010

Newsweek examines challenges associated wtih U.S. food aid program

Newsweek examines how the U.S. farm bill influences food aid by tracking the efforts of U.S. entrepreneur Navyn Salem as she worked to launch a nonprofit capable of providing ready-to-use therapeutic (RUTF) food aid known as Plumpy'nut - "a squeezable package of fortified peanut-butter-based paste … used to feed severely malnourished children and pregnant or lactating women" - to NGOs that contract with USAID.

1 Apr 2010

U.N. releases report on poverty in Afghanistan

A new U.N. report (.pdf) finds that "the majority of Afghans live in dire poverty, despite an estimated $35 billion in aid being poured into the country between 2002 to 2009," the Associated Press reports (3/30).

1 Apr 2010

ADDF grants Signum Biosciences $270,000 for evaluating PP2A-modulatory compounds as AD therapeutics

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today that it is providing a grant of $270,000 to Signum Biosciences, Inc. (Princeton, NJ) to evaluate small-molecule, orally delivered Protein Phosphatase 2a (PP2A)-modulatory compounds as disease-modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2010