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Maxygen's option and licensing arrangement with Cangene expires

Maxygen, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of improved protein drugs, today announced that its option and licensing arrangement with Cangene Corporation has expired. Under the agreement, Maxygen had granted Cangene an option to obtain an exclusive license to Maxygen's proprietary MAXY-G34 protein therapeutic for use in treating acute radiation syndrome.

17 Jul 2010

DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force charges 94 people for $251 million in false claims

Ninety-four people have been charged for their alleged participation in schemes to collectively submit more than $251 million in false claims to the Medicare program in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Miami; Baton Rouge, La.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Detroit and Houston, announced Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of HHS.

17 Jul 2010

Ingen files patent to produce new drug insulin thermos product

Ingen Technologies, Inc. (Pink Sheets:IGNT), an emerging medical device manufacturer developing innovative solutions for the respiratory market, with a new patented and proprietary medical product line targeting the $8B respiratory market, announced today that the company has also filed a U.S patent and will begin the required manufacturing processes to produce the new drug insulin thermos product.

17 Jul 2010

Capitol Hill Watch: Obama agenda under scrutiny as lawmakers talk Medicare, budgets

President Obama's agenda, which includes a sweeping overhaul of the health care system, is coming under increased political scrutiny as lawmakers struggle with health budget challenges, and consider issues such as medical bankruptcy and improper Medicare payments.

17 Jul 2010

94 indicted in five-state crackdown on Medicare fraud

Law enforcement officers fanned out across five states Friday in what federal officials called the largest Medicare fraud bust ever conducted. Nearly 100 people were indicted in frauds that totaled $251 million.

17 Jul 2010

First in a series of day-long regional health care fraud prevention summits kicked-off in Miami

Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today kicked-off the first in a series of regional health care fraud prevention summits in Miami. The summit brought together a wide-array of federal, state and local partners, beneficiaries, providers and other interested parties to discuss innovative ways to eliminate fraud within the U.S. health care system.

17 Jul 2010

Treatment admissions for abuse of prescription pain relievers increases by over 400%: Study

The proportion of all substance abuse treatment admissions of those aged 12 and older involving abuse of prescription pain relievers rose by over 400 percent from 2.2 percent in 1998 to 9.8 percent in 2008 according to a new study be the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This dramatic rise in the proportion of admissions associated with the abuse of these drugs occurred among nearly all segments of the population regardless of age, gender, educational level and employment status.

16 Jul 2010

Lyophilized rPA anthrax vaccine more immunogenic than liquid formulation: Study

PharmAthene, Inc., a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, today announced results from a New Zealand White Rabbit study showing that its lyophilized recombinant Protective Antigen (rPA) anthrax vaccine was more immunogenic than a liquid formulation of rPA vaccine and produced a robust response with only 2 doses.

16 Jul 2010

Elusys, Lonza partner for commercial production of Anthim antibody for inhaled anthrax treatment

Elusys Therapeutics and Lonza today announced an agreement for the scale-up and commercial production of Anthim, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody in late-stage development for the treatment of inhaled anthrax. Under the new contract, Lonza will provide process scale-up, technology transfer, validation, and commercial manufacturing at one of its facilities in the USA. The manufacturing process for Anthim was optimized for full scale production by Lonza under a separate agreement announced in 2009.

16 Jul 2010

8.8% of drug-related hospital emergency department visits by adolescents is a suicide attempt

A new series of studies analyzing drug-related hospital emergency department visits throughout the country during 2008 reveals a substantial percentage of these visits involve suicide attempts. According to these studies conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) more than one in every twelve (8.8 percent) drug-related hospital emergency department visit by an adolescent is a suicide attempt - double the rate found among cases involving those age 25 and older (4.4 percent).

15 Jul 2010

Practice Fusion API Challenge kicked off

Practice Fusion, the free, web-based Electronic Health Record company, kicked off the Practice Fusion API Challenge today as part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge, an initiative supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The challenge invites developers to connect patient health data from medical devices, mobile apps, social media systems and websites to doctors in real-time through Practice Fusion's new API.

15 Jul 2010

Study analyzes supply, demand for various allied health professions in Tennessee

Middle Tennessee State University's Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services recently released the fourth edition of "Allied Health in Tennessee: A Supply and Demand Study."

15 Jul 2010

Research shows behavioral economic analysis may help understand role of craving in addictions

Just-published research led by a psychologist at the University of Georgia shows that behavioral economic analysis may lead to an improved understanding of craving for alcohol and other drugs. This method of studying how craving alters the way a person values a drug is fairly new, but according to the study, it may well help assess cravings more accurately and contribute to identifying more effective ways to defeat addictions.

15 Jul 2010

Komen Advocacy Alliance applauds new federal rules for no-cost access to mammography

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance today applauded new federal rules that will expand access to potentially life-saving care for millions of Americans.

15 Jul 2010

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

Delivery to the Strategic National Stockpile of the first 1 million doses of the nation's first smallpox vaccine for certain immune-compromised populations is now complete, the result of a Project BioShield contract.

15 Jul 2010

NIH announces 5 more years of funding for Consortium of Food Allergy Research

Today, the National Institutes of Health announce that the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), established in 2005, will be funded for five more years. CoFAR will continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies and also expand in scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergy and studies of food allergy-associated eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs).

15 Jul 2010

Nine new institutions receive NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards

Nine health research centers have received funds to develop ways to reduce the time it takes for clinical research to become treatments for patients. The funds were awarded as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program which is led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), part of the National Institutes of Health.

15 Jul 2010

VCU receives $20M NIH grant to join national consortium of research centers

Virginia Commonwealth University announced Wednesday it has received a $20 million grant - the largest federal award in its history - from the National Institutes of Health to become part of a nationwide consortium of research institutions working to turn laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients.

15 Jul 2010

Rules for free preventive services requirement to be announced

During a Wednesday news conference, the Obama administration is expected to unveil regulations showing which preventive services insurers will be required to provide free-of-charge to consumers under the health overhaul law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

15 Jul 2010

Support for health overhaul down; GOP asks Kagan if she would recuse herself from cases on new law

Support for the new health reform law has dropped seven percentage points in the last two months, though it remains higher than when the law was first signed in March. "Forty-nine percent of Americans now disapprove of the health care reform measure, according to the poll, which was conducted July 9-12. Thirty-six percent support the law. In a May CBS News poll, 47 percent disapproved of the new laws, while 43 percent approved. While the new poll shows a recent drop in support, the numbers have still improved overall since March, when 53 percent of Americans disapproved of the new laws and 32 percent said they approved of them."

15 Jul 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

Maxygen's option and licensing arrangement with Cangene expires

DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force charges 94 people for $251 million in false claims

Ingen files patent to produce new drug insulin thermos product

Capitol Hill Watch: Obama agenda under scrutiny as lawmakers talk Medicare, budgets

94 indicted in five-state crackdown on Medicare fraud

First in a series of day-long regional health care fraud prevention summits kicked-off in Miami

Treatment admissions for abuse of prescription pain relievers increases by over 400%: Study

Lyophilized rPA anthrax vaccine more immunogenic than liquid formulation: Study

Elusys, Lonza partner for commercial production of Anthim antibody for inhaled anthrax treatment

8.8% of drug-related hospital emergency department visits by adolescents is a suicide attempt

Practice Fusion API Challenge kicked off

Study analyzes supply, demand for various allied health professions in Tennessee

Research shows behavioral economic analysis may help understand role of craving in addictions

Komen Advocacy Alliance applauds new federal rules for no-cost access to mammography

First 1M doses of smallpox vaccine for immune-compromised populations delivered

NIH announces 5 more years of funding for Consortium of Food Allergy Research

Nine new institutions receive NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards

VCU receives $20M NIH grant to join national consortium of research centers

Rules for free preventive services requirement to be announced

Support for health overhaul down; GOP asks Kagan if she would recuse herself from cases on new law

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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