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Massachusetts fighting to control health costs

"Bake sales saved the nonprofit Athol Memorial Hospital the first time around, Steve Penka says with a smile. Eleven years later, it took a big Tennessee-based, for-profit hospital chain to keep it in business," the (Worcester, Mass.) Telegram & Gazette reports. In light of a recent report by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, many are surprised Athol is around at all.

11 May 2010

CrystalGenomics completes European Phase I SAD study of CG400549 antibiotic candidate

CrystalGenomics, Inc., a novel drug R&D company announced today that the Phase I SAD (Single Ascending Dose) study for its novel antibiotic candidate, CG400549, has been successfully completed in Europe.

11 May 2010

Hospital operator HCA plans to offer $4.6 billion IPO

HCA Inc., the nation's biggest hospital operator by number of facilities, filed plans last week for a $4.6 billion initial public offering as it "looks to return to the public markets," The Wall Street Journal reports.

10 May 2010

CVS calls on FDA to suspend use of contaminated rotavirus vaccines

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) convened a panel of experts to review recent findings that rotavirus vaccines given to infants in the U.S., Rotateq, produced by Merck Pharmaceuticals and Rotarix produced by GlaxoSmithKline, are contaminated with DNA from pig viruses PCV1 and PCV2. On March 22nd the FDA Commissioner asked doctors to suspend use of the Rotarix vaccine due to the contamination. Upon additional testing, Rotateq was also found to be contaminated.

10 May 2010

FDA grants EUA for IQuum's Liat Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay

IQuum, Inc. today announced it has been granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Liat™ Influenza A/2009 H1N1 Assay. The assay detects and differentiates 2009 H1N1 influenza viral RNA starting from collected nasopharyngeal swab samples in less than 30 minutes.

10 May 2010

QRxPharma reports successful outcome of Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR for chronic pain

QRxPharma announced today the successful outcome of a Phase 1 trial for MoxDuo CR, a controlled-release (CR) Dual-Opioid(TM) designed to provide 12 hours of pain relief in patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain (including cancer, lower back, osteoarthritis and neuropathic). The purpose of the trial was to determine which of the various experimental formulations provided the optimum duration of drug levels in the blood.

10 May 2010

Endosense commences enrollment in EFFICAS I study with TactiCath force-sensing catheter

Endosense, a Swiss medical technology company focused on improving the efficacy, safety and reproducibility of catheter ablation for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, has announced it has enrolled the first patients in EFFICAS I, the first study of the EFFICAS series. These patients were enrolled in Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic and treated by Petr Neuzil, M.D. and Vivek Reddy, M.D.

10 May 2010

Asthmatx announces first U.S. patient treated with BT delivered by Alair System

Asthmatx, Inc. reported today that doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., recently treated the first U.S. patient with bronchial thermoplasty (BT) delivered by the Alair® System, the first device-based asthma treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

10 May 2010

Bovie Medical first-quarter revenues decrease to $5.6M

Bovie Medical Corporation, a manufacturer and marketer of electrosurgical products, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

St. Jude Medical introduces Wireless USB Adaptor for Merlin@home transmitter in the U.S.

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced the U.S. launch of its Wireless USB Adaptor for the Merlin@home™ transmitter, a system that allows important patient data from an implantable cardiac device to be wirelessly downloaded and securely transmitted via telephone for review by a physician. The new Wireless USB Adaptor enables patients using a Merlin@home transmitter to transmit data to their physician over cellular networks, allowing for more convenient care than existing landline services provide.

10 May 2010

NHI first-quarter normalized FFO increases to $17.17M, net income to $15.94M

National Health Investors, Inc. announced today its normalized Funds From Operations ("FFO") and net income for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

Watson Pharmaceuticals first-quarter net revenue up 28% to $856.5M

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported a 28 percent increase in net revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 to $856.5 million, compared to $667.4 million in the first quarter 2009. On an adjusted cash basis, net income increased 25 percent to $100.3 million or $0.81 per share, compared to $80.2 million or $0.69 per share in the first quarter 2009. GAAP earnings for the first quarter 2010 were $0.57 per share, compared to $0.43 per share in the prior year period.

10 May 2010

Astute Medical completes $26.5 million series B financing

Astute Medical, Inc., a developer of novel, biomarker-based medical diagnostics, today announced completion of a $26.5 million series B financing co-led by Domain Associates and Delphi Ventures. Astute will use the funding to advance research and development aimed at the identification and validation of protein biomarkers with the goal of commercializing high potential diagnostic products.

10 May 2010

Shamir first-quarter revenue up 18.2% to $40.1 million

Shamir Optical Industry Ltd., a leading provider of innovative products and technology to the ophthalmic lens market, today announced unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

First Edition: May 10, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include the feature coverage of aspects of health reform implementation, including how "gradfathering" will be defined in regulations and the latest details on the early retiree reinsurance program.

10 May 2010

Positive results from Cytori's Celution-based ADRC trial for treatment of no-option chronic heart disease patients

The first clinical trial of adipose (fat) tissue-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs) for the treatment of no-option chronic heart disease patients showed the following: the procedure was safe and feasible; it demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in maximum oxygen consumption and patients' aerobic capacity measured as metabolic equivalents

10 May 2010

NIH awards UF scientists $7.5M for study of MRI technology in evaluating children with DMD

Duchenne muscular dystrophy research at the University of Florida got a major boost with the award of $7.5 million in National Institutes of Health funding to study the use of magnetic resonance imaging in determining the natural progression of the disease.

10 May 2010

Allied Healthcare Products reduces cost of sales for third-quarter 2010

Budget constraints for hospitals and municipalities continued to depress sales for Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. but the company managed to improve its third quarter results over last year's performance by reducing overhead and operating costs.

10 May 2010

Zilver PTX Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent safe and effective for treating SFA lesions

Patients treated with the Zilver® PTX™ Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent maintained clinical improvement at two years, according to interim results from the Zilver® PTX™ Global Registry presented today as a late-breaking clinical trial at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 33rd Annual Scientific Sessions.

10 May 2010

Everolimus-eluting stents more effective than paclitaxel-eluting stents

Results from the SPIRIT IV clinical trial, which were first presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009 scientific symposium, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 May 2010