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Pfizer receives FDA approval of XALKORI for ALK-positive NSCLC

Pfizer Inc. has received FDA approval of XALKORI (crizotinib) capsules - the first and only therapy specifically for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test.

29 Aug 2011

Zymeworks, Merck collaborate to develop novel bi-specific antibody therapeutic candidates

Zymeworks Inc. today announced a research collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, around Zymeworks' proprietary Azymetric platform for the development of novel bi-specific antibody therapeutic candidates. Bi-specific antibodies are designed to bind to two different drug targets for broad use in clinical applications such as oncology or autoimmune disease.

29 Aug 2011

Covalon reports net loss of $1,207,559 for third quarter 2011

Mr. Brian Pedlar, President and CEO of Covalon Technologies Ltd., an advanced medical technologies company, is pleased to provide the following update. "We are very pleased that Covalon continues to make excellent progress in meeting its objectives.

29 Aug 2011

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry on health issues

In analyzing Texas Gov. Rick Perry's health record, medical malpractice reform is one of the issues he appears to be most passionate about.

29 Aug 2011

Affinium closes $15 million financing round

Affinium Pharmaceuticals announced today the closing of its $15 million financing. Investors participating in the financing include all three of Affinium's Series A investors, SV Life Sciences, Genesis Capital Partners and Forward Ventures, along with the addition of the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund (OETF) to the syndicate.

29 Aug 2011

New insights into Lafora disease

Short-term energy storage in animal cells is usually achieved through the accumulation of glucose, in the form of long and branched chains, known as glycogen. But when this accumulation happens in neurons it is fatal, causing them to degenerate. This neuronal deterioration and death associated with glycogen accumulation is the hallmark of an extremely rare and progressive type of epilepsy known as Lafora disease (LD).

29 Aug 2011

For NAIC, some signals suggest broker bill is losing traction

The Hill reports that a spokeswoman for the chairman of the NAIC's Professional Health Insurance Advisors Task Force said no major action on the issue was planned for the group's conference. In other news, MSNBC reports that, as insurance prices rise, options appear to diminish, creating questions about how much relief the health law will provide. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explores health reform's winners and losers.

29 Aug 2011

Bioness announces commercial release of NESS L300 Plus System

Bioness Inc., today announced the commercial release of its NESS L300 Plus System. Cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year, the L300 Plus combines the award winning NESS L300 Foot Drop System with a thigh cuff to activate even more of the nerves and muscles in the leg for greater control while walking.

29 Aug 2011

CMS: Insurers need to create plans for dual eligibles

Medicare Advantage insurers that cover some of the most expensive patients must develop individualized plans to coordinate care for each one, according to a final CMS rule issued Friday. The agency also formalized language in the Affordable Care Act requiring these so-called Special Needs Plans, which handle the costly population covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, to implement quality improvement programs and be certified in 2012 by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

29 Aug 2011

Post myocardial infarction snus quitters have 44% lower risk of mortality

In this prospective cohort study, presented today at the ESC Congress 2011, discontinuation of smokeless tobacco after a myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with a lower risk of subsequent mortality. Investigators found that post MI snus quitters had a 44 % lower risk of total mortality.

29 Aug 2011

Health Robotics first half gross revenues increase 42% to $9.4 million

Health Robotics today announced 1H2011 financial results, delivering record levels of revenues, gross margins and net earnings for a six-month period. Gross Revenues reached $9.4 million (€6.5M) and Gross Margins were $7.3 million (€5M), respectively 42% and 72% increases over-year-ago period; both increases were directly linked to the significantly improved performance resulting from Health Robotics' greater dependence on its own European and American based staff, replacing its prior, non-functioning indirect distribution and service channels.

29 Aug 2011

Men worse than women at protecting their skin in the sun

Nearly 90 per cent of British adults admit their skin has been sunburnt - with almost half experiencing pain as result of being in the sun.

29 Aug 2011

BIOTRONIK's Selectra left ventricular lead delivery system receives European market approval

BIOTRONIK, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of wireless remote monitoring technologies, today announced the European market approval of the Selectra left ventricular lead delivery system.

29 Aug 2011

Kassebaum reflects on HIPAA's impact

[Nancy Landon] Kassebaum [Baker], the name she went by in the Senate as a three-term Republican from Kansas and before her marriage to former Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), was a co-sponsor along with Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Kassebaum, now 79, is living with her husband in Huntsville, Baker's hometown in the Cumberlands of northeastern Tennessee.

29 Aug 2011

Premier healthcare alliance awards new agreements for procurement of energy

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that new agreements for the procurement of energy have been awarded to Amerex Brokers, LLC. of Sugar Land, Texas; Co-eXprise Inc. of Wexford, Pa.; Hospital Energy Development LLC. of Middletown, Conn.; Vical Energy Consultants Inc. of Hackensack, N.J.; and World Energy Solutions, Inc. of Worcester, Mass.

29 Aug 2011

Study shows feasibility of combined postprandial glucose and triglyceride tolerance testing

The Homburg Cream and Sugar (HCS) study was designed to determine whether the measurement of postprandial triglyceride in addition to the assessment of glucose tolerance and traditional risk factors might improve the prediction of cardiovascular events.

29 Aug 2011

Disappearance of mosquitoes from some parts of Africa puzzles researchers

"Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are disappearing in some parts of Africa, ... indicat[ing] controls such as anti-mosquito bed nets are having a significant impact on the incidence of malaria in some sub-Saharan countries," researchers report in a paper published in Malaria Journal, according to BBC News. But the team of Danish and Tanzanian "researchers say mosquitoes are also disappearing from areas with few controls," and "[t]hey are uncertain if mosquitoes are being eradicated or whether they will return with renewed vigor," the news agency writes.

29 Aug 2011

Specific inhibitor of microRNA-100 can stimulate development of new blood vessels

A specific inhibitor of the small regulatory RNA-molecule "microRNA-100" can be used to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels, if a major artery is chronically occluded.

29 Aug 2011

European infusion therapy device market to reach €533 million by 2017: New report

According to a new report by iData Research, the leading global authority in medical device market research, the European infusion therapy device market, which includes needleless connectors, infusion pumps and intravenous (IV) sets, was valued at an estimated €443 million in 2010.

29 Aug 2011

Allscripts launches 2011 ACE annual conference

Allscripts today launched its annual conference, the Allscripts Client Experience (ACE), with over 450 educational sessions for more than 4,700 attendees representing care providers in all settings, sizes and specialties.

29 Aug 2011