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IDC secures $32 million in Series B financing

Immune Design Corp. (IDC), a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing novel vaccines and immunotherapies for infectious disease and cancer, announced today that it has secured $32 million in Series B financing. The round was led by ProQuest Investments and was joined by current investors: The Column Group, Versant Ventures, and Alta Partners. The Series B financing brings the total amount of equity capital raised by IDC to $50 million since its inception in 2008.

26 Jul 2010

Study compares current state of healthcare system in UK and proposed system in US

A comparison of the current state of the healthcare system in the UK and the new system proposed under legislation pushed through by Barack Obama's government, shows some surprising results. The review is published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (JRSM).

26 Jul 2010

Council seeks to limit medical resident working hours for improved patient care

As the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education seeks to improve patient care by further limiting the hours worked by medical residents, the Journal of Surgical Research will published a new study online on Monday reporting that outcomes in two common surgeries - appendectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy - were similar among residents who had worked less than 16 hours and those who had worked more than 16 hours.

26 Jul 2010

New guidelines for care of heart transplant recipients from ISHLT

Since the dawn of heart transplantation in the 1960s, medical care of heart transplant recipients has varied from center to center and been guided by the experience of individual clinicians. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) has made an unprecedented commitment by convening experts in all areas of heart transplantation to develop practice guidelines for the care of heart transplant recipients.

26 Jul 2010

NUHW wins agreement for workers' right to vote by mail

On a conference call held Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) won an agreement that ensures workers' right to vote by mail in the privacy of their homes, in a government-protected election to join NUHW.

26 Jul 2010

School program to help children continue normal educational activities during treatment

Treatment for cancer and other catastrophic disease can last months or years and often makes it impossible for young patients to keep up with their local school curriculum. Teachers in the St. Jude School Program Presented by Target help patients continue their normal educational activities while away from their local schools. They are also part of the health care team that provides opportunities to continue normal educational activities through homebound or hospital-bound educational services. In addition, the team provides school re-entry services to ease the transition back to the community school.

26 Jul 2010

Asuragen reports collaborative study results of advanced PCR-based molecular profiling of FMR1 gene

Asuragen, Inc. announced today the results from two collaborative studies, one with the University of California Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and another with Rush University Medical Center, that demonstrate comprehensive molecular profiling of the Fragile X Mental Retardation (FMR1) gene using advanced PCR-based methods.

26 Jul 2010

Sec. of State Clinton signs 5-year AIDS control partnership agreement with Vietnam

During her trip to Vietnam, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "engaged in health diplomacy by visiting the Ngoc Lam Pagoda orphanage for AIDS-affected children," Foreign Policy's blog "Madam Secretary" reports.

26 Jul 2010

ESC concerned over interpretation of JUPITER sub-analysis trial results about HDL cholesterol

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is concerned that interpretations of a paper about cholesterol, published in the Lancet, could act to deter ongoing research efforts into developing new therapeutic strategies to increase high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Caution, the ESC experts advise, should be displayed in the interpretation of the results.

26 Jul 2010

No such thing as “safe” cigarettes

In a new development a 12-member US panel is debating over the issue of menthol cigarettes being more addictive. If the results go against the cigarettes Australia too will have to ban the sale of such cigarettes. This would mean a significant loss to Alpine cigarettes and imported brands such as Kool, Virginia Slims and Salem.

26 Jul 2010

Number of soldiers leaving the army because of mental health issues jumps 64%

USA Today: "The number of soldiers forced to leave the Army solely because of a mental disorder has increased by 64% from 2005 to 2009 and accounts for one in nine medical discharges, according to Army statistics.

26 Jul 2010

Methodist surgical team completes first phase training to implant new total artificial heart

A 13-member surgical team from the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center completed the first phase of training to implant a new total artificial heart designed to completely replace the heart's function while the patient waits for a heart transplant. Methodist will be the first hospital in Texas to offer this total heart replacement.

26 Jul 2010

Nano-patch to replace needles for vaccination soon: Study

Those who fear needles have good news awaiting them. Australian researchers have developed a new method of vaccine delivery using needle-free nano-patches. These could also be mailed to people during pandemics. This breakthrough is published in the latest edition of the journal Small.

26 Jul 2010

Mismanagement of diabetes leads to fatal accident

One of the worst case scenarios that can happen to a diabetic is if he or she falls into a hypoglycemic coma. This is caused by a severe deficiency in glucose levels found in the blood which causes the brain to seek other energy sources at the same time shutting down other important body functions. If treatment is delayed or neglected by the diabetic person, such a coma can cause not only loss of consciousness but also irreversible brain damage and death.

26 Jul 2010

Obesity linked to rising womb cancer in women: Report

According to a new report from the Charity Cancer Research (CCR) in Britain, the number of women with womb cancer or uterine cancer is on the rise and obesity may be a clue to such rise.

26 Jul 2010

UnitedHealth ups ante on health IT with purchase of Picis, expecting stimulus windfall

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal: UnitedHealth Group's technology consulting subsidiary Ingenix, of Eden Prairie, Minn., has purchased Massachusetts tech firm Picis, a maker of emergency room and intensive care software. "Both companies are deeply involved in the area where health care and information technology meet. Ingenix, which had revenue of $1.8 billion last year, provides consulting and outsourcing to almost 6,000 hospitals.

26 Jul 2010

Glioblastomas patients with affected stem cell niche experience progression-free survival

Patients with deadly glioblastomas who received high doses of radiation that hit a portion of the brain that harbors neural stem cells had double the progression-free survival time as patients who had lower doses or no radiation targeting the area, a study from the Radiation Oncology Department at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.

26 Jul 2010

Cerenis, Novasep awarded French Government funding for development of CER-001 HDL mimetic

Cerenis Therapeutics SA (Cerenis), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel high-density lipoprotein (HDL) therapies to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, and Groupe Novasep (Novasep), a leading supplier of manufacturing solutions to the life sciences industries, announce today that they have received French Government funding through OSEO to finance the development of CER-001, a Cerenis HDL mimetic.

26 Jul 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim announces European CHMP Positive Opinion for TWYNSTA

Boehringer Ingelheim announced today that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a Positive Opinion for the approval of TWYNSTA®. It will be indicated in adults whose blood pressure is not adequately controlled on amlodipine and is also indicated as replacement therapy in adult patients receiving telmisartan and amlodipine from separate tablets can instead receive tablets of TWYNSTA containing the same component doses.

26 Jul 2010

Cerenis Therapeutics closes first round of series C, raises €40 million

Cerenis Therapeutics SA (Cerenis), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel therapies based on the metabolism of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, announced today it has raised €40 million in the first close of its series C financing. In this round €20 million came from the Fund for Strategic Investment (FSI) with an additional €20 million coming from the existing investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners and TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment.

26 Jul 2010

Medical News

IDC secures $32 million in Series B financing

Study compares current state of healthcare system in UK and proposed system in US

Council seeks to limit medical resident working hours for improved patient care

New guidelines for care of heart transplant recipients from ISHLT

NUHW wins agreement for workers' right to vote by mail

School program to help children continue normal educational activities during treatment

Asuragen reports collaborative study results of advanced PCR-based molecular profiling of FMR1 gene

Sec. of State Clinton signs 5-year AIDS control partnership agreement with Vietnam

ESC concerned over interpretation of JUPITER sub-analysis trial results about HDL cholesterol

No such thing as “safe” cigarettes

Number of soldiers leaving the army because of mental health issues jumps 64%

Methodist surgical team completes first phase training to implant new total artificial heart

Nano-patch to replace needles for vaccination soon: Study

Mismanagement of diabetes leads to fatal accident

Obesity linked to rising womb cancer in women: Report

UnitedHealth ups ante on health IT with purchase of Picis, expecting stimulus windfall

Glioblastomas patients with affected stem cell niche experience progression-free survival

Cerenis, Novasep awarded French Government funding for development of CER-001 HDL mimetic

Boehringer Ingelheim announces European CHMP Positive Opinion for TWYNSTA

Cerenis Therapeutics closes first round of series C, raises €40 million

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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