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McKesson Asia Pacific to be sold to Medibank Private

McKesson Corporation, the world's leading healthcare services company, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its McKesson Asia Pacific business to Medibank Private Ltd., the largest private health services and insurer in Australia. The acquisition is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2010, subject to customary conditions, including regulatory review in Australia.

9 Apr 2010

Bill to stop under 18s using sunbeds passed by the House of Lords

The private member's bill to protect children and teenagers from the dangers of sunbeds was passed today by the House of Lords after Cancer Research UK's campaign.

9 Apr 2010

Abraxis BioScience to present updated survival findings from ABRAXANE Phase I/II trial at 101st AACR meeting

Abraxis BioScience, Inc., a fully integrated biotechnology company, announced that the updated survival findings from a Phase I/II clinical trial evaluating the chemotherapy agent ABRAXANE® for Injectable Suspension (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in combination with gemcitabine for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer will be discussed during a keynote address on April 20 at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) being held in Washington, D.C.

9 Apr 2010

As overall cancer rates decline in the U.S., thyroid cancer counters the trend

As overall cancer rates are declining in the United States, thyroid cancer counters the trend. It's being diagnosed more frequently, especially in women. Women are three times more likely than men to develop thyroid cancer.

9 Apr 2010

World Bank commitments during economic crisis reach all-time high

The World Bank on Wednesday announced it "has committed a record $100 billion in financial support over the past 18 months to help developing countries recover from the global economic crisis," Reuters reports.

9 Apr 2010

Combination telaprevir treatment beneficial for retreatment of hepatitis C

A study co-authored by a Saint Louis University researcher found telaprevir, a protease inhibitor, combined with standard hepatitis C treatment, cures a significantly higher number of difficult-to-treat patients than standard treatment alone. The findings were published in the April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

9 Apr 2010

Emergency Medical Services completes financing of new senior credit facilities

Emergency Medical Services Corporation announced today that it has completed the financing of new senior secured credit facilities consisting of a $425 million 5-year term loan and a $150 million revolving credit facility, both of which will mature in 2015.

9 Apr 2010

Opinions: Preparing for next flu outbreak; Elections in Zimbabwe; U.S. response to Haiti

Now that concerns about swine flu have eased, "[o]ur fear is that the public and officials will get blase about the next flu outbreak," according to a New York Times editorial. "Efforts to rush vaccine into production did not go well. This dry run should lead health officials to push the vaccine makers even harder to adopt new technologies that can turn out vaccine more quickly.

9 Apr 2010

Idera Pharmaceuticals' TLR antagonists exert anti atherogenic effects in preclinical model of atherosclerosis

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today presented data from a preclinical study evaluating the mechanism of action of a Toll-like Receptor (TLR) antagonist in a preclinical model of atherosclerosis. The presentation entitled "A novel antagonist of TLR7 and TLR9 exerts anti atherogenic effects in ApoE-/- mouse model of atherosclerosis" (abstract P259) was made by Idera scientists at the American Heart Association conference "Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2010 Scientific Sessions" being held April 8-10 in San Francisco, CA.

9 Apr 2010

Svelte Medical Systems' Series A extension financing oversubscribed

Svelte Medical Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the extension of its Series A financing from institutional and private investors including CNF Investments, Apjohn Ventures and the Fischell family. The company's Series A extension was oversubscribed and included an initial investment by Norwich Ventures LP. Norwich Ventures is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm committed to helping entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals and inventors build innovative medical technology companies.

9 Apr 2010

Pfizer to expand clinical trials in Asia, work on development of antibiotics for drug-resistant TB

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer said on Wednesday that it plans to increase the number of clinical trials it's conducting in Singapore by 10 percent as part of an effort "to design drugs for diseases prevalent in the region," Reuters reports.

9 Apr 2010

Encouraging results from CCT's Phase I study of PDA-001 for treatment-resistant Crohn's Disease

Celgene Cellular Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, today announced initial results from a Phase I multicenter safety study of PDA-001 in treatment-resistant Crohn's Disease. PDA-001 is an immunomodulatory therapy consisting of human placenta-derived cells obtained from CCT's proprietary processes.

9 Apr 2010

Philips to sell Sectra PACS in Japan

Sectra and Philips have completed an agreement whereby Philips will sell Sectra PACS in Japan under a joint branding policy. The agreement revitalizes a partnership that ended in 2005, by which Sectra and Philips combined were among the market leaders for PACS.

9 Apr 2010

Wave of tax changes comes with health law

The new health law will make a variety of changes to the tax code, including higher levies on the wealthy and millions of dollars in lost deductions for some corporations.

9 Apr 2010

Dangerous agitations: Nicotine replacement therapy needs to be tested in ICU setting

Nicotine withdrawal can cause dangerous agitation in intensive care patients. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care found that, compared to non-smokers, agitated smokers were more likely to accidentally remove tubes and catheters, require supplemental sedative, analgesic or anti-psychotic medications, or need physical restraints.

9 Apr 2010

Russia's first implant of SynCardia temporary CardioWest Total Artificial Heart performed on 60-year-old female

On March 23, the Bakoulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery (BSCCS) in Moscow performed Russia's first implant of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. The patient, a 60-year-old female suffering from biventricular heart failure, is the world's 850th recipient of the Total Artificial Heart.

9 Apr 2010

Sanofi-Aventis acquires exclusive global rights to CureDM's Pancreate

CureDM, LLC announced today that an agreement has been signed with Sanofi-Aventis for the exclusive worldwide license of Pancreate™, a novel islet neogenesis agent for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. CureDM is a privately held biopharmaceutical company whose scientists discovered Pancreate™, a first-in-class human peptide therapeutic. Several key Composition of Matter and Use patents have been issued to CureDM for this potentially transforming treatment approach for diabetes.

9 Apr 2010

State Roundup: Mass. insurer standoff eases, Wis. preps for federal overhaul

The Boston Globe: "Seeking to tone down their dispute with state regulators, two Massachusetts health insurers yesterday said they will, as ordered, resume making new policies available for individuals and small businesses — using last year's base rates, not the requested double-digit increases rejected by the state last week" (Weisman, 4/8).

9 Apr 2010

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals commences Phase 3 registration clinical trial for perifosine

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the initiation of a Phase 3 registration clinical trial for KRX-0401 (perifosine), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits Akt activation in the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway, for the treatment of patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer.

9 Apr 2010

Savings from computerized medical records are hard to measure

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver writes: "When it comes to health policy, few ideas find as much bipartisan support as the notion that widespread adoption of health information technology could improve medical care and save money.

9 Apr 2010

Medical News

McKesson Asia Pacific to be sold to Medibank Private

Bill to stop under 18s using sunbeds passed by the House of Lords

Abraxis BioScience to present updated survival findings from ABRAXANE Phase I/II trial at 101st AACR meeting

As overall cancer rates decline in the U.S., thyroid cancer counters the trend

World Bank commitments during economic crisis reach all-time high

Combination telaprevir treatment beneficial for retreatment of hepatitis C

Emergency Medical Services completes financing of new senior credit facilities

Opinions: Preparing for next flu outbreak; Elections in Zimbabwe; U.S. response to Haiti

Idera Pharmaceuticals' TLR antagonists exert anti atherogenic effects in preclinical model of atherosclerosis

Svelte Medical Systems' Series A extension financing oversubscribed

Pfizer to expand clinical trials in Asia, work on development of antibiotics for drug-resistant TB

Encouraging results from CCT's Phase I study of PDA-001 for treatment-resistant Crohn's Disease

Philips to sell Sectra PACS in Japan

Wave of tax changes comes with health law

Dangerous agitations: Nicotine replacement therapy needs to be tested in ICU setting

Russia's first implant of SynCardia temporary CardioWest Total Artificial Heart performed on 60-year-old female

Sanofi-Aventis acquires exclusive global rights to CureDM's Pancreate

State Roundup: Mass. insurer standoff eases, Wis. preps for federal overhaul

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals commences Phase 3 registration clinical trial for perifosine

Savings from computerized medical records are hard to measure

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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