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Bivalent oral polio vaccine produces better immune response than more commonly used trivalent vaccine, study says

The bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) was found to induce a significantly higher immune response than the existing trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV), according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports.

27 Oct 2010

Study finds association between KRAS p.G13D mutations and cetuximab treatment in colorectal cancer

Even though the cancer-treatment agent cetuximab is not considered effective treatment for KRAS (a gene)-mutated metastatic colorectal tumors, new research indicates that patients with colorectal cancer not responding to chemotherapy and a certain variation of this gene who were treated with cetuximab had longer overall and progression-free survival than patients with other KRAS-mutations, according to a study in the October 27 issue of JAMA.

27 Oct 2010

Upper Peninsula Health Plan awards 3-year PBM contract to Catalyst Rx

Catalyst Rx, the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) subsidiary of Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHSI), announced today the award of a three-year PBM contract by the Upper Peninsula Health Plan, a Medicaid Health Care Provider serving the Upper Michigan Counties. The contract covers approximately 38,000 members.

27 Oct 2010

Pharmaceutical industry pays billions in fraud settlements; Walgreen selling PBM Co.

Bloomberg: "Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drug-store chain, is looking to sell its pharmacy-benefits management business and has hired an adviser to run an auction, said three people with knowledge of the matter. The sale of the PBM unit, which Walgreen started in 1995, may fetch $500 million to $1 billion. … Medco Health Solutions Inc., Express Scripts Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp., the three largest PBMs in the U.S., are among the companies that have expressed interest, the people said.

27 Oct 2010

Study finds anti-obesity drug reduces brain’s response to appetizing foods

Scientists have revealed that an anti-obesity drug changes the way the brain responds to appetising, high-calorie foods in obese individuals. This insight may aid the development of new anti-obesity drugs which reduce the activity in the regions of the brain stimulated by the sight of tasty foods.

27 Oct 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim and MacroGenics enter global antibody-based therapeutics alliance

Boehringer Ingelheim and MacroGenics today jointly announced that they have entered into a global alliance to discover, develop and commercialize antibody-based therapeutics which may span multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, respiratory, cardiometabolic and infectious diseases.

27 Oct 2010

Jamieson releases flu-fighting formula with echinacea

Jamieson Laboratories, Canada's largest manufacturer of advanced natural-health products, announced the release of FluShield™, a clinically proven flu-fighting formula that is made with a patented, next-generation echinacea extract known as LPx3.

27 Oct 2010

Medicare growing fiscally unsustainable yet remains politically untouchable

Medicare, an indispensable safety net, is fiscally unsustainable in the long term, yet it may be politically untouchable, The Center for Public Integrity reports in the first of a multipart series.

27 Oct 2010

Oncolytics presents REO 013 clinical trial data for colorectal cancer at International Symposium in Spain

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced today that interim data from a U.K. translational clinical trial (REO 013) investigating intravenous administration of REOLYSIN in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer prior to surgical resection of liver metastases was presented at the International Symposium on Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL) and Immunostimulation being held in Pamplona, Spain.

27 Oct 2010

Tripos releases new version of SYBYL-X for QSAR studies

Tripos, a leading provider of drug discovery informatics products and services, today announced the release and general availability of SYBYL-X Version 1.2.

27 Oct 2010

Trilogy receives four-year federal grant from SAMHSA

Trilogy, Inc., a behavioral healthcare organization serving people in recovery from serious mental illness, is the recipient of a four-year federal grant from the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced John Mayes, President and CEO of Trilogy, Inc.

27 Oct 2010

CYP2C19 gene variant can increase risk of cardiovascular events in patients treated with clopidogrel

An analysis of data from previously published studies indicates that use of the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel for patients who have common genetic variants of a certain gene and are undergoing a procedure such as coronary stent placement have an associated increased risk for major adverse cardiovascular events, particularly development of blood clots in stents, according to a study in the October 27 issue of JAMA.

27 Oct 2010

Doctors agree on need to change Medicare pay, but not how

Doctors widely believe that the Medicare payment system is unfair, but they disagree about how to fix it, according to a recent study, MedPage Today reports. "While physicians generally support changing how Medicare reimburses doctors, most don't support payment reforms that would reduce their own incomes, according to survey results published in the Oct. 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

27 Oct 2010

Insuring your health: High risk pools for people with medical issues start slowly

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes, This summer, new health insurance programs aimed at people with preexisting medical conditions began accepting applications around the country.

27 Oct 2010

Illumina announces single flow cell version of HiSeq 2000 sequencing system

Illumina, Inc. today announced HiSeq 1000, a single flow cell version of the company's HiSeq 2000 sequencing system. HiSeq 1000 is designed for researchers who want the ease of use, industry-leading cost per gigabase (Gb) and data rate of the HiSeq 2000 but do not currently require its throughput. As their research scales, users will be able to upgrade their system to the HiSeq 2000 and double their output.

From Illumina, Inc. 27 Oct 2010

Pacific Biosciences prices initial public offering of common stock

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. developer of single molecule, real-time (SMRT) technology for biological analysis, announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 12,500,000 shares of its common stock at $16.00 per share. All shares are being sold by the company.

27 Oct 2010

ARIAD prices common stock public offering

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 16,000,000 shares of its common stock at $3.70 per share. The offering is expected to close on or about October 29, 2010, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, ARIAD has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 2,400,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.

27 Oct 2010

States, insurers, employers move forward with health law implementation

News outlets report on efforts to implement the new health law, including high risk pools and insurers' summaries of their plans.

27 Oct 2010

Long non-protein coding RNAs respond to SARS virus infection, says study

For the first time, scientists have discovered that a poorly understood class of RNA produced in a mammal's cells during a respiratory virus attack may affect the outcome of the infection. Their findings are reported today in mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

27 Oct 2010

Boston Scientific announces completion of Asthmatx acquisition

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the completion of its acquisition of Asthmatx, Inc. of Sunnyvale, California. The transaction follows the definitive agreement announced on September 20. Under the terms of the agreement, Boston Scientific purchased all outstanding Asthmatx shares for a total of $193.5 million. Additional payments of up to $250 million are contingent upon achievement of specified revenue-based criteria through 2019. Asthmatx is now an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Boston Scientific.

27 Oct 2010