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UF researchers work out to find new treatments for Pompe disease

As scientists work to find new treatments for Pompe disease - the devastating genetic "villain" that drives the efforts of the main characters in the new film "Extraordinary Measures" - University of Florida researchers are hopeful that gene therapy will help patients in the late stages of the disease breathe on their own.

27 Jan 2010

State of the Union address: Obama to squeeze in health reform around jobs, economy issues

President Barack Obama's upcoming State of the Union address will focus on jobs and the economy, but in addition to those issues, the president will likely continue his push for health care reform, The Boston Globe reports. Administration officials said Sunday that the president would "continue pressing Congress to complete its yearlong effort to enact health care legislation.

27 Jan 2010

MDRNA granted Chinese patent for use of nucleic acids in cancer treatment

MDRNA, Inc., a leading RNAi-based drug discovery and development company, today announced that the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has issued a Notification of Granting Patent Rights for PRC 200480018784 which includes the use of nucleic acids, e.g., an siRNA, for the treatment of cancer. The patent describes modulation of claudins, which are proteins implicated in tumor progression and metastasis.

27 Jan 2010

Majority of inuit preschoolers live in food-insufficient households

Seventy percent of Inuit preschoolers in Nunavut, Canada's largest territory, live in households where there isn't enough food, a situation with implications for children's academic and psychosocial development, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091297.pdf.

27 Jan 2010

Intercept Pharmaceuticals completes $25M Preferred Series B financing

Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for chronic fibrotic and metabolic diseases, today announced the completion of a $25 million Preferred Series B financing by its majority shareholder Genextra S.p.A.

27 Jan 2010

Study finds regional hospitals often are better at preventing medical errors than academic centers

Some regional hospitals perform better than academic medical centers at preventing complications and infections that can lead to hospital deaths, Forbes reports. The article looks at the results of an annual study by HealthGrades, a hospital rating company, of Medicare data which found 269 hospitals around the country "with unusually low mortality and complications rates for 26 different procedures and diagnoses."

27 Jan 2010

Sumavel DosePro and Levadex to earn up to $400M by 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that Zogenix/Astellas Pharma/Desitin Pharmaceuticals' needle-free Sumavel DosePro, which launched earlier this month in the United States, and MAP Pharmaceuticals' orally-inhaled Levadex will earn approximately $400 million in combined sales by 2018 in the migraine drug market.

27 Jan 2010

White House mulling limits on scope of proposed health overhaul

The Wall Street Journal: "The White House, with its health-care initiative in doubt, on Sunday zeroed in on several elements it hoped would survive, including measures to extend the life of Medicare, lower prescription drug costs for seniors and cap consumers' out-of-pocket medical expenses."

27 Jan 2010

OrthoPediatrics to distribute ETEX products in U.S. and Canada

ETEX Corporation, an advanced biomaterials company, announced today a distribution agreement with OrthoPediatrics Corp., of Warsaw, Indiana. OrthoPediatrics will market and sell ETEX's nanocrystalline calcium phosphate on a non-exclusive basis in the United States and Canada.

27 Jan 2010

Sinobiopharma's solid dosage Perindopril production facility receives Chinese SFDA approval

Sinobiopharma, Inc. is pleased to announce that its production facility for solid dosage Perindopril has passed the required Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) inspection and is now approved for production and marketing.

27 Jan 2010

TSYS signs long-term agreement with U.S. Bank to support commercial card payment services

TSYS announced today that it has signed a new long-term agreement with U.S. Bank. As part of the agreement, TSYS will continue to support the bank’s commercial card payment services, as well as become its exclusive partner in providing card processing services for the bank’s Consumer Directed Healthcare (CDH) benefit cards, issued by its Healthcare Payment Solutions business line.

27 Jan 2010

Researching treatments shows paths to health savings

An orthopedic surgeon in Sacramento became suspicious of a new therapy that helps tendons heal by injecting platelet-rich plasma into joints, The Sacramento Bee reports. So, he decided to do a test. It turned out, his patients outcomes were no different when he used the platelet-rich plasma therapy as when he didn't. The plasma treatment costs hundreds of dollars more per patient.

27 Jan 2010

Blue Foundation announces grants to improve Florida’s healthcare system

The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF), is announcing grants to 11 Florida nonprofits that improve the health of in-need Floridians across the state. The grants are part of The Blue Foundation's biannual IMPACT Health Care (Improving Access to Health Care) grants program.

27 Jan 2010

NCCN updates the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology for Ovarian Cancer

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently updated the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology™ for Ovarian Cancer to reflect the addition of two preferred combination regimens for a specific cohort of patients based on data from recent clinical research studies.

27 Jan 2010

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

During the WHO's recent executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan reflected on public health gains over the past decade and the challenges that lie ahead, Nigeria's Guardian reports. Chan commended the international community's response to H1N1 and global efforts to reduce child mortality, fight malaria and tuberculosis.

27 Jan 2010

Study shows high-volume hospitals offer similar outcomes as high-quality hospitals

New research published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that while popular hospital rating systems can help identify high-quality hospitals for cardiovascular operations, patients can achieve similar outcomes by seeking care at high-volume hospitals closer to home.

27 Jan 2010

Many still hope for insurance reform

Kaiser Health News staff writers Julie Appleby and Jenny Gold write, "With a major health overhaul in deep trouble, some lawmakers want a scaled-back approach that targets the indisputably unpopular insurance industry.

27 Jan 2010

CT colonography remains an effective colorectal cancer screening tool for older individual

Computed tomographic colonography (CTC), also known as virtual colonoscopy, remains effective in screening older patients for colorectal cancer (CRC), produces low referral for colonoscopy rates similar to other screening exams now covered by Medicare, and does not result in unreasonable levels of additional testing resulting from extracolonic findings, according to a study published in the February issue of Radiology.

27 Jan 2010

Pfizer becomes the latest customer of Benchware Discovery 360

Tripos®, a leading provider of drug discovery informatics products and services, today announced that Pfizer has become the latest customer of Benchware® Discovery 360 (D360). The novel license agreement allows Pfizer to deploy the capabilities of D360 to all scientists within its worldwide research sites.

27 Jan 2010

Innovative Alaska Health Plan outperforms many others in lower 48

Kaiser Health News reports on Alaska's Southcentral Foundation.

27 Jan 2010

Medical News

UF researchers work out to find new treatments for Pompe disease

State of the Union address: Obama to squeeze in health reform around jobs, economy issues

MDRNA granted Chinese patent for use of nucleic acids in cancer treatment

Majority of inuit preschoolers live in food-insufficient households

Intercept Pharmaceuticals completes $25M Preferred Series B financing

Study finds regional hospitals often are better at preventing medical errors than academic centers

Sumavel DosePro and Levadex to earn up to $400M by 2018

White House mulling limits on scope of proposed health overhaul

OrthoPediatrics to distribute ETEX products in U.S. and Canada

Sinobiopharma's solid dosage Perindopril production facility receives Chinese SFDA approval

TSYS signs long-term agreement with U.S. Bank to support commercial card payment services

Researching treatments shows paths to health savings

Blue Foundation announces grants to improve Florida’s healthcare system

NCCN updates the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines for Oncology for Ovarian Cancer

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

Study shows high-volume hospitals offer similar outcomes as high-quality hospitals

Many still hope for insurance reform

CT colonography remains an effective colorectal cancer screening tool for older individual

Pfizer becomes the latest customer of Benchware Discovery 360

Innovative Alaska Health Plan outperforms many others in lower 48

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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