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Health reform law news: HHS awards $30 million in consumer assistance grants

The Department of Health and Human Services says it will award $30 million in consumer assistance grants to help states and territories either establish or strengthen programs that provide direct services to patients related to their health insurance, Modern Healthcare reports.

21 Oct 2010

Joint stem cell study to investigate multiple sclerosis

A $2.2 million project by Victorian and Californian researchers will assess whether stem cell therapies can be used to combat diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Type-1 diabetes, and help organ transplant recipients. Speaking at AusBiotech 2010 in Melbourne today, Innovation Minister Gavin Jennings said the Brumby Labor Government had contributed $575,505 to the project, the fifth to be funded through the $28 million Victoria–California Stem Cell Alliance which was established in 2008 under the Biotechnology Strategic Development Plan.

21 Oct 2010

NIH awards $7 million grant to provide sustained care for HIV-positive inmates

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a $7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study effective ways to seek, test, and treat inmates with HIV.

21 Oct 2010

Candidates discuss Medicare, Medicaid spending

News outlets report on the role of Medicare and Medicaid spending in this year's elections.

21 Oct 2010

Victorian Government grants assist companies build global markets

The Brumby Labor Government is providing $410,000 in grants to help three Melbourne companies improve their global competitiveness, save money on production costs and create local jobs.

21 Oct 2010

FDA issues complete response letter for BYDUREON NDA

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company and Alkermes, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a complete response letter regarding the New Drug Application (NDA) for BYDUREON™ (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension).

21 Oct 2010

Business groups seek health care payment reforms

Businesses are continuing to seek health payment reform. Businesses are looking for ways to control costs, improve quality and reward successful treatments instead of paying more for readmissions and longer hospital stays.

21 Oct 2010

FDA clears Burton Medical's AIM-200 O.R. for surgical lighting applications

Burton Medical, Inc., the leader in examination and minor surgery lighting equipment, has received FDA clearance for its AIM-200® O.R. light for surgical lighting applications in operating rooms for ambulatory surgical centers as well as acute care facilities.

21 Oct 2010

Nexcore announces acquisition of Meditron product line from CooperSurgical

Nexcore Technologies, Inc. of Waldwick, an original equipment manufacturer of medical devices, today announced it has acquired the Meditron line of gastroenterology endoscopy products from CooperSurgical, Inc. of Trumbull, CT.

21 Oct 2010

A new way to pay for chemotherapy

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby reports: "One of the nation's largest health insurers said today it is testing a new way to pay for some cancer treatments, aiming to identify the best medicines - and limit profits doctors make by dispensing in-office chemotherapy drugs" (Appleby, 10/20).

21 Oct 2010

Dopamine vital for rhythmic expression in specific brain regions: Research

Daily sleeping and eating patterns are critical to human well-being and health. Now, a new study from Concordia University has demonstrated how the brain chemical dopamine regulates these cycles by altering the activity of the "clock-protein" PER2. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, these findings may have implications for individuals with Parkinson's Disease with disrupted 24-hour rhythms of activity and sleep.

21 Oct 2010

Genzyme third quarter revenue increases to $1.0 billion

Genzyme Corp. today reported third-quarter earnings growth driven by increased shipments of Cerezyme® (imiglucerase for injection). Patients in the United States began returning to normal dosing levels last month, and patients globally are expected to be able to do so this quarter. Earnings growth in the third quarter was also driven by strong revenue from Lumizyme™ (alglucosidase alfa) and cost reduction measures.

21 Oct 2010

Beaumont Hospital announces opening of new Ernst Cardiovascular Center

Beaumont Hospitals' world renowned heart center has expanded and enhanced its services with the Oct. 18 opening of the new Ernst Cardiovascular Center at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.

21 Oct 2010

Thomson Reuters introduces new version of Clinical Xpert Navigator

Thomson Reuters, a global provider of information for healthcare professionals, has released the newest version of its award-winning Clinical Xpert Navigator mobile clinical data application.

21 Oct 2010

Z-Medica enters agreement with two Swedish medical device distributors for QuikClot products

Z-Medica Corporation, a medical device company developing innovative hemostatic agents, today announced that it has signed exclusive distribution agreements with Vingmed AB and Mediplast AB, two leading Swedish medical device distributors, for distribution of its QuikClot line of hemostatic agents in Sweden, Denmark and Norway for the first time.

From Medica Corporation 21 Oct 2010

Also in Global Health News: Foreign aid in Ethiopia; Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Health in Myanmar; Poverty in Zambia; Rwanda's progress on MDGs; Men involved in PMTCT of HIV

Ethiopia's government has been restricting access to food and other types of foreign aid among opposition supporters, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Malone, 10/19). The report is based on more than 200 interviews, conducted over a six-month period in 2009, of people in 53 villages across three regions of the country, according to an HRW press release (10/19).

21 Oct 2010

Alexion announces results of eculizumab two open-label Phase 2 studies for aHUS treatment

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its two open-label Phase 2 studies investigating eculizumab (Soliris) as a treatment for patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) have met the primary and key secondary endpoints with high clinical and statistical significance, in interim analyses.

21 Oct 2010

Genzyme reports results of Clolar combination Phase 3 trial in adult AML

Genzyme Corporation announced results today from its CLASSIC I phase 3 trial comparing Clolar® (clofarabine) in combination with the chemotherapy agent cytarabine (ara-c) to cytarabine plus placebo in relapsed-refractory adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

21 Oct 2010

IRB approves CEL-SCI’s Multikine Phase III clinical trial for head and neck cancer

CEL-SCI Corporation announced today it has received approval from seven hospital Institutional Review Boards in India to begin enrollment of subjects for a Phase III clinical trial of Multikine, the Company's flagship immunotherapy developed as a first-line standard of care in treating head and neck cancer.

21 Oct 2010

FDA approves Herceptin with chemotherapy for HER2-positive metastatic cancer

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Herceptin (trastuzumab) in combination with chemotherapy (cisplatin plus either capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil [5-FU]) for HER2-positive metastatic (cancer that has spread) cancer of the stomach or gastroesophageal junction, in men and women who have not received prior medicines for their metastatic disease.

21 Oct 2010