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ZymoGenetics restructures license and collaboration agreements on RECOTHROM

ZymoGenetics, Inc. today announced a restructuring of the U.S. co-promotion and ex-U.S. license and collaboration agreements with Bayer Schering Pharma AG and Bayer HealthCare relating to RECOTHROM® Thrombin, topical (Recombinant).

21 Dec 2009

Bristol-Myers Squibb declares 3.2% dividend increase

The Board of Directors of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today declared a 3.2 percent increase in the company’s quarterly dividend, beginning in the first quarter of 2010.

21 Dec 2009

New iPhone application software on healthy food options

Men’s Health magazine’s latest iPhone Application launch, “Eat This, Not That!” is now the most downloaded app in the Healthcare & Fitness category within the Apple iTunes store.

21 Dec 2009

One dose of vaccine may be effective to protect infants and children from H1N1 virus, shows study

One dose of vaccine may be effective to protect infants and children and reduce transmission of the H1N1 virus, according to a study in JAMA, published online today because of its public health implications. The study will appear in the January 6 print edition of the journal.

21 Dec 2009

Clarient announces acquisition of Applied Genomics

Clarient, Inc., a premier technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, today announced that it has acquired privately held, Huntsville, AL-based Applied Genomics, Inc. (AGI) in an all-stock merger valued at up to $17.6 million, if all conditions and milestones set forth in the merger agreement are successfully met.

21 Dec 2009

MSD to distribute and market Labopharm's Tradorec XL in the U.K.

Labopharm Inc. today announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Labopharm Europe Limited, has completed a distribution and supply agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD), a United Kingdom (U.K.) subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., under which MSD will distribute and market Tradorec XL(R) (once-daily tramadol based on Labopharm's proprietary Contramid(R) technology).

21 Dec 2009

Task force's role in reform bills draws scrutiny in the wake of mammography guidelines

The Washington Post reports that the "once-obscure federal panel that triggered a firestorm with its new mammography guidelines would get far greater authority under the health-care reform proposals pending in Congress, sparking more debate about its power and independence. Critics of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say that the panel would become a stealth tool for government bureaucrats bent on rationing health care.

21 Dec 2009

KHN column: The Senate bill saves families money

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Jonathan Cohen writes about costs under the Senate health bill. "It's certainly true that, under the terms of the Senate bill, insurance would cost more and cover less than many of us would prefer. But would it really produce little social progress?

21 Dec 2009

Winners, losers examined in Senate health bill tax treatment, insurer regulations

The Associated Press reports on some winners and losers in the Senate health reform bill including cosmetic surgeons who helped defeat a proposed 5 percent tax on their services and a handful of states getting more federal aid to help them afford a proposed Medicaid expansion.

21 Dec 2009

Technologies for optimizing medication adherence in older adults needed

Avoiding medication-related errors and improving medication adherence among older adults could save the nation billions of dollars and save thousands of lives, according to information included in "Technologies for Optimizing Medication Use in Older Adults," a recent report produced by the non-profit Center for Technology and Aging, and available at www.techandaging.org.

21 Dec 2009

Gore introduces PROPATEN Vascular Grafts with Integrated Rings

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced it will expand its line of GORE PROPATEN® Vascular Grafts to include configurations with a unique, all ePTFE radial support that is concealed within the ultra-smooth graft wall and resists kinking and compression. The GORE PROPATEN Vascular Graft with Integrated Rings was introduced at the 2009 AIMsymposiumTM / VEITHsymposiumTM in November in New York City.

21 Dec 2009

Effectiveness of VSEL stem cells in regenerative medicine demonstrated at the ASH meeting

NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NBS), which is a leading provider of pre-disease adult stem cell collection, processing and long-term storage services, and holds the exclusive, worldwide license to VSEL(TM) technology that uses very small embryonic-like stem cells isolated from peripheral blood, announced today that five posters and two oral presentations at the prestigious American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans in early December demonstrated the basic cellular mechanisms of very small embryonic-like stem cells.

21 Dec 2009

Oxford Finance to provide Titan Pharmaceuticals a $3M term loan

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Oxford Finance Corporation ("Oxford") for a $3 million term loan. The loan will bear interest at an approximate rate of 13% per annum and be payable over three years. Under the terms of the agreement, Titan will pay Oxford an initial facility fee of $60,000 and a final payment fee of $180,000.

21 Dec 2009

Bioject Medical Technologies completes a Series G Preferred Stock financing

Bioject Medical Technologies Inc., a leading developer of needle-free injection therapy systems, today announced that on December 18, 2009, it completed a Series G Preferred Stock financing with each of Life Sciences Opportunities Fund II, L.P., Life Sciences Opportunities Fund (Institutional) II, L.P. (collectively, the “LOF”), and Edward Flynn for the purchase of an aggregate of 92,448 shares of its Series G Convertible Preferred Stock at a price of $13.00 per share.

21 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats win overnight procedural vote; move one step closer to approving health bill by Christmas

The New York Times: "After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's health care system."

21 Dec 2009

CSC completes a Series B financing round

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC), a leading stem cell company, announced that it has completed a Series B financing round with private investors. The financing will enable the company to support the advancement of its therapeutic products to human clinical trials, as well as the generation and distribution of its tools to aid in stem cell research and drug discovery.

21 Dec 2009

Health insurance industry reports decline in net income

According to a new analysis by Highline Data, the leading data provider of financial and marketing information on insurance companies, the health insurance industry reported a decline of 12.4 percent in net income, to $8.2 billion, as of September 30 compared to the same period in 2008.

21 Dec 2009

Requirement for Americans to get insurance is central to health overhaul

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in partnership with USA Today, writes about the mandate included in pending health reform proposals. "Both the House and Senate health care overhaul bills require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

21 Dec 2009

Neurocrine to advance its NBI-98854 VMAT2 Inhibitor into a multiple repeated dose Phase 1 study

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. today announced their highly selective vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor, NBI-98854, will be advanced in clinical development.

21 Dec 2009

Reid's fight to get 60 votes dims Liberals' hopes of compromises in conference committee

Although the liberals and union leaders once hoped that a House-Senate conference committee could undo some of the compromises and move the health overhaul bill more to their liking, the "titanic struggle to lock in Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) as the 60th senator for the first key test vote early Monday morning has changed all that," Politico reports.

21 Dec 2009