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Methodist chooses Eclipsys HealthXchange solution for expanding care community access to clinical data

Eclipsys Corporation, The Outcomes Company®, today announced that The Methodist Hospital of Houston, TX, has selected Eclipsys HealthXchange™ to support it in connecting its local care community. The scalable and secure platform, powered by Medicity, will connect Methodist's acute care electronic health record (EHR) with a network of disparate EHRs in use at local affiliated physician offices throughout the region/local area.

5 Apr 2010

Ingen Technologies's SMART Nasal Cannula to be featured at upcoming Las Vegas MedTrade convention

Ingen Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer of respiratory medical devices, recently announced today that the SMART Nasal Cannula is a featured new product at the upcoming MedTrade convention in Las Vegas from May 10 through May 13, 2010. The Las Vegas MedTrade convention is the largest home health care expo in the world. Ingen is an exhibitor and will be part of the New Product showcase at MedTrade. The SMART Nasal Cannula is the Next-Generation of cannulas that improve oxygen therapy and reduce expenditures.

5 Apr 2010

Side effects may limit use of Prometheus's Lotronex for IBS

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that thought leaders believe Prometheus's Lotronex has efficacy advantages over current and emerging therapies for non-constipation predominant irritable bowel syndrome but side effects associated with the drug limit its use.

5 Apr 2010

Altheos to fund development of ATS907 Rho-kinase inhibitor with completed $20M Series A financing

Altheos, Inc., a privately held early-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has completed a $20 million Series A financing led by Bay City Capital. New investors Novo A/S, Canaan Partners, Life Science Angels and Atheneos Capital also joined the round. The financing will be used primarily for the development of ATS907, a selective Rho-kinase inhibitor Altheos licensed from Japanese pharmaceutical company Asahi Kasei Pharma. The license also includes a series of highly active compounds (AK138 series) specifically for topical treatment for glaucoma.

5 Apr 2010

Juventas Therapeutics commences enrollment in Phase I trial of JVS-100 for treatment of Class III heart failure

Juventas Therapeutics, a privately held, clinical-stage regenerative medicine company announced it has started enrolling patients in a Phase I clinical trial for JVS-100 to evaluate safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with Class III heart failure. JVS-100 encodes Stromal Cell-derived Factor-1 (SDF-1) and has been shown in pre-clinical studies to significantly increase cardiac function by promoting cell survival and increasing new blood vessel formation in the damaged organ.

5 Apr 2010

FDA grants Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Fast Track designation for perifosine

Æterna Zentaris Inc., a late-stage drug development company specialized in oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced that its partner, Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for perifosine (KRX-0401), the Company's novel, potentially first-in-class, oral anti-cancer agent that inhibits the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, for the treatment of refractory advanced colorectal cancer.

5 Apr 2010

Individualized therapies for treating type 2 diabetes recommended

Chevy Chase, MD-Patients with type 2 diabetes are generally treated similarly despite the fact that they may have underlying differences that could affect their therapeutic response. Seeking to address this critical health issue, an international multidisciplinary group of experts just issued recommendations for individualized treatment in a consensus statement to be published in the April 2010 issue of the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

5 Apr 2010

Economic burden associated with HAE treatment: First-ever comprehensive examination

Dyax Corp. announced the publication of a first-ever comprehensive examination of the economic burden associated with the treatment of acute attacks and chronic management of hereditary angioedema (HAE). The results, published today in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, bring to light the substantial direct and indirect medical costs of the disease on patients, payers and society. The economic study is one component of a larger survey-based Burden of Illness (BOI) study which assessed both the economic and humanistic burden of HAE.

5 Apr 2010

LCA-Vision reports 19,066 procedures performed during first-quarter 2010

LCA-Vision Inc., a leading provider of laser vision correction services under the LasikPlus® brand, today reported that 19,066 procedures were performed during the first quarter of 2010. This compares with 27,859 procedures (75 vision centers) and 25,232 same-store procedures (62 vision centers) performed during the first quarter of 2009.

5 Apr 2010

Halozyme Therapeutics secures multiple commercial supply agreements for rHuPH20

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix, today announced the execution of multiple commercial supply agreements with its existing manufacturing partners. Halozyme amended an existing commercial supply agreement with Avid Bioservices, Inc., entered into a new commercial supply agreement with Avid and entered into a new commercial supply agreement with Cook Pharmica LLC.

5 Apr 2010

Tiens Biotech Group's revenues for 2009 decline

Tiens Biotech Group (USA), Inc., http://www.tiens-bio.com , today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2009.

5 Apr 2010

Rosetta Genomics' Philadelphia lab commences FNA cell block sample analysis with miRview squamous test

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd., a leading developer and provider of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, announced today that starting April 1, 2010 physicians are able to send FNA cell block samples to Rosetta Genomics' CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited laboratory in Philadelphia for analysis using Rosetta's miRview squamous test. FNA is a less invasive method to obtain tumor cells compared with tumor resections or biopsies.

5 Apr 2010

Request for lift of full clinical hold on Proellex program

Repros Therapeutics Inc. today announced that the Company has requested a lift of the full clinical hold on its oral drug Proellex® being developed for the treatment of uterine fibroids and endometriosis. On August 4, 2009, the FDA noted that further testing of Proellex® was placed on full clinical hold due to findings of serious adverse events associated with liver toxicity.

5 Apr 2010

Warner Chilcott, sanofi-aventis amend Actonel global collaboration agreement

Warner Chilcott plc and sanofi-aventis announced today an amendment to the Actonel® global collaboration agreement with respect to the parties' arrangement in the United States and Puerto Rico. Under the terms of the amendment, Warner Chilcott will take full operational control over the promotion, marketing and R&D decisions for Actonel in the United States and Puerto Rico, and will assume responsibility for all associated costs relating to those activities.

5 Apr 2010

Patheon to commence private placement of $280M senior secured notes due 2017

Patheon Inc., a global provider of drug development and manufacturing services to the international pharmaceutical industry, announced today that it intends to commence a private placement of $280 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2017. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to repay all of the outstanding indebtedness under the company's existing senior secured term loan and asset-based revolving credit facility, to repay certain other indebtedness and to pay related fees and expenses.

5 Apr 2010

Study: Reduced birth weight may lower risk of obesity later in life

According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, regular moderate-intensity aerobic exercise led to a modest reduction in offspring birth weight without restricting the development of maternal insulin resistance.

5 Apr 2010

LHC Group acquires Salem Hospital Home Care

LHC Group, Inc., one of the largest providers of home health services in the United States, announced that on April 1, 2010, it completed its previously announced acquisition of 100% of the assets of Salem Hospital Home Care located in Salem, Oregon.

5 Apr 2010

Amedisys announces acquisition of Alabama hospice agency from Bluewater Healthcare

Amedisys, Inc., one of America's leading home health and hospice companies, today announced that it has acquired a hospice agency located in Killen, Alabama, a Certificate of Need state, from Bluewater Healthcare Inc.

5 Apr 2010

Selecta Biosciences raises $15M in new Series C financing round

Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing synthetic nanoparticle vaccines, today announced that it has raised $15 million in a Series C financing round. OrbiMed Advisors LLC led the round, with participation from existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, NanoDimension and Leukon Investments. The Series C financing brings the total capital raised by Selecta over the past 15 months to more than $30 million.

5 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 5, 2010

Both the politics and policies of health reform continue to grab headlines, with reports highlighting how lawmakers are faring in their districts during this congressional recess. News outlets also are exploring how specific provisions of the new law will work.

5 Apr 2010