Medical News

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First Edition: February 18, 2010

Today's headlines focus on continuing hopes for health reform as well as various health industry developments.

18 Feb 2010

INC Research creates management program for strategic clinical delivery alliances with pharma and biotechnology customers

INC Research ®, Inc., a therapeutically focused contract research organization (CRO) with a process for delivering reliable results, has created an Alliance Partnerships program dedicated to the creation and management of strategic clinical delivery alliances with pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers. Tim Dietlin has been appointed VP, Alliance Development to lead this effort on structuring alliance relationships based on joint strategic objectives rather than service level agreements.

18 Feb 2010

PK/PD data demonstrates clear relationship between TBR-652 plasma concentrations and antiviral activity

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data for TBR-652, which is being developed by Tobira Therapeutics for the treatment of HIV infection, show a strong relationship between drug exposure and viral suppression with this next-generation CCR5 receptor antagonist. These data were presented here today at the 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).

18 Feb 2010

Revised and updated edition of Toole's Cerebrovascular Disorders textbook now available

Since it was published more than 40 years ago, Toole's Cerebrovascular Disorders has been a standard textbook for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of strokes.

18 Feb 2010

Aprea's AML treatment receives EMEA recommendation for orphan drug status

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) recommends orphan drug status for Aprea's treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The treatment is currently undergoing a Phase I clinical study and a final decision from the European Commission regarding status is expected in a few weeks. Aprea is part of the Karolinska Development portfolio.

18 Feb 2010

Ortivus implements new strategy to streamline its core operations

Ortivus is now implementing its strategy to streamline its core operations into a clear focus on advanced mobile and clinical decision support for modern medical care. Consequently its North American subsidiaries, which provide administrative systems primarily for ambulance services, have been sold to an American company - TriTech Software Systems.

18 Feb 2010

AGBT meeting: Study workshop on complete genome sequencing for human disease

Complete Genomics Inc., a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced that it will be unveiling some of its highly anticipated customer results at the 11th annual Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) meeting to be held in Marco Island, Fla., Feb. 24-27, 2010.

18 Feb 2010

NPG becomes official media partner to the 2010 WIN Symposium

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is the official media partner to the 2010 WIN (Worldwide Innovative Networking) Symposium, it was announced today. The second annual WIN Symposium, which will be held in the Palais des Congrès, Paris, 7–9 July 2010, will bring together hundreds of oncology researchers from around the world to discuss how best to tailor therapies for patients with cancer.

18 Feb 2010

AutoGenomics awarded ISO 13485 certification for quality management system

AutoGenomics, a leader in providing automated, molecular testing solutions announced today that the organization has been awarded the ISO 13485 certification in recognition of its outstanding quality management system throughout the organization. TUV SUD America Inc. was the Certification Body.

18 Feb 2010

Single microRNA exhibits potential to forecast outcomes of MPM

Rosetta Genomics, Ltd., a leading developer and provider of microRNA-based molecular diagnostics, announced today that the results of a joint study with the NYU Langone Medical Center were published online on February 16th, 2010, and are set to be published in the March 1st issue of the American Association for Cancer Research’s journal, Cancer Research.

18 Feb 2010

Spectranetics fourth-quarter revenues rise up 11%

Spectranetics Corporation today reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009.

18 Feb 2010

BPA has no effects on brain development: New study

This new study, which exposed pregnant rodents to a range of BPA dietary doses from low to high, concluded that BPA had no effects on brain development or behavior in their offspring that had been exposed to BPA in utero and throughout development. The robust study was conducted by highly qualified researchers at WIL Research Laboratories.

18 Feb 2010

LabCorp acquires partnership units from noncontrolling interest holder in Ontario, Canada joint venture

Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings announced today that on February 8, 2010 it completed a transaction to acquire the partnership units from the holder of the noncontrolling interest in the Company’s Ontario, Canada joint venture in accordance with the terms of the joint venture’s partnership agreement.

18 Feb 2010

Vertebroplasty effective in treatment of VCFs

The results of a study of more than 4500 patients from six Italian EVEREST (European Vertebroplasty Research Team) Centers (Dr. G.C. Anselmetti-Candiolo Torino, Dr. G. Bonaldi-Bergamo, Dr. P. Carpeggiani-Pisa, Dr. S. Masala-Roma, Dr. M. Muto-Napoli,) confirms the effectiveness of vertebroplasty in treating vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), finding that the procedure provides significant and sustained pain relief.

18 Feb 2010

HHS Secretary to address on health disparities at NABJ conference

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius will deliver the keynote address at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference on Health Disparities, March 4-6, 2010 at the Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G. Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

18 Feb 2010

Portico Systems, SDI announce new partnership to improve health plans

Portico Systems, the leader in Integrated Provider Management (IPM) solutions, and SDI, a leader in healthcare informatics, are announcing a new partnership. This partnership will integrate Portico’s provider management platform with SDI’s extensive provider data and managed care analytics to enable health plans to intelligently target providers for recruitment, enhance provider performance management programs, and increase decision support to members via enhanced provider profiles.

18 Feb 2010

La Pitie hospital performs 200 implants of SynCardia temporary CardioWest Total Artificial Heart

SynCardia Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, announced that Groupe hospitalier de la Pitié-Salpétrière (La Pitié) in Paris has performed 200 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, more than any other hospital in the world.

18 Feb 2010

UCSF receives $1.15M grant to integrate family planning into HIV treatment and care

UCSF has received a $1.15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to determine if integrating family planning into HIV treatment and care will increase contraceptive use and decrease unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women. UCSF will partner with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ibis Reproductive Health to conduct the research.

18 Feb 2010

Patient-centered medical home concept to benefit pharmaceutical industry

HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care market intelligence, reports that the pharmaceutical industry stands to gain from the patient-centered medical home concept that continues to gain traction across the country. According to the recent New England Health Plan Analysis, medical home projects seek to maintain costs and improve health through better treatment compliance, including prescription drug regimens.

18 Feb 2010

V-Day to host three benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues as part of global violence against women

Ottawa V-Day, part of a global campaign to end violence against women and girls, will host three benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues on Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 at the National Gallery of Canada.

18 Feb 2010