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Positive results from Pearl Therapeutics' PT005 Phase 2a trial for COPD

Pearl Therapeutics Inc., a company developing high-quality combination therapies for the treatment of highly prevalent chronic respiratory diseases, today announced positive results from its first clinical trial in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

5 Jan 2010

Hospitals in different regions react to Medicaid cuts

For Indiana hospitals, Medicaid rates have long lagged behind other types of payers - with no increase since 1993 - but after a year of deep recessions and state budget cuts, those hospitals are now looking at a five percent cut, The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reports.

5 Jan 2010

HMS acquires Verify Solutions

HMS today announced that it has acquired the assets of Verify Solutions, a metropolitan Atlanta-based company specializing in dependent eligibility audit services for employer-sponsored healthcare plans.

5 Jan 2010

Independent examines diseases that jump from animals to humans

The Independent examines the expansion of human diseases that originated in animals. "At least 45 diseases that have passed from animals to humans have been reported to U.N. agencies in the last two decades, with the number expected to escalate in the coming years," the Independent writes.

5 Jan 2010

Elusys Therapeutics signs contract to complete the final development of Anthim

Elusys Therapeutics, Inc. (Elusys), a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has signed a contract potentially totaling up to $143 million to complete the final development, commercial manufacturing and licensure of Anthim, the company's late stage anthrax therapeutic.

5 Jan 2010

Jamming bacterial communication may improve chronic wound care

Listening in on bacterial conversations could be the solution for improving chronic wound care, says a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Their findings have been published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.

5 Jan 2010

San Diego's PACE program lowering cost for seniors who want to retain independence

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that an elderly care program is allowing senior citizens to retain their independence by providing medical care and home assistance through a nonprofit program.

5 Jan 2010

NeoPharm submits IL13-PE38QQR IND for the treatment of IPF

NeoPharm, Inc., announced today that it has filed an investigational new drug application (IND) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for IL13-PE38QQR (IL13-PE) for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). IPF is the most deadly disease of the lungs in humans with very high morbidity. There is currently no proven effective treatment for the cure of this disease.

5 Jan 2010

Health reform opponents mobilize against individual mandate

Some opponents of the congressional health bills "think their last, best hope to halt the legislation lies not in the U.S. Capitol but in the court across the street," The Washington Post reports.

5 Jan 2010

A 'cocktail' to kill cancerous tumors

A team of researchers in California and Massachusetts has developed a "cocktail" of different nanometer-sized particles that work in concert within the bloodstream to locate, adhere to and kill cancerous tumors.

5 Jan 2010

Health debate puts Nelson under scrutiny, brings attention to Dean

Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson's crucial 60th vote allowed his Senate colleagues to block a likely Republican filibuster and pass their version of the health overhaul legislation last month, but it also brought him unwelcome attention at home, The Wall Street Journal reports.

4 Jan 2010

Shah confirmed by Senate to head USAID

The Senate has "confirmed Rajiv Shah as head of USAID, putting the 36-year-old doctor in charge of the sprawling $20 billion aid agency which stands poised for a major funding boost," Reuters reports.

4 Jan 2010

Headline results from first phase III study of Balaglitazone announced

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. and Rheoscience, a subsidiary of Nordic Bioscience A/S, today announced the headline results from the first phase III study for their investigational agent, Balaglitazone.

4 Jan 2010

EPO approves Advaxis patent application for Listeria Antigens

Advaxis, Inc., the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) immunotherapy company, has received notification from the European Patent Office (EPO) that Advaxis patent application 98957980.0 titled “Bacterial Vaccines Comprising Auxotrophic, Attenuated Strains of Listeria Expressing Heterologous Antigens,” has been granted and will be issued as patent #1032417

4 Jan 2010

Boston Scientific commences enrollment in its TAXUS Liberte Stent System study

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced that it has enrolled the first patient in its TAXUS Liberte post-approval study. The study is designed to evaluate real-world clinical outcomes data for the TAXUS® Liberte® Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in combination with a dual antiplatelet therapy drug regimen that includes aspirin and Effient®, a new antiplatelet medication. Co-sponsors of the study include Eli Lilly and Company and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., manufacturers of Effient, which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

4 Jan 2010

SPIN launches Spine Pain Treatment Centers in U.S. metropolitan areas

Spine Pain Management, Inc. (OTCBB: SPIN) is pleased to provide a corporate overview, as well as its strategic vision, through 2011. Based in Houston, Texas, the company delivers solutions to Spinal Health Care Providers for necessary and appropriate treatment for musculo-skeletal / spinal injury (SI) injuries resulting from traumatic accidents, in an order to maximize patient recovery.

4 Jan 2010

Health care and nursing jobs continue to be in demand

The new year promises new health care industry jobs around the country, but in some places, such as Indiana, a shortage of nursing instructors could lead to fewer trained nurses to fill those jobs.

4 Jan 2010

Cord Blood America signs Letter of Intent to process and store cord blood specimens for BioCells

Cord Blood America, Inc., the umbilical cord blood stem cell preservation company (http://www.cordblood-america.com) focused on bringing the life saving potential of stem cells, a biological insurance policy, to families nationwide and internationally, said today that it has signed a Letter of Intent to process and store cord blood specimens for BioCells, Inc., headquartered in Argentina, and its affiliates in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Panama and Puerto Rico.

4 Jan 2010

U.S. encounter with swine flu highlights health system weaknesses

As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. continues to wane, the New York Times reflects on how federal officials handled the pandemic and other factors that helped the situation. "The outbreak highlighted many national weaknesses: old, slow vaccine technology; too much reliance on foreign vaccine factories; some major hospitals pushed to their limits by a relatively mild epidemic," the newspaper writes.

4 Jan 2010

Pfizer's Revatio solution for injection receives European Commission approval

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved Revatio® (sildenafil) solution for injection for patients who are currently prescribed oral Revatio and who are temporarily unable to take oral medicine, but are otherwise clinically and haemodynamically stable.

4 Jan 2010