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St. Jude Medical to acquire LightLab for $90M in cash

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, and LightLab Imaging, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement under which St. Jude Medical will acquire LightLab, a subsidiary of Goodman Co., Ltd. for approximately $90 million in cash.

20 May 2010

EPO rules in favor of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ Kreutzer-Limmer '945 patent

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that the Board of Appeals of the European Patent Office (EPO) has ruled that claims of the Kreutzer-Limmer '945 (EP 1214945) patent meet needed requirements under European patent law. The '945 patent comprises broad claims covering the length and certain structural requirements for siRNAs that are important for advancement of RNAi therapeutics.

20 May 2010

Over-expression of Stat5 protein leads to deadly spread of prostate cancer: Study

Researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have found that Stat5, a signaling protein previously found to be key to survival of prostate cancer, is also involved in metastasis.

20 May 2010

Hospitals under pressure from flagging budgets, regulators

The Washington Post reports on one suburban Maryland health system: "A special panel in charge of finding a company to take over Prince George's County's ailing health-care system has been unable to complete a sale of the system after a two-year search ... Bidders have been interested in separate parts of the system. But the panel's mandate is to ensure the facilities are sold at the same time to prevent buyers from cherry-picking ...

20 May 2010

UAMS and partners receive $14.7M NIH grant for extension of biomedical research

Biomedical research in Arkansas has received a $14.7 million boost over five years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue expanding and improving biomedical research in the state.

20 May 2010

KHN and WSJ reporters discuss health overhaul

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey and The Wall Street Journal's Janet Adamy discussed the many ways the health overhaul law will affect health care consumers young and old, and especially people with Medicare coverage on NPR's Talk of the Nation yesterday.

20 May 2010

Daily ginger consumption reduces muscle pain caused by exercise: Researchers

For centuries, ginger root has been used as a folk remedy for a variety of ailments such as colds and upset stomachs. But now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain caused by exercise.

20 May 2010

Air pollution associated with cardiopulmonary mortality, morbidity: Researchers

Breathing polluted air increases stress on the heart's regulation capacity, up to six hours after inhalation of combustion-related small particles called PM2.5, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

20 May 2010

AACE, AME and ETA jointly publish guidelines for diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules

Three of the world's most respected medical associations for the treatment of thyroid disease recently issued joint guidelines for the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the Associazione Medici Endocrinologi and European Thyroid Association jointly published the guidelines online this week, and the executive summary will be published in the next issue of their respective journals.

20 May 2010

Mylan completes private placement of Senior Notes offering

Mylan Inc. today announced that it has completed a private placement of $550 million aggregate principal amount of 7.625% Senior Notes due 2017 and $700 million aggregate principal amount of 7.875% Senior Notes due 2020. Mylan is using $1.0 billion of the net proceeds from the private placement to prepay a portion of its outstanding term loans, thereby reducing senior secured leverage and extending the maturity profile of its outstanding indebtedness, and the remainder for general corporate purposes.

20 May 2010

Mass. Senate approves health costs bill to help small biz pay health costs and other state news

The Massachusetts Senate Tuesday approved a bill that would make wealthy hospitals pay $100 million in a one-time contribution to help small businesses ease insurance premiums. "The bill would let businesses with 50 or fewer workers form cooperatives to purchase insurance at a lower cost. Another provision presses insurers to spend at least 90 percent of premium dollars on care and 10 percent or less on administrative costs.

20 May 2010

Health care high school to open in Chicago

Crain's Chicago Business reports that, in the fall, the city will open its "first charter high school specializing in health care, a move local hospitals hope will help relieve chronic workforce shortages. ... Juniors and seniors will be able to earn credits by shadowing hospital workers and interning as assistant nurses and in other professions."

20 May 2010

Loyola University Chicago introduces new online doctorate degree program in bioethics

Classes have begun for Loyola University Chicago's new online doctorate degree program in bioethics, designed to provide advanced training in the ethical issues surrounding the complexities of modern medical research and clinical care.

20 May 2010

Study confirms inverse association of increase in BMI with lower brain volumes

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine determined that excess abdominal fat places otherwise healthy, middle-aged people at risk for dementia later in life. Preliminary findings suggest a relationship between obesity and dementia that could lead to promising prevention strategies in the future. Results of this study are published early online in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association.

20 May 2010

Emotional distress can lead to overeating, serious weight gain

Despite the fact most of us have cell phones, Internet access and other communication devices, many still deal with loneliness on a daily basis. For some, emotional distress can lead to overeating and serious weight gain.

20 May 2010

Luminex, HTG launch qBead Gene Expression Assay

Luminex Corporation, the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, and High Throughput Genomics, Inc. (HTG), provider of the quantitative Nuclease Protection Assay (qNPA™), today launched a new custom gene expression product, the qBead Gene Expression Assay (qBead Assay). The companies co-developed the product and have signed an exclusive distribution agreement in which Luminex will begin offering it to the research community.

From Luminex 20 May 2010

Inviragen initiates first clinical trial of DENVax vaccine to protect against dengue fever

Inviragen has announced the initiation of the first clinical trial of its vaccine to protect against dengue fever. The trial, to be conducted at Saint Louis University, is designed to assess the safety of Inviragen's investigational dengue vaccine.

20 May 2010

Health care votes may have influenced primaries

News outlets report on how health reform may have influenced Tuesday's primary elections. The Washington Post says that the Democratic primary election for Arkansas' Senate seat was influenced by labor unions who campaigned for Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, in part because of incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln's vote on health care.

20 May 2010

New online diagnosis tool offers prescriptions in a hurry

News outlets report on the expanding online relationship between doctors and patients.

20 May 2010

Inova Labs completes $10 million Series A Preferred Stock financing

Inova Labs, Inc. of Austin, Texas announced today the closing of the private placement of shares of its Series A Preferred Stock. The placement went to investment funds affiliated with Three Arch Partners, based in Silicon Valley, California. Inova received gross proceeds of $10.0 million from the equity financing, which will be used for nationwide and international sales expansion of its LifeChoice® portable oxygen concentrator product line, continuation of next stage developments, and working capital.

20 May 2010