Diagnostics & Imaging Week articles from February 2005

Diagnostics & Imaging Week archives from February 2005

Molecular tests ready to extend entire spectrum of diagnostics.(Piper Jaffray Health Care Conference)
February 3, 2005... NEW YORK -- Molecular testing, otherwise known as genetic testing, is the hot new thing in the diagnostics market. But don't expect it to elbow aside the broad array of standard tests already out there--or at least not very soon. Besides...

Egyptian approval for Avitar drugs-of-abuse test products.(International report)
February 3, 2005... Avitar (Canton, Massachusetts), developer of the world's first on-site oral test for drugs of abuse, said that the government of Egypt has approved its OralScreen oral fluid-based drug testing products for sale. "Acceptance by the...

Animas rolls out carb-counting and tune-playing insulin pump.(1st of two stories)(Animas IR 1250 )
February 3, 2005... Smaller, lighter, niftier and easier to use--while still containing both more features and more advanced features. These are some of the key characteristics of new devices being developed to make the management of diabetes more effective by...

CMS hits the ground running; PET gets expanded coverage.(Washington roundup)(Positron emission tomography)
February 3, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Medicare &&Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) has had a busy start to 2005. Amid all recent movement toward Medicare reform, including the Bush administration's hype surrounding the prescription drug card, the...

VC firms invested $6.33 billion in health industries in 2004.(Financings roundup)
February 3, 2005... A Diagnostics &Imaging Week Staff Report According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute (Washington), venture capital (VC) firms invested $6.33 billion in health industries during 2004,including companies in...

Bipartisan support confirms Leavitt as secretary of HHS.(Department of Health and Human Services)(Mike Leavitt)
February 3, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In the midst of much more contentious debate concerning cabinet-level nominations, the Senate last week confirmed Mike Leavitt to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), replacing Tommy Thompson....

Merge merges with AccuImage in acquisition valued at $6M.(Deals roundup)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Merge Technologies (Milwaukee), doing business as Merge eFilm, reported the completion of its acquisition of AccuImage Diagnostics (San Francisco), a company developing software for advanced visualization, analysis and management of medical...

Neothermia, Rubicor Medical in resolution of legal disputes.(Court report)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Neothermia (Natick, Massachusetts)reported reaching an agreement with Rubicor Medical (Redwood City, California) for the dismissal of patent infringement and breach-of-contract litigation that Neothermia filed against Rubicor. The...

Veridex in pact with Belgium's OncoMethylome Sciences.(Grants/contracts)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Veridex (Warren, New Jersey)reported signing an exclusive, global license agreement with OncoMethylome Sciences (Liege, Belgium)for molecular prostate cancer assays. In addition, both parties have agreed on a development program and an option...

Quigen, Protedyne in joint sample prep system program.(Agreements roundup)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Qiagen (Venlo, the Netherlands)and Protedyne (Windsor, Connecticut)said they have expanded their strategic alliance to jointly market and cross-promote the use of Protedyne's BioCube System in conjunction with Qiagen's QIAamp nucleic acid...

Illumina.(People in Places)(William Rastetter)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Illumina (San Diego) named William Rastetter, PhD, non-executive chairman of the board and promoted John Stuelpnagel to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Rastetter continues full-time as the executive chairman of Biogen...

SmartPill Diagnostics.(People in Places)(Angela Dotson )(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Angela Dotson joined SmartPill Diagnostics (Buffalo, New York) as senior vice president, sales and marketing. Dotson was previously with Given Imaging, where she held the position of vice president of sales and medical education, North America....

Gregory Furness has resigned as CFO of Vital Images (Minneapolis), effective Feb. 8.(People in Places)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Gregory Furness has resigned as CFO of Vital Images (Minneapolis), effective Feb. 8. Vital Images has engaged Michael Carrel of Technology Solutions (Chicago), where he is a senior vice president, as interim CFO. Most recently, Carrel served as...

Abbott.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) said the FDA has approved its UroVysion DNA probe assay for use as an aid in the initial diagnosis of bladder cancer in patients with hematuria (blood in urine) suspected of having bladder cancer. The company said...

Biotronik (Lake Oswego, Oregon) reported the first worldwide implantation of a Philos II DR-T pacemaker and a Lexos DR-T ICD with Home Monitoring Early Detection technology.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... Biotronik (Lake Oswego, Oregon)reported the first worldwide implantation of a Philos II DR-T pacemaker and a Lexos DR-T ICD with Home Monitoring Early Detection technology. The advanced Home Monitoring technology integrates wireless, cellular...

Chembio Diagnostics.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * Chembio Diagnostics (Medford, New York) reported that it has launched its third HIV rapid test, HIV Stat-Pak Dipstick, to complete its suite of rapid HIV tests for use in HIV testing programs in international settings. HIV Stat-Pak Dipstick...

GE Healthcare.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) has unveiled new cardiac imaging techniques developed with the world's first high-definition magnetic resonance (HDMR) system. The applications were launched at the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic...

iCAD.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * iCAD (Nashua, New Hampshire)reported the release of its Second Look 700 Computer Aided Detection (CAD) solution. The Second Look 700 addresses the needs of film-based breast care providers with higher patient volumes and existing or planned...

Medline Industries (Mundelein, Illinois) reported the launch of a new sleep apnea at-home prescreening test, SleepStrip.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * Medline Industries (Mundelein, Illinois) reported the launch of a new sleep apnea at-home prescreening test, SleepStrip. The company said the FDA-cleared test will allow physicians to expedite diagnosis and treatment for patients suffering...

Nanosphere.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * Nanosphere (Northbrook, Illinois) reported the benefits of its technology for the medical analysis of human DNA. Nanosphere's nanoparticle-based technology allows for rapid, highly sensitive and specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)...

Xenogen.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2005... * Xenogen (Alameda, California) reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has allowed claims in five patent applications that further protect its methods of real time, non-invasive in vivo optical imaging (biophotonic imaging)of whole...

Bush's proposed '06 budget pencils in added HHS funds.(George Bush)
February 10, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Despite proposed cuts for 12 out of 23 major government agencies in the proposed federal budget for fiscal 2006, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would see an increase of $58 billion compared to its allocation for...

Agendia develops test aimed at tumors of unknown origin.(International report)
February 10, 2005... Agendia (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and Arcturus (Mountain View, California) have signed a license agreement under which Agendia has obtained the exclusive European rights to the TUO (Tumor of Unknown Origin) gene expression profile discovered...

Invitrogen adding Dynal and 'bead' technology for $380M.(Deals roundup)(Invitrogen acquires Dynal Biotech from Nordic Capital)(PolyMedica subsidiary Liberty Medical Supply acquires National Diabetic Insurance)(Owens and Minor acquires Access Diabetic Supply)
February 10, 2005... In a move intended to broaden both its internal development efforts and its services to OEM diagnostics manufacturers, Invitrogen (Carlsbad, California) yesterday unveiled plans to acquire Dynal Biotech (Oslo, Norway), a private developer of...

Lifestream Technologies (Post Falls, Idaho), a supplier of cholesterol monitors, reported assigning the intellectual property of its subsidiary, Secured Interactive Technologies, to LifeNexus.(Deals roundup)
February 10, 2005... * Lifestream Technologies (Post Falls, Idaho), a supplier of cholesterol monitors, reported assigning the intellectual property of its subsidiary, Secured Interactive Technologies, to LifeNexus. Upon completion of LifeNexus' financing,...

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) reported completing its previously disclosed acquisition of US Pathology Labs (US Labs; Irvine, California), a provider of anatomic pathology and oncology testing services with a focus on the outpatient market.(Deals roundup)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina) reported completing its previously disclosed acquisition of US Pathology Labs (US Labs; Irvine, California), a provider of anatomic pathology and oncology...

OmniPod Insulin System offers new pump to manage diabetes.(2nd of two stories)
February 10, 2005... Insulet (Bedford, Massachusetts) has accomplished precisely what it set out to do for diabetes patients. President and CEO Duane DeSisto told Diagnostics & Imaging Week that in 2000, the company, which today has grown to 77 employees, "was...

DexCom IPO filing for $70M follows 'D' $22.5M placement.(Financings roundup)
February 10, 2005... Potentially bringing large new public financing to a recently successful private placement, DexCom (San Diego) last week filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO) in an effort to raise up to...

Tm Bioscience.(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Tm Bioscience (Toronto), a developer of genetic testing technology, reported closing its previously announced private placement of 4.33 million common shares for C$2.15 a share, for gross proceeds of C$9,309,500. The private placement was...

Ariba X-Ray (Orem, Utah), specialists in portable Xray systems, reported that as of Dec. 1, Campbell Scientific (CSI; Logan, Utah) has made a strategic investment in the year-old startup firm.(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Ariba X-Ray (Orem, Utah), specialists in portable Xray systems, reported that as of Dec. 1, Campbell Scientific (CSI; Logan, Utah) has made a strategic investment in the year-old startup firm. Ariba said the CSI investment will be...

Paladin receives $1.8M pact from Army for ODIN program.(Grants/contracts)(Paladin Data Systems)(Outbreak Detection Information Network)
February 10, 2005... Paladin Data Systems (Poulsbo, Washington), a privately owned software engineering solutions firm, said that it has been awarded a $1.8 million contract from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command to conduct additional research and...

Banner Health (Phoenix), one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the U.S., has selected a comprehensive solution from HP (Palo Alto, California) in support of its Arizona Regional Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) Archive.(Grants/contracts)(Hewlett-Packard Co.)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Banner Health (Phoenix), one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in the U.S., has selected a comprehensive solution from HP (Palo Alto, California) in support of its Arizona Regional Picture Archiving and Communication System...

Abbott, Cleveland Clinic in accord to develop MPO test.(Agreements roundup)(Abbott Laboratories Inc.)
February 10, 2005... Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) said that it has entered into a licensing agreement with The Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) for the development of an automated in vitro diagnostic test to detect myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme found in white...

Another former HealthSouth executive charged with fraud.(Court report)
February 10, 2005... HealthSouth's (Birmingham, Alabama) former president and chief operating officer, James Bennett, last week became the latest officer from the company to be indicted for his role in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud that prosecutors allege was...

2006 budget plan provides 4.5% increase to the FDA.(Food and Drug Administration)
February 10, 2005... The FDA's share of President George Bush's proposed budget for fiscal 2006 is $1.9 billion, including $1.5 billion in budget authority and $382 million in congressionally authorized industry user fees. This request is 50% higher than the...

Programs on track with MMA schedule, says CMS's Tunis.(Medicare Modernization Act of 2003)(Sean Tunis)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 10, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Sean Tunis, MD, chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore), said there was no conscious decision to "hit the ground running" in 2005, but acknowledged that the agency has been pretty...

FDA gives consumer warning concerning Globus home tests.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... The FDA has issued a warning for consumers not to use unapproved home-use diagnostic test kits that have been marketed nationwide over the Internet by Globus Media (Montreal). The agency said in a statement: "In fact, no home-use test kits...

Infectech.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Infectech (Sharon, Pennsylvania), which is developing technologies for the production of bacteria and disease testing kits, reported that it has received notification from the FDA of registration of the company and its initial product line...

Nanobac Life Sciences.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Nanobac Life Sciences (Tampa, Florida) said that researchers have described a relationship between nanobacteria and urological disorders such as kidney stones, prostatitis and polycystic kidney disease. Until these studies, no single...

The Cooper Companies.(People In Places)
February 10, 2005... * Robert Weiss, executive vice president and CFO of specialty healthcare products manufacturer The Cooper Companies (Lake Forest, California), has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer. Steven Neil, formerly CFO of...

Global Dosimetry Solutions.(People In Places)(Joel White )(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Joel White has been promoted to vice president of process integration for Global Dosimetry Solutions (GDS; Irvine, California), a provider of personal radiation monitoring solutions. He joined GDS in 1996, and has served in a number of...

Illumina.(People In Places)(William Rastetter)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2005... * Illumina (San Diego) named William Rastetter, PhD, non-executive chairman of the board and promoted John Stuelpnagel to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Rastetter continues full-time as the executive chairman of Biogen...

Bush taps Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, for post.(Lester Crawford nominated as head of United States. Food and Drug Administration)
February 17, 2005... Diagnostics & Imaging Week Washington Editor President George Bush on Monday said he plans to nominate Lester Crawford to head the FDA. Crawford has served as acting commissioner since March 2004, when Mark McClellan left the agency to lead the...

Cytyc grows in women's health via $160 million Proxima buy.(Deals roundup)
February 17, 2005... Cytyc (Marlborough, Massachusetts), until recently, a company known primarily for cervical cancer diagnostics, has added therapeutic oncology to its offerings with the purchase of Proxima Therapeutics (Alpharetta, Georgia), a developer of...

Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of medical devices and consumer and professional diagnostics products, reported signing an agreement to acquire privately held Binax (Portland, Maine).(Deals roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Inverness Medical Innovations (IMI; Waltham, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of medical devices and consumer and professional diagnostics products, reported signing an agreement to acquire privately held Binax (Portland, Maine), a developer of...

Synova Healthcare Group (Media, Pennsylvania) reported closing on all the shares of Synova Healthcare Inc. (also Media).(Deals roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Synova Healthcare Group (Media, Pennsylvania) reported closing on all the shares of Synova Healthcare Inc. (also Media). As a closing condition, the company name of Advanced Global Industries has changed to Synova Healthcare Group, Inc., with...

Abbott in pact for cardiac test with Cleveland Clinic.
February 17, 2005... In its continuing R&D activities, the diagnostics divison of Abbott Laboratories (Abbott Park, Illinois) said early last week that it has entered a licensing agreement with the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) for the development of an automated in...

Biomerica adds C-peptide test for diabetes to its offerings.
February 17, 2005... Biomerica (Newport Beach, California) has added a new diabetes test to its arsenal of diagnostic tests for labs to evaluate patients for the chronic disease, one that many experts say the rates of which are increasing at the speed of an...

Cleveland Clinic awarded $17m by NIH for heart attack research.
February 17, 2005... The Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) has been awarded a five-year, $17.22 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, Maryland) to advance its research into the science of heart attacks. The federal funding will...

Emageon IPO garners $58.5m; Vision-Sciences raises $10m.(Financings roundup)
February 17, 2005... Medical imaging software maker Emageon(Birmingham, Alabama) reported the closing of its initial public offering (IPO) of 5 million shares of common stock at $13 a share. Total proceeds from the sale, net of underwriting discount and estimated...

Acacia Research.(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Acacia Research (Newport Beach, California) reported that it has obtained commitments to purchase $19.6 million of its Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies common stock in a registered direct offering. Acacia will sell 3.5 million shares...

Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS; Los Angles) reported that its investment banker, Vertical Capital Partners, with participation by Galileo Asset Management, has closed on somewhat more than $7.36 million in new funding.(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS; Los Angles) reported that its investment banker, Vertical Capital Partners, with participation by Galileo Asset Management, has closed on somewhat more than $7.36 million in new funding. In addition, $1.65 million...

Following the sale of substantially all the assets and selected liabilities of its BBI Diagnostics and BBI Biotech divisions to SeraCare Life Sciences (Oceanside, California) last September for $30 million (Diagnostics & Imaging Week, Sept. 23, 2004), Boston Biomedica (West Bridgewater, Massachusetts) has changed its name.(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Following the sale of substantially all the assets and selected liabilities of its BBI Diagnostics and BBI Biotech divisions to SeraCare Life Sciences (Oceanside, California) last September for $30 million (Diagnostics & Imaging Week, Sept....

Chembio Diagnostics (Medford, New York) reported entering into a license and technology transfer agreement with Prionics (Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland), granting it use of Chembio's technology for manufacturing the Prionics Check PrioStrip, a rapid test for the detection of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).(Financings roundup)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Chembio Diagnostics (Medford, New York) reported entering into a license and technology transfer agreement with Prionics (Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland), granting it use of Chembio's technology for manufacturing the Prionics Check PrioStrip,...

Sequenom, Iceland Genomics in genetic markers alliance.(International report)
February 17, 2005... Sequenom (San Diego) and Iceland Genomics (Reykjavik, Iceland) reported entering into a research collaboration to analyze Sequenom's proprietary panels of genetic markers associated with breast and prostate cancer in Icelandic patient samples....

New translational medicine partners.(International report)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) and the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) said they have entered into an alliance designed to improve healthcare by accelerating the translation of basic genetic research into tools for better...

VScan test kits on sale in Russia.(International report)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Medical Services International (Edmonton, Alberta) said it has begun shipping its VScan HIV test kits into Russia. In addition to the HIV kits, there has been an expressed interest and demand for the VScan TB test kit, the company said. ...

Alliance aimed at cancer diagnostics.(International report)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Institut Curie (Paris) and Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) have formed an alliance that will use GeneChip microarray technology in large-scale clinical studies to produce genetic signatures for different types of cancer and be used to...

Trial testimony: HealthSouth execs eyed ousting Scrushy.(Court report)(Richard Scrushy)
February 17, 2005... Top HealthSouth (Birmingham, Alabama) executives considered removing Richard Scrushy as chairman but decided against it in the final months of what prosecutors say was a huge fraud conspiracy at the rehabilitation giant, according to testimony...

Epix Pharmaceuticals.(Court report)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * The law firm of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz (New York) reported the filing of a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, on behalf of all persons who purchased the securities of Epix...

Hackensack Medical Center buys BioVeris agents analyzer.(Grants/contracts news)
February 17, 2005... Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC; Hackensack, New Jersey) and BioVeris (Gaithersburg, Mary-land) jointly reported that HUMC has purchased BioVeris' M-Series M1M Analyzer, an instrument able to detect biological agents, such as...

etrials Worldwide (Morrisville, North Carolina), a provider of eClinical software for the collection, cleaning, integration and review of data in the clinical trial process, reported signing an agreement with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF; New York).(Grants/contracts news)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * etrials Worldwide (Morrisville, North Carolina), a provider of eClinical software for the collection, cleaning, integration and review of data in the clinical trial process, reported signing an agreement with the Cardiovascular Research...

Pharmaceuticals (New Haven, Connecticut) said it expanded its ability to provide genetic tests for variants of cardiac ion channel proteins involved in drug-inducted cardiac arrhythmias.(Grants/contracts news)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Pharmaceuticals (New Haven, Connecticut) said it expanded its ability to provide genetic tests for variants of cardiac ion channel proteins involved in drug-inducted cardiac arrhythmias after receiving exclusive commercial rights to a patent...

Abbott, OraSure in pact for distribution of HIV tests.(Agreements roundup)
February 17, 2005... Abbott (Abbott Park, Illinois) and OraSure Technologies (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) have entered into an agreement for the distribution of OraSure Technologies' OraQuick Advance rapid antibody test for the detection of antibodies to the Human...

ChromaVision to become Clarient.(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... ChromaVision Medical Systems (San Juan Capistrano, California), a technology and services resource for pathologists, oncologists and the pharmaceutical industry, said that it is changing its name to Clarient "in order to better reflect a new...

New name for Stinger Industries.(Briefly Noted)(now called Stinger Medical)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Stinger Industries (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) reported that it has changed its name to Stinger Medical. Stinger said it is "best known" as the provider of the Levitator mobile workstation. CEO and company founder Gary Coonan said the name...

Diabetes to hit one in three, JAMA projects.(Briefly Noted)(Journal of the American Medical Association study)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... Diabetic Treatment Centers of America (Salt Lake City) said that the Journal of the American Medical Association projects that if the rate of diabetes continues to increase, one in three Americans born in 2000 will be diagnosed with diabetes by...

Cholestech.(People in Places)(appoints Barbara McAleer)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Barbara McAleer has been appointed vice president of quality and regulatory affairs at Cholestech (Hayward, California). McAleer formerly was vice president of quality assurance for Lifescan. Cholestech offers diagnostic testing for...

DOBI Medical International.(People in Places)(appoints Michael Silver)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Michael Silver, PhD, has joined DOBI Medical International (Mahwah, New Jersey) as vice president of clinical research. Silver has more than 25 years of experience in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, including implementing imaging...

Dunlee.(People in Places)(Patrick Fitzgerald has been appointed president of Dunlee )(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Patrick Fitzgerald has been appointed president of Dunlee (Aurora, Illinois), following the retirement of Robert Malnar. Fitzgerald previously served as general manager of Dunlee's commercial business. Dunlee, a division of Royal Philips...

Guava Technologies.(People in Places)(John Walker)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * John Walker, chairman of the board for Guava Technologies (Hayward, California), has been named the company's interim CEO. He replaces Rajen Dalal, Guava's previous president and CEO, who has resigned from the company. Guava's products...

SmartPill Diagnostics.(People in Places)(Angela Dotson named senior vice president)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Angela Dotson has been named senior vice president, sales and marketing, for SmartPill Diagnostics (Buffalo, New York). Dotson previously was vice president of sales and medical education, North America, for Given Imaging. SmartPill's...

Specialty Laboratories.(People in Places)(Douglas Harrington)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * CEO Douglas Harrington, MD, is departing Specialty Laboratories (Valencia, California), a hospital-focused clinical reference laboratory. Harrington will remain as CEO through March 29 and will assist the company during the search for his...

Nexon joins AdvaMed as new sr. executive vice president.(David Nexon)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... David Nexon, a Capitol Hill health policy expert, will join the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed; Washington) as senior executive vice president, effective Feb. 28. Nexon brings a 20-year-plus background as the Democratic...

GE Healthcare.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) reported at the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that the company's 0.2T Signa Profile system, an open scanner, now is available with its Excite platform of advanced MRI...

Maxell Corp. of America.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Maxell Corp. of America (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) reported new ultra-durable and ultra-reliable DVD media designed specifically for the medical market. Maxell's medical-grade media incorporates the Maxpro Hardcoat technology to produce enhanced...

NanoHorizons.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * NanoHorizons (State College, Pennsylvania), a developer of applied nanoscale materials and solutions, said it has been awarded a patent covering its deposited thin-film system for high-throughput, small-molecule mass spectrometry....

Neoprobe.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Neoprobe (Dublin, Ohio), a developer of oncology and cardiovascular surgical and diagnostic products, said it has received notification that its 510(k) application for the revised and enhanced Quantix/OR blood flow measurement has been...

Welch Allyn.(Product Briefs)(Brief Article)
February 17, 2005... * Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Falls, New York) reported the availability of the Braun ThermoScan PRO 4000, which it said is the only electronic ear thermometer with a preheated probe and sensor for reliable temperature readings on patients of all...

'Powerful map' of haplotypes to grow from original HapMap.
February 24, 2005... When the International HapMap Consortium, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH; Bethesda, Maryland), launched in late 2002 its project to complete a map of common patterns of human genetic variations--or haplotypes--it set September...

Inverness to acquire Ischemia; Sigma-Aldrich buying proligo.(Deals roundup)
February 24, 2005... Inverness Medical Innovations (Waltham, Massachusetts), a maker of consumer and professional medical diagnostic products, and developer of advanced medical devices, reported that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ischemia...

McClellan: CMS has key role in driving medical innovation.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
February 24, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Balancing innovation and cost-effective healthcare. That was the message during a speech last week by Mark McClellan, MD, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS; Baltimore) at the annual meeting of...

Coalition launches diabetes campaign, 'Know Your A1c'.
February 24, 2005... The spiraling number of diabetes cases in the U.S. has prompted six major companies to band together to educate diabetes patients about the dangers of letting that chronic disease continue uncontrolled with the launch of a new advertising...

Brailer: 'Time running short' for developing national EHR.(HIMSS 2005)
February 24, 2005... Despite the wealth of companies rolling out new computer-automated systems promising more efficient and safer medical care in the U.S., the costs of healthcare and the instances of medical errors "continue unabated," according to David Brailer,...