Unique business news on biotech companies, new innovative medical devices

Aspirin reimagined and Pozen’s new drug partnership possibilities

As drug partnering auditions go, Pozen (NASDAQ:POZN) has played this role before: The small drug developer flirts with a large pharmaceutical company who has the resources and the reach to take its promising drug candidate global.Many companies audition without so much as a callback from Big Pharma. Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Pozen has already come [...]... [Read more]

Regenerative medicine company encouraged by heart failure trial

Regenerative medicine company Juventas Therapeutics is touting the results from 12-month data of a phase 1 clinical trial of heart failure patients.At 12 months, heart failure patients treated with the company’s stem cell therapy showed “significant” improvements in two key measures — a six-minute distance-walking test, as well as the... [Read more]

Minnesota diagnostics company seeks $5 million

The company is developing a device that will function as a mini-lab and comprises arechargeable, portable analyzer and disposable test cards. The website claims that the system can produce lab quality results in less than five minutes. The system is able to perform 25 of the most common blood tests... [Read more]

Magnetic feeding tube company Syncro Medical raising more cash

A company that’s developed a magnetic feeding tube for critically ill patients has raised $250,000.Syncro Medical Innovations‘ fundraising was revealed in a regulatory document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The funding came in the form of debt from one investor. Syncro CEO Gary Wakeford didn’t return a... [Read more]

Santorum hits Romney on healthcare law in Florida GOP debate (Morning Read)

Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.Santorum hits Romney on Mass. healthcare law again: Rick Santorum repeated his attack on Mitt Romney by equating Romneycare with Obamacare in the second Republican debate in Florida. The former senator specifically picked on the individual mandate provision... [Read more]

Three lessons from two deals: POZN’s takeaways from drug partnerships

Pozen (NYSE:POZN) CEO John Platchetka likens the drug partnering process to a relay race. One runner at full speed finishes and hands the baton to another runner at full speed to finish the race.That’s the ideal. But in many cases, big pharma isn’t yet running when it receives the baton.... [Read more]

Celgene cancer drug acquisition may bode well for life science M&A

Celgene (NYSE:CELG) has acquired cancer drug developer Avila Therapeutics in a deal valued up to $925 million if milestones are reached.Avila’s therapeutic platform involves the development of covalent drugs, which latch onto or bond with target cells and effectively neutralize those cells.Avila’s lead therapeutic, AVL-292, is a lymphoma and autoimmune... [Read more]

Hospital Revenue Cycle Management conference set for Feb. 6-7 in San Diego

This post is sponsored by Opal Events.Opal Events is announcing its new addition to its Conference Series: Hospital Revenue Cycle Management in the Era of “Affordable Care”: Practical Strategies for Embracing ACOs, ICD-10, EHRs, and More… Plus a Bulletproof Audit Prep Plan.As more and more consumers move to Medicaid and... [Read more]

Cardiac medical device that measures heart valves moving toward clinical trials Simbionix aims to lead patient-specific surgery simulation market Facing FDA scrutiny, Invacare moving some wheelchair production to Mexico

Celgene cancer drug acquisition may bode well for life science M&A Diagnostics firm Lab21 licenses molecular diagnostics technology Rocket Ventures needs to raise $1.5M for state match, or …

Are cardiologists more powerful when employed by a hospital?MetroHealth lost $2.7M last year, expects $10M surplus in ’12 Rubbermaid Medical hires executive to lead nursing informatics efforts

Fitbit, tech investor SoftTech VC closes $55M fund

SoftTech VC, a seed-stage tech fund that has invested in digital health company Fitbit, has closed a $55 million fund and is looking for a handful of new consumer tech startups.With priorities in mobile cloud and web commerce services, the firm plans to invest in 60 early stage tech companies... [Read more]

Public ethics group calls for SEC inquiry into Navidea short seller

A public ethics group is calling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate a hedge fund manager who made headlines last year for being an outspoken short seller of Navidea Bioscience‘s (NASDAQ:NAVB) stock.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said it’s looking into whether investors such as... [Read more]

Cardiac medical device that measures heart valves moving toward clinical trials

InterValve, a medical device company in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is looking to close its series A round of funding soon in order to advance its proprietary aortic valvuloplasty balloon to clinical trials later this year.CEO Mark Ungs said the company hopes to begin testing its transcatheter aortic valve device in humans... [Read more]

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