Weekend Rounds: Cleveland Clinic vaccine could end breast cancer

Here are some of the top stories at MedCity News this week:

– A vaccine to prevent breast cancer being developed by Cleveland Clinic researchers has shown “overwhelmingly favorable results” in animals and could be on its way to conquering the disease that kills more than 40,000 American women each year. Researchers led by Vincent Tuohy, an immunologist at the Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute, have found that a single vaccination with the antigen alpha-lactalbumin prevents breast cancer tumors from forming in mice and inhibits the growth of existing tumors. Enrollment in human trials could begin next year. If successful, the vaccine would be the first to prevent breast cancer and could point the way to vaccines for other cancers. It also could be a huge commercial success for the Clinic, which typically licenses or spins off its discoveries to companies that take them to market.

– The Cleveland Clinic is considering launching two wellness businesses and a franchise of disease reversal centers ’ the latest evidence that the institution known worldwide for its heart care is taking a leading position in the $100 billion wellness industry. Dr. Michael Roizen, the Clinic’s chief wellness officer and leader of its Wellness Institute, is working to spin off the health system’s first wellness businesses ’ a natural beauty Web site based on his YOU: Being Beautiful book with co-author Dr. Mehmet Oz and an email-based wellness coaching business. Roizen also is talking to people who could help realize his dream of opening one disease reversal center for every five fast-food restaurants nationwide. The centers would be based on the Wellness Institute’s Lifestyle 180 program, which runs group sessions that teach patients to manage or reverse 10 diseases ’ ranging from diabetes to breast cancer ’ with diet, exercise and stress management, as well as traditional drugs or surgeries.

– Philips Healthcare is investing more than $33 million in the first phase of a medical imaging research and development center at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. The investment by the Dutch imaging technology company ’ which could double if a second phase follows ’ was announced at an afternoon press conference along with the $5 million Ohio Third Frontier grant that landed it. Ohio is putting $5.25 million toward two projects to develop healthcare and biomedical device technology organizations in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. A $250,000 grant will support Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor partners as they attract more biomedical, healthcare services and technology companies to the area along Euclid Avenue between East 22nd Street and University Circle.

– The Ohio Senate joined the House in unanimously approving a bill that would establish 44 patient-centered medical homes in the state. An increasingly popular concept in healthcare, medical homes are seen by advocates as a way of providing more comprehensive care at lower costs. In a medical home, patients are cared for by a primary care physician who leads a medical team that coordinates all aspects of preventive, acute and chronic needs of patients using the best available evidence and appropriate technology. The bill sets up a large advisory group, which consists of various physicians and other medial professionals, to administer the pilot project. Primary care practices “with educational affiliations” from across the state can apply for inclusion in the project, according to the bill.

– Apnex Medical Inc., a St. Paul-based startup developing technology to treat obstructive sleep apnea, has named Charles McKhann as its new CEO. McKhann, who previously served as a global vice president of marketing for Boston Scientific Corp.’s (NYSE: BSX) cardiac rhythm management division, replaces founder and executive director Robert Atkinson. While at Johnson & Johnson, McKhann helped oversee the global launch of Cypher, the industry’s first drug-eluting stent. Apnex is developing an implantable device that uses electricity to open clogged airways when a patient sleeps. Specifically, the device stimulates a nerve that forces the tongue to push forward, allowing the patient to breathe easier. Inspire Medical Systems Inc. in Brooklyn Park, Minn., a startup that spun out of Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT), is working on similar technology.