Medical device maker AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) is looking to obtain regulatory clearance to use its AtriClip heart device on stroke patients.The Cincinnati-area company is planning next year to begin a clinical trial that will investigate the AtriClip for use in stand-alone procedures that involve exclusion of the left atrial appendage, a thumb-sized pouch on top of [...]

Diagnostic testing company Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO) has filed a regulatory document that gives it the right to sell additional common and preferred shares.The document didn’t specify a dollar amount or number of shares the company could sell, or a date by which the company would make the sale.However, the document notes that Meridian is authorized [...]

Cardiac device company AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) has closed a feasibility clinical trial into a so-called “hybrid” procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, citing a change of plans in the study’s protocol.Cincinnati-area AtriCure’s DEEP AF feasibility study was investigating the hybrid procedure, which received that name because it combines catheter ablation, which occurs inside the heart, with a [...]

Ausio Pharmaceuticals has strengthened its patent portfolio by licensing a compound for nononcology applications from cancer drug developer Marshall Edwards (NASDAQ:MSHL).Cincinnati-based Ausio is developing a drug, now called AUS-131, to treat vasomotor symptoms (night sweats and hot flashes) in postmenopausal women and benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate) in men. The drug is currently in phase [...]

Meridian Bioscience (NASDAQ:VIVO) plans to launch up to four new tests from its illumigene molecular diagnostic testing platform over the next year.Cincinnati-area Meridian is betting big on the illumigene platform, which it says provides its hospital and laboratory customers with a simpler, cheaper option to test samples for certain types of bacteria without the [...]

Cardiology devicemaker AtriCure (Nasdaq:ATRC) expects FDA approval of an atrial fibrillation label for a surgical ablation device in the first quarter of 2012.U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the atrial fibrillation (AF) label would make AtriCure the first company to have a device approved for the surgical treatment of AF and represent a significant [...]

Shares of cardiac device maker AtriCure (NASDAQ:ATRC) jumped 20 percent after an FDA panel recommended approving one of the company’s device for the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation.AtriCure shares climbed the most in 16 months to around $12 in Thursday afternoon trading as enthusiastic investors reacted to positive news about the company’s Synergy ablation system [...]

Market adoption of Meridian Bioscience’s (NASDAQ:VIVO) new molecular diagnostic testing platform illumigene will go a long way toward determining the company’s future.Cincinnati-area Meridian is betting big on the technology, hoping it’ll help rescue the diagnostic testing company from its recent struggles. The company has reported declining year-over-year earnings in several recent quarters and twice in [...]

Atrial fibrillation device company AtriCure (Nasdaq:ATRC) is among five medical companies most likely to be targeted for an acquisition in the next year, according to a new analyst report.In addition to Cincinnati-area AtriCure, the other device companies identified by Canaccord Genuity analyst Jason Mills as likely near-term acquisition targets were: HeartWare, Spectranetics, Thoratec and Volcano, [...]

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has been awarded a $12 million federal grant to conduct a clinical trial aimed at determining the best migraine-prevention treatment for children and teens.The five-year study will involve 675 children ages 8 to 17 years old and compare two drugs often prescribed to treat childhood migraines — amitriptyline and topiramate. [...]