While there’s plenty of optimism surrounding Interthyr, it’ll be awhile before university officials know what kind of potential they’re sitting on. No human testing of the company’s drug candidate for cancer and autoimmune disorders has occurred yet, and it’s unlikely to happen until 2012.

Ohio University spinoff Diagnostic Hybrids Inc. has received Chinese regulatory approval to sell a respiratory virus testing kit.The company’s D3 Ultra DFA Respiratory Virus Screening and ID Kit screens and identifies the following viruses: Influenza A, Influenza B, Parainfluenza 1, 2 and 3, Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Adenovirus.The test is capable of returning results from [...]

Akron now has a biomedical district, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. With a few minor changes, city council approved legislation Monday that outlined the district — changing it from concept to reality — and made several zoning changes within the area that encompasses the city’s three downtown hospitals and the University of Akron.

San Diego diagnostic test maker Quidel Corp. has closed its acquisition of Diagnostic Hybrids Inc. for about $130 million in cash. Announced in mid-January, the acquisition is expected to add depth and innovation to Quidel’s line of rapid, point-of-care tests for pregnancy, infectious diseases, cancer, bone health and autoimmune disorders.

A sale of Youngstown’s Forum Health, which is reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to Nashville, Tenn., hospital system Ardent Health Services hinges on successful negotiations with unions representing about 3,500 Forum workers, unnamed sources told the Tribune Chronicle.

The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron has struck a strategic partnership with Cleveland orthopedic device testing and design firm Orthopaedic Research Laboratories to discover, develop and commercialize novel technologies and solutions that advance orthopedic care.

The company says its D3 FastPoint Respiratory Virus Identification Kit can within 30 minutes detect influenza A, influenza B, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, adenovirus and parainfluenza viruses from a patient’s specimen. The company also says its technology allows two respiratory viruses to be detected in a single slide.

“The D3 Ultra kit has been shown to detect the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus in two culture isolates; the performance characteristics of this device with clinical specimens that are positive for the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus have not been established,” the company stated in a press release. “The D3 Ultra kit can distinguish between influenza A and B viruses, but it cannot differentiate influenza subtypes.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for market a new thyroid test by Diagnostic HYBRIDS, the diagnostic test developer. The test, Thyretain TSI Reporter BioAssay, could lead to earlier diagnoses and management of Graves’ disease.

Eight venture capitalists gathered Thursday evening at TechColumbus to discuss bioscience innovation in the state. The audience included a mix of start ups, portfolio companies and research institutions trying to navigate their way into the panelists’ pockets.