Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

Corrected 8:39 a.m., Aug. 4, 2010The private equity firm behind the recent acquisition of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery breast care unit near Cincinnati, Ohio, is on its way to raising a $3 billion fund.AdvertisementGTCR is raising its 10th fund, according to peHUB. The Chicago firm raised $2.75 billion for its ninth fund in 2006 — before [...]

Biological drug ingredients supplier Therapeutic Proteins Inc. has raised $8.4 million in equity and warrants, according to a regulatory filing.The company manufacture recombinant proteins, which it then sells as active pharmaceutical ingredients to drugmakers. Recombinant substances are made by combining genetic material from two different sources.Therapeutic Proteins was started to create the raw materials for [...]

Baxter International Inc.’s (NYSE:BAX) profits fell 9 percent due to higher costs and big write-down from a settlement with the government of Greece.The Deerfield, Ill.-based medical device and vaccine maker posted net income of $535 million for the three months ended June 30, down 9 percent from $587 million during the same period last year. [...]

Sorbent Therapeutics Inc. has raised a $21 million Series B round to fund Phase 2 clinical trials of a non-absorbed polymer-based drug for end-stage renal disease.The company’s renal disease drug, called CLP 1001, isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream and works by absorbing sodium and fluid from a patient’s gastrointestinal tract, said CFO and co-founder William [...]

All I can say is,best of luck:In a move likely to shake up the market for heart care in the Chicago area, the well-known Cleveland Clinic’s cardiac surgery program said Thursday that it has signed an affiliation agreement with Central DuPage Hospital in the western Chicago suburbs.The internationally known Cleveland Clinic draws patients from more [...]

Cleveland Clinic’s heart surgery group has struck its first affiliation deal with a hospital west of Ohio, 313-bed Central DuPage Hospital in suburban Chicago.The affiliation deal, which will involve academic, clinical and research collaboration, is likely to “shake up the market for heart care in Chicago,” the Chicago Tribune reported. The reputation of the Clinic’s [...]

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s recall covers as many as 200,000 of Baxter International Inc.’s Colleague infusion pumps.The Food & Drug Administration issued its final order for the U.S. recall of Baxter International Inc.’s (NYSE:BAX) Colleague infusion pumps.The federal watchdog is requiring the Deerfield, Ill.-based company to provide transition guide [...]

An Illinois private equity firm has acquired a controlling stake in dermatology therapeutics company Aqua Pharmaceuticals.Lake Forest, Ill.-based Roundtable Health Partners didn’t reveal the cost of its debt funding to 50-employee Aqua in (pdf) a statement. Aqua will use the new funding “to finance growth opportunities.”Aqua, which has seen revenue grow 20-fold since its founding [...]

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) laid off 120 workers from its California stent-making operation.The Abbott Park, Ill.-based company laid off 101 workers from its Temecula and Murrieta vascular stent manufacturing facilities in the Golden State. The remaining 19 workers were let go from the company’s Santa Clara, Calif., location.Abbott spokesman Jonathon Hamilton wrote in an emailed statement [...]

Ever heard of the I-Q Corridor? Unless you’re an economic development geek, probably not.The concept, first penned in a little-noticed Wisconsin Technology Council white paper, envisions an economic superhighway of sorts connecting the Twin Cities, Madison, Wis. and Chicago along interstates 90 and 94. The “I” stands for ideas, innovation, investment, intellectual property while the [...]