Today Stories

There is a caveat to the push for increased Vitamin D: Don't forget magnesium. A review published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found Vitamin D can't be metabolized without sufficient magnesium levels, meaning Vitamin D remains stored and inactive for as many as 50 percent of Americans. "People are taking Vitamin D supplements but don't realize how it gets metabolized. Without magnesium, Vitamin D is not really useful or safe," says study co-author Mohammed S. Razzaque, MBBS, PhD, a professor of pathology at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. Razzaque explains that consumption of Vitamin D supplements can increase a person's calcium and phosphate levels even if they remain Vitamin D deficient. The problem is people may suffer from vascular calcification…

Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., and ACG have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will allow ACG to utilize Applied DNA's proven SigNature® molecular tagging and authentication technologies to develop molecularly tagged empty hard-shell capsules for offering to ACG's customers to enhance product traceability and authentication. The MoU is expected to be followed by a definitive agreement. The empty capsules market witnessed healthy growth during the last decade and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% between 2016 and 2021 to reach USD 2.13 billion by 2021.  The development of molecularly tagged empty hard-shell capsules will allow ACG's customers to enhance every distribution channel's integrity. It will also provide pharmaceutical companies with increased and assured capab…

STA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (STA), a WuXi AppTec group company and the leading open-access capability and technology platform for small molecule pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, and Regulus Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLS), a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, announce they have entered into an oligonucleotide synthesis collaboration agreement for research and mid-scale non-GMP/cGMP manufacturing.   Under the agreement, STA will become a new strategic development and manufacturing partner for Regulus' preclinical and clinical programs of microRNA-targeting drugs used to treat a broad range of diseases. Regulus will provide STA with expertise, technical know-how, and training in the field of oligo…

Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ: ESRX) and Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) today announced they are expanding their group purchasing efforts to include the procurement of specialty brand drugs.  Given the savings potential associated with biosimilars in the coming years, the two companies believe this expansion is particularly timely. Their work will be supported by ValoremRx Specialty Solutions, LLC, which will source specialty pharmaceuticals to simplify the global supply chain and lower costs for patients and clients, including patients using Express Scripts' specialty pharmacy Accredo® and Walgreens specialty pharmacy.   "Specialty medications represent the most costly and complex drugs. By expanding our efforts with Walgreens Boots Alliance, we will im…

Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, through French affiliate Apsis S.A.S., announced today the acquisition of Orthotaxy, a privately-held developer of software-enabled surgery technologies, including a differentiated robotic-assisted surgery solution. This proprietary technology is currently in early-stage development for total and partial knee replacement, and the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies plan to broaden its application for a range of orthopaedic surgery procedures. The goal is to build a next-generation robotic-assisted orthopaedic surgery solution that is cost-effective, time-efficient, and user-friendly in a variety of care settings. Orthotaxy's technology will be a critical part of a complete orthopaedic solution that uses enabl…

Alira Health, an international healthcare and life science advisory firm, announced that it has acquired Clinical Assistance Programs (CAP), a contract research organization providing a full range of clinical trial management and consulting services. The purchase will strengthen Alira Health's scientific and clinical core. The combined organization will provide a full range of services across regulatory, clinical research and medical affairs. This expansion reinforces Alira Health's commitment to simplifying their clients' complex journey through the healthcare and life science product lifecycle.  "CAP's expertise in clinical trial management is a perfect complement to our suite of services. This strategic acquisition enhances our ability to support our clients' drug and device…

US-based scientific camera designer and manufacturer Photometrics, scientific instruments manufacturer Cairn Research and systems developer Mizar Imaging have created a partnership to offer a new, high power, high sensitivity light sheet fluorescence microscopy solution. The MizarTILT light sheet system combined with the Photometrics Prime 95B, the world's first back-illuminated scientific CMOS camera, provides an ideal solution for researchers looking to use light sheet fluorescence microscopy for long time scale imaging of coverslip-mounted samples with high NA Plan Apo and TIRF objectives. The MizarTILT is a light sheet conversion system for fluorescence microscopes that gives users light sheet illumination capabilities along with the high-resolution imaging advantages of epifluorescen…

Medidata (NASDAQ: MDSO) today announced that eClinical Solutions LLC, an industry-leading provider of end-to-end data management services and cloud based products for clinical data optimization, is expanding their technology partnership to further improve clinical trial processes and help life sciences researchers deliver innovative therapies to patients with the adoption of Rave Imaging. With this new multi-year agreement, eClinical Solutions will build on the success of its 10-year relationship with Medidata by further expanding use of the Medidata Clinical Cloud® and implementing Rave Imaging. eClinical Solutions’ customers will have the opportunity to leverage Rave Imaging to transform a manually intensive process into intelligent, guided workflows that align with the industry’s evolvi…

Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE:OXB) ("Oxford BioMedica" or "the Group"), a leading gene and cell therapy group, today announces that it has completed a major new collaboration & licence agreement with Bioverativ Inc. for the development and manufacturing of lentiviral vectors to treat haemophilia. The agreement includes a licence to use OXB's LentiVector Enabled technology and access to its industrial-scale manufacturing technology.   Under the terms of the agreement, Oxford BioMedica will receive a $5 million upfront payment from Bioverativ. Oxford BioMedica is also eligible to receive various milestone payments, potentially worth in excess of $100 million, and undisclosed royalties on net sales of Bioverativ's lentiviral vector haemophilia products. Bioverativ will also fund process…

GNC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GNC) (the "Company") today announced it has reached an agreement regarding a strategic partnership and China joint venture agreement with Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holding Co., Ltd ("Hayao"), a leading pharmaceutical company in China. Under the terms of the agreement Hayao will invest approximately $300 million in GNC, becoming the single largest shareholder in GNC (on an as converted basis). In addition, GNC and Hayao have agreed to form a joint venture for the manufacturing, marketing, sale and distribution of GNC-branded products in China, leveraging the synergies between Hayao and GNC in the fast growing Chinese market. CITIC Capital Holdings Limited ("CITIC Capital"), as a major shareholder of Hayao, is supportive of the transaction. GNC also announced pla…

Celgene’s recent announcement of the acquisition of Juno Therapeutics has put the company in a good position to be a frontrunner in the chimeric antigen receptor- T cell (CAR-T) space. Celgene stands to benefit from Juno’s expertise and ongoing work into addressing concerns surrounding CAR-T, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. In January 2018, Celgene announced a $9bn cash buyout of the remaining 90% stake in Juno Therapeutics that it does not already own. This news signals a significant, albeit risky, push for Celgene in the cellular immunotherapies space, where the company sees Juno’s lead CAR-T candidate, JCAR017, bringing in $3bn in sales, with a potential FDA approval next year. Celgene’s flagship product, the mega-blockbuster oncology drug Revlimid, is l…

New software to deliver faster and more accurate diagnoses in genetic epilepsies is the ambition of a ground-breaking partnership between Congenica, a global provider of clinical genomics interpretation software, and FutureNeuro, the SFI Research Centre for Chronic and Rare Neurological Diseases, supported by Science Foundation Ireland. The software will be designed to work with electronic health record (EHR) systems, including the Irish electronic health record for Epilepsy, so that the entire diagnostic process, from initial DNA sequencing to determining treatment options, is available to clinicians and patients through their electronic records. The partnership, operating out of the FutureNeuro Human Genetics lab of Prof Gianpiero Cavalleri in RCSI, Dublin, will build on Congenica’s cli…

Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) announces that it has signed an agreement to become a Nobel Center corporate partner. The Nobel Center, an initiative within the Nobel Foundation, will operate in the spirit of the Nobel Prize, to offer a creative learning environment and a venue for discussions of topics that are crucial to our present and our future. Dr. Lars Heikensten, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, says: "Since Alfred Nobel wrote his will in 1895, science, humanism and peace efforts have led to new discoveries that no one previously thought possible. By supporting the activities of the Nobel Center, Elekta is showing a clear social commitment to outreach activities created on the basis of the achievements for which the Nobel Laureates are honored." Elekta CEO, Richard Hausmann, adds:…

Traditions Healthcare Holding Company, LLC, a portfolio company of Dorilton Capital Advisors LLC, announced today that it has acquired ProCare Hospice Corp. ProCare Hospice is a provider of hospice services based in Oxnard, California.  The announcement was made by Bryan Wolfe, the President and CEO of Traditions Health Care Holding Company, LLC. As a leading provider of home health and hospice services, Traditions Health Care offers skilled nursing, therapy services, and both physical and spiritual end of life care. Traditions has 9 locations throughout Texas, and the addition of ProCare marks the company's first regional expansion.   "We are very excited to add ProCare Hospice to the Traditions family. The people at ProCare are amazing and expanding our brand to Sou…

GEMCO Medical, a distributor for medical supply providers, is pleased to announce its partnership with Brightree®, the leading provider of cloud-based clinical, business management and billing software for the post-acute care industry, as an integrated electronic purchasing partner. The partnership simplifies the ordering process for DME/HME dealers by allowing them to place GEMCO orders directly from the Brightree Integrated ePurchasing platform. This streamlined process allows providers to reduce costs and increase revenue with no additional charge for integration. "Our focus has always been helping providers help their customers and this partnership provides a more efficient ordering system to do just that," says Richard Keirn, Vice President of GEMCO Medical. "By removing extra steps…

The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announced today an agreement that enables the automatic posting of research articles submitted to PLOS journals on bioRxiv, CSHL's preprint server for life sciences. PLOS will perform initial manuscript screening, covering scope, plagiarism, and previous publication, and basic ethical and technical criteria. Articles will then post automatically to bioRxiv. By allowing their submission to be posted on bioRxiv, authors accelerate the dissemination of their work and invite commentary, which the PLOS editors will evaluate as part of peer review. Authors may choose to opt-out of this process when they submit papers.  "The opportunity to partner with a like-minded organization like CSHL to realize a longstandin…

TeamHealth, a leading clinician services organization, announced the acquisition of Emergency Medicine Consultants (EMC) Ltd., and its affiliated entities. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, EMC provides emergency medicine staffing for 24 facilities and one urgent care center in multiple health systems, including Texas Health Resources and Methodist Health System. EMC's approximately 330 physicians and 80 advanced practice clinicians provide care to more than 900,000 patients each year. "EMC has a long-standing mission to empower physicians to deliver superior patient care while providing excellent service to our hospital partners," said John Geesbreght, MD, co-founder and CEO of EMC. "This new partnership with TeamHealth is founded upon two culturally-aligned, physician-centric groups. With a s…

ACT Genomics is an integrated cancer molecular information company that provides comprehensive NGS-based genomic profiling and a proprietary pathway-based data approach to optimizing clinical treatment decisions and assists biomarker exploration to oncology-focused biopharma developing targeted therapies and immune-checkpoint inhibitors more effectively. ACT Genomics is honored to collaborate with AstraZeneca Singapore for both somatic and germline genetic testing of BRCA in patients with ovarian cancer, using the advanced next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. International guidelines such as those from ESMO, ASCO and NCCN recommend BRCA testing, which will provide patients and doctors with important information on disease prognosis and may improve treatment decisions. Meanwhi…

A survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by Oticon, a leader in advanced audiology and hearing aid technology, has unveiled that tinnitus is affecting millions of Brits. The new research into hearing loss in the UK reveals that a substantial 21% of respondents experience tinnitus symptoms such as ringing, buzzing or persistent noise in their ears. The new Oticon hearing loss survey results show very little distinction between the age of respondents reporting tinnitus symptoms, with between 16% and 24% of sufferers in each age category. The stats highlight the varying nature of the condition. Tinnitus can indeed be experienced by anyone, as well as be temporary or permanent, constant or intermittent. Tinnitus is a symptom that is most commonly associated with damage caused by exposure to lo…

UK Biobank, a major national and international health resource, and AMRA, the international leader in body composition analysis, are proud to announce that 6,000 subjects analysed for body composition are now available through the globally-acclaimed health study. Scientists and researchers intending to use the data in research related to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of illness are now able to apply for unlimited access via the UK Biobank website.   For ten years, UK Biobank has gathered a wide range of crucial information about participants’ health and well-being, including genetic data and the health record data for its 500,000 participants. In 2016, UK Biobank launched the world’s largest health imaging study, focused on dedicated imaging of the brain, heart, bones, caroti…