- Organovo is hoping their 3-D printing process can create muscle cells that will improve the drug testing process.
The West Wireless Health Institute is hoping an open source model will help wireless technology become as integral to hospitals as all other basic utilities.
The goal for the institute’s new West Wireless Health Council is to create a medical-grade reference architecture and distribute it for free to all health care facilities across the country. The team will include CIOs and health system executives from around the country. The West Wireless Health Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization working to lower health care costs through technology and innovation.
A San Diego company is using a 3-D printer to produce muscle cells that grow into working tissue that almost exactly matches samples taken from humans.
Organovo hopes their product will make drug testing more efficient. Because their cells are so similar to human cells, they could help drug companies identify ineffective drugs earlier in the testing process.
Technicians use a cartridge of specially prepared muscle cells into a 3-D printer, which places the cells in tightly spaced lines in a petri dish. Because they are so close together, the cells can grow the same way they do in a human body.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Organovo has built cardiac muscle, lung, and blood vessel tissue.
A practice management company is planning to spend $300 million this year to acquire new businesses for its anesthesiology and pediatric divisions.
Mednax will double its acquisition budget from last year. The Florida company spent $161.4 million buying 10 of these kinds of medical practices in 2011. Mednax is not buying primary care or general pediatric practices right now. It owns practices in 33 states.
A bill to extend angel investor tax credits in New Mexico is headed to the governor’s desk for a signature.
If Gov. Susana Martinez approves the bill, it will revive the credit which expired at the end of 2011. Accredited investors can receive up to a $25,000 state income tax break for each $100,000 investment they make. Companies must be in New Mexico and focused on high-tech or manufacturing.
Results from a survey conducted for the Georgia Pharmacy Association shows that many Georgians to not want to swap trips for the pharmacy for mail order delivery.
Six hundred Georgia voters were surveyed and 82% said they oppose mandatory mail-order plans. This is the first year that pharmacy benefit managers are licensed and regulated by the state of Georgia.
(Photo from flickr user MITOpenCourseware)
