Mary Vanac is a co-founder of MedCity News.
With Aetna picking up health information exchange vendor Medicity for $500 million earlier this week, and Unitedhealth Group's Ingenix buying Medicity's top competitor, Axolotl, earlier this year, the HIE market is going through a major upheaval with few (one could even argue no) strong, independent vendors left, according to Chilmark Research.
Health spending continues to be a concern in America, with projections as high as $4.5 trillion by 2019. But a new study in the journal Health Affairs suggests that we should blame Medicare more than private insurance companies for the spending trend, reports FierceHealthcare.
Sagent Holding Co., the Schaumburg, Illinois, company that is developing generic injectable pharmaceuticals, has filed for a $100 million initial public offering just as a host of drug companies tap public capital markets, with many seeking to raise proceeds for research, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Orthopedics company Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) has agreed to sell a product line including the bone growth putty that has caused the company so much legal grief to Olympus Corp. for $60 million. Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker plans to record a loss on the sale of its OP-1 product line of between $75 million and $80 million.
Jeff Kindler, a lawyer tapped as a fresh face to lead drugmaker Pfizer out of its dodrums, is out, after just a little over four years as chairman and chief excutive, reports NPR's health blog. Kindler's executive bio already has been erased from Pfizer's website. Ian C. Read, 57, head of the company's global biopharmaceuticals operations, is in.
As competition for medical device acquisitions heats up, Medtronic Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. are redeeming early bets on promising startups, and Ireland's technology economy falls on hard times.
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.
While questioning each other's money-making techniques, the chiefs of Massachusetts' most prominent hospital network and private health insurer agreed that controlling soaring healthcare costs begins with a shift in thinking: adjust to a climate of limited resources and learn to live with less, reports MetroWest Daily News.
St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE:STJ) reintroduced physicians at the North American Neuromodulation Society meeting in Las Vegas today to its Penta surgical lead for neurostimulation therapy. Since last year's society meeting, during which St. Jude announced Food and Drug Administration clearance to sell the device in the United States, St. Jude has received CE Mark approval to sell the device in Europe and reimbursement approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Spinal device leader Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) has received Food and Drug Administration approval to use its CD Horizon vertebral bone screw system to treat scoliosis that develops during adolescence. The clearance may help the Minnesota medical device giant revive its struggling spine business, which is near the end of a three-year overhaul just as insurers take a harder look at whether surgery is the most cost-effective way to treat back pain.
Would the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommend that the labels of two drugs -- dutasteride, made by GlaxoSmithKline and sold as Avodart; and finasteride, a generic made by Merck and sold as Proscar -- be changed to say they can reduce a man's risk of getting prostate cancer? The answer was no, reports the New York Times.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Efforts to rein in rapidly rising healthcare costs will require new team-based payment and delivery approaches, which would demand sacrifices from hospitals, doctors and insurers, according to the Boston Globe.
Medtronic Inc. spinout Inspire Medical Systems Inc. has received the go-ahead from regulators to sell its obstructive sleep apnea device in Europe and test it for the U.S. market.
President Barack Obama, in a wide-ranging, reflective interview with Barbara Walters, staunchly defended his controversial policies -- including sweeping healthcare reforms -- as bold but necessary steps to help transform an economy that was at the brink of collapse into one that is "growing," Politico reports.
What if a Republican governor and a Republican legislature implemented their version of health insurance reform for which the federal government would pay? It's a great idea. And I'm thrilled to say that a bi-partisan bill already has been introduced in the Senate by Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts), writes Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review blog.
In Weekend Rounds: Galleon Pharmaceuticals in suburban Philadelphia raises $10 million for medicines to treat breathing control conditions like sleep apnea and COPD, and Medtronic is a company in transition.
