A Minnesota company that develops technology to enable healthy aging is raising more than $13 million, according to a recent regulatory filing.Healthsense makes products that allow the “passive monitoring of activity level of seniors” inside the home , in a community living space, assisted living or a skilled nursing venue, explained the company’s chief financial [...]

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) may be the leader in the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension using electric stimulation, but now the question is for how long.The Minnesota medical device company was the first to commercialize this innovative therapy when it bought Ardian and its Symplicity Catheter Renal Denervation System in 2010 for an upfront $800 million. The product [...]

Fresh off receiving the CE Mark for its cervical spinal disc replacement device, AxioMed Spine has added $5 million to its series D round of investment.The latest funding tranche brings Cleveland-area AxioMed’s series D round to $20 million, chief financial officer Jerry Baty said.European regulatory approval for AxioMed’s cervical disc complements the CE Mark for [...]

A pharmaceutical company has produced positive phase 2 results for its drug to treat advanced breast cancer with an oral version of a chemotherapy treatment. The findings come at a critical time for the drugmaker and could lead to additional investment as it seeks to advance the drug’s development.Genta’s (OTCBB:GNTA) lead drug is tesetaxel, a [...]

Federal grants can be a lifeline that allows life sciences startups to refine their technologies before they commercialize, but the nondilutive government funding can be hard to get.The success rate for companies seeking grants through the government’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs hovers between 11 percent and 15 percent, according [...]

Chelsea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CHTP), regrouping from orphan drug Northera’s failure to secure regulatory approval, now plans to resubmit a new drug application in early 2013 with data from a modified phase 3 study.The Charlotte, North Carolina drug developer announced the plans following its meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss the complete response [...]

Here’s another indication that the old models of healthcare are crumbling.In a conference call to discuss fourth quarter results, Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak announced that the company is pursuing partnerships with payers worldwide to try and leverage outcomes data that can help develop cost effective therapies and manage chronic diseases.The strategy is being driven by [...]

It’s a pretty safe bet that you’d be happy if someone agreed to pay you more to do the same thing you’ve already been doing.So, surely primary care doctors can appreciate one provision of the federal health reform law that bumps Medicaid rates for primary care up to the same level as Medicare rates, right? [...]

OKCupid’s clever and engaging use of their data to educate readers might work to motivate healthy behaviors even in people not looking for a date. John Moore on The Health Care Blog suggests that the healthcare industry do something radical, such as using data in fun and engaging ways to educate people about the links [...]

Pharmaceutical companies and insurers are still figuring out how they’ll work with each other, but a clear majority of both camps surveyed in Quintiles‘ annual New Health Report expect that there will be more collaborations in the future.The survey included more than 1,350 healthcare stakeholders ranging from healthcare payers, executives, patients and investors in the [...]