A company is developing a mobile cardiac biomarker testing device for emergency rooms to rapidly determine whether someone is having a heart attack and the likelihood of one occurring in the near future.The test involves taking a blood sample using a disposable pin prick to detect the cardiac biomarker, troponin. Under stress, the protein is [...]

After making major inroads among community-based physicians, cardiac inflammation biomarker test company Cleveland HeartLab is looking to expand its business into the health and wellness market.The Cleveland-based clinical reference laboratory, which provides cardiovascular testing for thousands of U.S. physicians, is now aiming to partner with wellness companies and self-insured employers to diversify its customer base, [...]

The St. Jude-MDT smackdown on the Riata lead performance continues. (For some background, here’s my original post). After seeking a retraction of Robert Hauser, MD’s paper that identified 22 deaths from the Riata lead in the Heart Rhythm Journal, St. Jude’s attempt to secure the retraction of the peer-reviewed paper that was released electronically is [...]

When you take money from everyone, is it no longer a conflict of interest?I only raise the question after reading the latest in the ongoing dust-up over implanted defibrillators, where the latest company on the hot seat for selling flawed devices (St. Jude Medical) has accused the scientist who brought the situation to light–Dr. Robert [...]

AtriCure (Nasdaq:ATRC) CEO David Drachman’s compensation package received a 64 percent boost to $1.9 million last year.The Cincinnati-based cardiac devicemaker paid Drachman about $1.5 million in stock and options and $450,000 in salary in 2011, according to a proxy statement AtriCure filed today.Drachman’s salary in 2010 was $412,000, with a total compensation of $1.1 million. [...]

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are one of the most prescribed drug classes, but their gastrointestinal toxicity is now widely cited and a market for less-harmful versions of these drugs has emerged over the past decade and a half. Now, a small biotech company thinks its GI-safe formulation of aspirin could be ready to take on the [...]

Slightly over a year ago, the Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation of a large number of institutions regarding concerns that implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) procedures were performed for reasons outside of the criteria set forth in Medicare’s National Coverage Decision (NCD). This investigation occurred just after Al-Khatib and others published a report January [...]

AlphaCore Pharma is ready to begin a phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of its protein therapeutic agent intended to remove cholesterol from tissues and circulating cells in patients with coronary artery disease.Conducted at the National Institutes of Health, the study will produce results by the third quarter, according to AlphaCore’s [...]

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Janssen Pharamceuticals’ drug Xarelto, an anticoagulant that has produced positive phase 3 results to treat clots in the lung in a recent study, could set the standard for a new generation of anticoagulant drugs.In the study of 4,833 patients, Xarelto was demonstrated to be comparable to patients taking warfarin and [...]

Giving CT angiogram scans to people coming to the emergency room with chest pain could improve the speed of heart attack detection and lower costs, a research study has found.The study by the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania compared coronary CT angiography with traditional testing methods at five medical centers. It showed [...]