Managing anemia in the more than 80 percent of chronic kidney disease patients who experience it is the goal of a reported Mayo Clinic health IT spinoff.Anemia in renal failure is caused primarily by inadequate production of erythropoietin, a hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells. Physician Software Systems LLC‘s technology helps manage [...]

After years of working too much, smoking, drinking, not sleeping enough and not exercising left him overweight, Chicago-area doctor Paul Savage knew he needed a change.After some lifestyle adjustments and the discovery that he had an untreated hormone imbalance, Savage’s life changed dramatically. Now, he’s so passionate about helping others feel good throughout the aging [...]

The impact of drug shortages that have left doctors and patients scrambling for life-saving drugs became much more personal and real today at a U. S. Food and Drug Administration news conference.Nebraska mother Sara Stuckey spoke at the event on behalf of her 6 -year-old son Nate, who needs a leukemia drug to survive. The [...]

Hospira‘s (NYSE:HSP) beleaguered Rocky Mount, North Carolina manufacturing facility has been a drag on the company’s production and its 2011 financial results, and by the looks of the company’s 2012 guidance, the site will operate below capacity for the foreseeable future as Hospira works to regain regulatory compliance.Given the extent of the problems at Hospira’s [...]

Cleveland Clinic has struck a deal with an Illinois hospital that represents its first national affiliation in adult medical oncology.Cleveland Clinic already has a similar heart-care affiliation agreement in place with the hospital, Cadence Health, as well as a number of other hospitals across the country. In September, the Clinic announced heart-care affiliations with two [...]

A newly formed University of Illinois spinoff company could be on to something good with a new drug treatment for cancer that targets an enzyme commonly found in various tumor types.Department of Chemistry professor Paul Hergenrother and a handful of other co-founders of Vanquish Oncology are developing compounds that selectively kill cancer cells by targeting [...]

A Chicago biopharmaceutical company developing new ways to treat pain, epilepsy and other nervous system disorders is following up a $43 million series B round of funding in 2010 with another round of up to $47.5 million.NeuroTherapeutics Pharma Inc. is developing a new class of medicines for neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions that includes its lead [...]

Hospira (NYSE:HSP) completed a two-year “restructuring and optimization plan” this year that the company expressly stated would increase shareholder value by generating annualized savings between $110 million and $140 million. But now the company faces a phalanx of angry shareholders claiming the company did not disclose the extent of problems at a North Carolina plant [...]

Hospira (NYSE:HSP) plans to spend up to $375 million over the next three years to bring its manufacturing facilities into regulatory compliance, the bulk of it going to a North Carolina plant saddled under heavy regulatory scrutiny for much of the last two years.The effort is under way with a hiring blitz over the next [...]

The Occupy Wall Street protests continued in Chicago and the nurses unions are dispensing a new form of “first aid:”Outraged by the arrest of two nurses and a union organizer volunteering at the Occupy Chicago protest over the weekend, National Nurses United is planning a protest at Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office Monday.The group, the nation’s [...]