A new partnership with a company that bills itself as having the most broad-reaching healthcare communication network in the country could increase health IT startup CoverMyMeds‘ health insurance customer base.Cleveland-area CoverMyMeds (CMM) has developed Web-based tools that speed up and automate the submission of prior authorization requests to health insurance plans. Insurers sometimes require these [...]

Nonprofit business development group TechColumbus has hired a new CEO from a similar organization in Oklahoma.Tom Walker, who began his career as a research scientist at Battelle, takes the reigns of TechColumbus. TechColumbus had been led by interim CEO Tim Haynes since the group’s former leader and founder, Ted Ford, announced his resignation in October.Walker [...]

In the world of startups, few separate topics of discussion have recently been hotter than angel investing and crowdfunding.But what about considering where crowdfunding and angel investing intersect? Can these two forms of startup fundraising co-exist peacefully or might crowdfunding pose a threat to angel investors?In short, it’s too early to say, but angels shouldn’t [...]

Medical device developer AxioMed Spine has received European regulatory approval to market its cervical spinal disc replacement device.The CE Mark for AxioMed’s Freedom cervical disc complements the earlier European regulatory approval for the company’s Freedom lumbar spinal disc replacement, according to a statement from the Cleveland-area company.AxioMed is currently selling the lumbar disc in three [...]

Regenerative medicine startup Juventas Therapeutics has begun enrollment in a phase 2a trial of critical limb ischemia patients.The Cleveland-based company, which recently secured an important investment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is planning to enroll 48 patients and complete enrollment early next year, CEO Rahul Aras said.Juventas’ technology, called JVS-100, works by recruiting stem cells from the [...]

Scott Shane seems to delight in sharing harsh realities about entrepreneurship and economic development.Shane, a Case Western Reserve University economics professor who authors a regular column for Business Week, castigates a culture that promotes a “naive view of entrepreneurship and starting businesses” in his 2008 book “The Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths That Entrepreneurs, [...]

Stem cell therapeutics developer Athersys’ (NASDAQ:ATHX) phase 2 clinical study investigating the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with partner Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is expected to complete patient enrollment by the end of 2012.Top-line results of the inflammatory bowel disease trial are likely to be available in early 2013, Athersys CEO Gil Van Bokkelen said in a [...]

Biomarker test company Cleveland HeartLab made a splash recently at TEDMED, with about 500 conference-goers taking the company’s heart inflammation tests.Results of the TEDMED tests showed that 41 percent of those who submitted samples had high cholesterol or low HDL (good cholesterol), 28 percent showed evidence of hardening of the arteries and 12 percent tested [...]

What’s your trusted source for health information on the Internet?Cleveland Clinic hopes the answer more and more people come up with to that question is “Health Hub.”The renowned hospital launched the Health Hub site at the end of March “with little fanfare,” but still drew 16,000 visits in April without promotion. The Clinic hopes the [...]

Consolidation in the U.S. drug distribution business continues as Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) has purchased a Chicago-area regional drug wholesaler, Dik Drug Company.The acquisition was first reported by Adam Fein at Drug Channels and confirmed to MedCity News in a statement from a Cardinal spokeswoman.Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal said it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dik [...]