Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
GE’s big, innovative cancer initiative. General Electric Co. is making cancer research a priority by pledging to invest $1 billion in cancer R&D over the next five years and joining four venture capital firms to launch a $100 million contest for innovative ways to improve breast cancer detection. The contest will span six months, and the company will offer both direct investments and access to its sales and R&D resources.
Merck Research Venture Fund. Merck has finally joined nearly all the other big pharma companies in establishing a $250 million venture fund, which it will use to invest globally in early-stage biotech innovators.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
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.
Transcept confident in rejected sleep drug. Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc. is confident the FDA won’t need any new clinical data for its sleep drug Intermezzo and will complete a new drug within two months after the company resubmits its marketing application this month. The FDA denied the drug approval in July over safety concerns, which Transcept says it has addressed.
Calling out Bachmann… Two bioethicists are offering $11,000 in rewards if the woman who apparently told Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann that the HPV vaccine led to mental retardation in her daughter can produce medical proof.
Harvard’s new plate. Claiming the USDA’s new MyPlate dietary guidelines don’t provide enough information to help consumers make healthy choices, Harvard researchers released their own version, the Healthy Eating Plate, which provides additional information on each of the food groups.
