Older heart disease patients with drug-eluting stents fare better when it comes to heart attacks and mortality rates than patients with bare metal stents, according to a study funded by the federal Health & Human Services dept.’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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Interleukin Genetics reports findings on vertebral fractures, osteoporosis
A study by Interleukin Genetics Inc. shows that women are more likely to suffer vertebral fractures and osteoporosis if they carry a specific gene variation.
The Waltham-based biomarker maker, which is flirting with a de-listing by the New York Stock Exchange, said its clinical study of 1,200 Asian women that Korean women are 70 percent more disposed to vertebral fracture if they carry a genetic variation in the IL-10 gene.
Providence company puts searchable stimulus bill online
An online publishing company out of Providence created a searchable version of the monolithic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the “stimulus bill.”
The ARRA, which included billions of dollars in government funds for life science research, comes in at more than 400 pages.
Tizra is a start-up that helps publishers distribute e-books, according to the Xconomy website.
Terason inks three-year extension with hospital network
Terason Corp. will continue to distribute its handheld ultrasound equipment to a network of over 2,000 hospitals for at least another three years.
The deal is with Premier healthcare alliance, a Charlotte, N.C.-based network of 2,100 U.S. hospitals and more than 54,000 other healthcare sites. No specific dollar amounts were given by either company.
Terason, a Burlington company that makes diagnostic ultrasound equipment, inked the original deal April 1, 2006.
Former Boston Scientific exec joins Avantis Medical Systems board
The former president of Boston Scientific Corp.‘s peripheral interventions division joined the board of directors at Avantis Medical Systems Inc.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company manufactures a catheter-based colonoscope called the Third Eye Retroscope, a miniature video endoscope that can see behind the folds of the human colon.
Jenusaitis worked for the Natick-based medical devices giant for 15 years before leaving the company in 2005.
Negative sales don’t exactly help Exact Science’s cause
Already facing a possible delisting from NASDAQ, Exact Sciences Corp. reported more bad news.
Sales for the genomics firm slipped dramatically in 2008, pushing the company into the red for the year and offsetting cost-cutting moves made in July when it shed its R&D staff. Exact Sciences laid off eight employees, leaving a skeleton crew of four staff members at its Marlborough headquarters.
Huh? Federal courts upholds Boston Scientific’s patent claims against Johnson & Johnson — and vice versa
A federal appeals court ruled that Boston Scientific Corp. and Johnson & Johnson each infringed cardiac stent patents held by the other company, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The outcome of the 10-year court battle is still murky, despite the ruling, which failed to determine “the question of who owes what to whom,” according to the journal.
Millipore execs get pay boosts
Executives at Millipore Corp. earned healthy raises and bonuses after the Billerica laboratory equipment maker posted solid sales and earnings numbers last year, according to news reports.
Chairman, president and CEO Martin Madaus got a 33.5 percent boost, taking his total compensation for 2008 to $5.2 million, according to The Associated Press.
Google launches $100 million VC fund
Google Inc. launched a $100 million venture capital fund aimed at finding and funding “the next big thing.”
As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, a pair of the Mountain View, Calif., search engine titan’s executives were tapped to lead the fund.
Google hired former entrepreneur William Maris to start Google Ventures and moved Rich Miner, a former executive in its mobile unit into the new venture fund, the journal reported.
Interleukin slides further toward NYSE delisting
Interleukin Genetics Inc. slipped further toward a de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange’s Amex board after the exchange rejected its plan to regain compliance.
The Waltham genetic biomarker maker originally fell from the exchange’s graces two days before Christmas last year, when its stockholders equity dropped below the $6 million threshold required by the NYSE and it posted five consecutive quarters of net and operating losses.
Interleukin said it appealed the decision and requested a hearing before the exchange’s listing qualifications panel to plead its case, which it expects to be slated with 45 days.
Aspect Medical Systems delays annual meeting, girds for proxy fight
Officials at Aspect Medical Systems Inc. are delaying the company’s annual meeting to prepare for a possible proxy fight against two of its largest stockholders.
Officials at the Norwood-based brain-monitoring equipment maker said they needed “sufficient time to consider the potential director candidates, and provide shareholders with adequate time to consider the Board’s nominees,” according to a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
