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Medtronic Announces Two Worldwide Clinical Trials To Study Medical Device Interventions For Stroke
Each year, approximately 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke1 in the United States, and approximately a half million people in Western Europe are similarly afflicted2. Today, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announces two significant clinical trials related to medical device interventions for stroke. First enrollments in the global CRYSTAL AF (Study of Continuous Cardiac Monitoring to Assess Atrial Fibrillation After Cryptogenic Stroke) trial have taken place. The trial will use the Reveal® XT Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) to assess the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with cryptogenic stroke (stroke of an undetermined cause) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in order to aid physicians in determining the optimal course of treatment for these patients. It is widely recognized that patients with sustained AF are at increased risk of stroke3.
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GenWay Biotech Obtains Exclusive Rights To AMDL's DR-70 Cancer Test In US And Canada
GenWay Biotech, Inc., a US-based diagnostic company which specializes in providing protein and antibody solutions, announced its partnership with AMDL, Inc., a US-based pharmaceutical company with major operations in China, regarding the distribution of AMDL"s DR-70 (FDP) cancer test in both the United States and Canada. GenWay Biotech will be the exclusive distributor of the DR-70 test for general cancer screening by CLIA laboratories in the United States and for lung cancer screening in Canada. The commercialization efforts include raising awareness of the disease and demand creation for the test through multiple media channels and healthcare outreach. Both exclusive distribution agreements extend for five-years based on continuing success in both the Canadian and US markets.
News of the day
Senate Finance Committee Under Pressure To Produce Health Bill
President Obama told Sen. Max Baucus that he wants a Senate Finance Committee health overhaul bill by the end of the week, The Associated Press reports. "These officials said Obama made his wishes known directly to Baucus, D-Mont., at a White House meeting Monday attended by administration officials and senior Democratic lawmakers."
Mental Health

HHS Awards $35M Contract To Company In Hopes Of Faster Flu Vaccine Production

The HHS on Tuesday announced its decision to award a $35 million contract to a U.S. company using "insect cell technology" to develop flu vaccines, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/23). CQ HealthBeat reports: "If the Food and Drug Administration approves the new technology [to be safe and effective], Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. will establish the capability to produce a finished vaccine within 12 weeks of a pandemic"s onset and manufacture at least 50 million doses in the following six months." Unlike the conventional method of using chicken eggs to grow flu vaccines - a process that can take four to six months - "[t]he new technology, known as recombinant influenza vaccine, places a gene from a flu virus into an insect virus that can multiply quickly in insect cells, which are then purified for use in a human vaccine," according to CQ HealthBeat. "The cells can be frozen, which would facilitate rapid production of large quantities of vaccine for use against both seasonal and pandemic flu" (Stephenson, CQ HealthBeat, 6/23). "The technology has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe it could help meet a surge in demand for U.S.-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a written statement. "We want to use the technology to help our nation respond to emerging infectious diseases" (HHS release, 6/23). HHS" announcement came one day after creditors filed a petition to force Protein Sciences into involuntary "bankruptcy and liquidation, saying they were owed $11.7 million," the New York Times reports. The article continues, "The series of events raises questions about whether the government is entrusting part of the nation"s influenza defense to a financially shaky or untrustworthy company" (Pollack, New York Times, 6/23). "If testing goes well, the contract could be expanded over five years for a total of nearly $150 million," Reuters/Washington Post reports. The government has allocated $1 billion for the development of a vaccine to protect against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus (Steenhuysen, Reuters/Washington Post, 6/23), which continues to spread globally. A full list of country H1N1 cases and deaths is available here (WHO Influenza A(H1N1) - update 53, 6/24). "We turned out our first batch of doses - about 100,000 - against (A)H1N1 flu last week and we"re continuing to manufacture it," Don Adams, chief executive officer of Protein Sciences Corporation, said (AFP/The Australian, 6/24). GMANews.TV Examines Global H1N1 Vaccine Supply GMANews.TV examines "the race" for countries to secure H1N1 vaccine. The article looks at how "[a]ffluent countries have made advanced orders for the sought-after vaccine" compared to the Philippines, where health officials say they are waiting to first "determine the priority group" for receiving the vaccine. "[T]he Philippines appears to be dilly-dallying, even after the death of a 49-year-old Filipina who became the first A(H1N1)-related fatality in Asia," GMANews.TV writes. The article also examines fears that richer nations may acquire most of the limited H1N1 vaccine supply, leaving already vulnerable populations in developing countries without protection against the virus (Sabangan, GMANews.TV, 6/23). New York Times Examines H1N1 Origin Theory "Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human," the New York Times reports. The article explores this latest theory while acknowledging the scientists themselves "emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it," the newspaper writes (McNeil, New York Times, 6/23). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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