Monday, January 5, 2009

Healthcare Industry Financial Overview stories:

1. Potential $1B for Three Compounds Synta Lands Preclinical CRACM Deal with Roche, $25M Up Front.
   Byline: Jennifer Boggs, Assistant Managing Editor Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. ended 2008 on a high note, inking a potentially lucrative early stage deal with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. [BIOWORLD Today]

2. Health I.T. Vendor Buying Spikes
   Mergers and acquisitions in the health care information technology industry ramped up considerably in 2008. Whether the activity will continue during a financial crisis is debatable. [Health Data Management]

3. U.S. HealthWorks Medical Group Announces the Acquisition of First Care Centers in Valencia and Saugus, California
   Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers VALENCIA, Calif.-- --January 2, 2009--U.S. [Business Wire]

4. A Sweet-Bitter Pill
   For John Herstrom, travelling from US to India for a hip replacement was an easy decision. "The surgery would have cost me $20,000 in Canada and $40,000 in USA. Here it only cost me $12,000. [Financial Express]

5. Other News To Note.
   Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and its subsidiary Immunex Corp., which manufactures Enbrel , agreed to pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin Department of Justice against 36 pharmaceutical companies for subverting Medicaid payment procedures by allegedly publishing false average wholesale prices for their drugs. [BIOWORLD Today]

6. Other News To Note.
   Ambrilia Biopharma Inc., of Montreal, said it submitted a request for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce to resolve disputes related to a Nov. 14, 2003, confidentiality agreement and an Oct. [BIOWORLD Today]

7. The Best and Worst of Biotech in 2008.
   Byline: Karl Thiel, BioWorld Today Columnist Ah, the year that was. Early January is the time to resolve to make things better, to bring in the new, to make a fresh start . . and also to take a last look in the rearview mirror. [BIOWORLD Today]

8. Third Time is a Charm Labopharm Gets Long-Awaited Approval of Once-Daily Tramadol.
   Byline: Trista Morrison, Staff Writer After three years and two approvable letters, Labopharm Inc. finally got FDA approval of Ryzolt, its once-daily, extended-release formulation of the pain drug tramadol. [BIOWORLD Today]

9. WSJ(1/3) Heard On The Street: Love (Of Biotech) Is The Drug
   Cash-rich pharmaceuticals firms are on the hunt for acquisitions. But don't expect their war chests to bail out the weakest biotechnology firms. [Nikkei English News]

10. RNCOS E-Services Pvt. Ltd.: Singapore - Quality and Uniformity Differentiates Healthcare Services
    RDATE:02012008 Medical tourism industry in Singapore is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.1% through 2012 to generate total revenue of nearly US$ 1700 Million, said "Asian Medical Tourism Analysis ", a new research report from RNCOS. According to the report, [M2 PressWIRE]

11. Economy Blunts Korea's Appetite for Plastic Surgery
    A grim frugality has settled over this export powerhouse that once burst with optimism -- and silicone. Cosmetic surgery took off here after South Korea's spectacular recovery from its currency crisis a decade ago. [New York Times]

12. GSK Opts Out of Two Cancer Programs with Cytokinetics.
    Byline: Catherine Hollingsworth, Staff Writer Cytokinetics Inc. received some disappointing news just before the holidays, as longtime partner GlaxoSmithKline plc decided to take a pass on developing two early stage cancer compounds. [BIOWORLD Today]

13. Roche Purchases Shares in Tender Offer For Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp.
    NUTLEY, N.J. and BASEL, Switzerland , Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Roche today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary 900 North Point Acquisition Corporation has accepted for payment all shares validly tendered and ... [PR Newswire]

14. Other News To Note.
    Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has published data in the journal Oligonucleotides demonstrating robust silencing of an endogenous oligodendrocyte gene with small interfering RNAs when administered by direct delivery to the central nervous system in both rats and nonhuman primates. [BIOWORLD Today]

15. K-C buys remaining stake in Andean subsidiary.(Top of the News)
    Kimberly-Clark Corp., maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, will buy the remainder of its Andes region subsidiary for an undisclosed amount. K-C already owned 69% of Colombiana Kimberly Colpapel S.A. [Nonwovens Industry]

16. Coping Skills and Horrible Imaginings
    I DIDN'T know this -- maybe you did -- but Nov. 17 is officially ''Coping With Uncertainty Day.'' I can't figure out if this came about through an act of Congress or was the brainchild of a greeting card company, but you can send e-cards and even coffee mugs to mark the occasion. I really think we need more than a day. [New York Times]

17. Hard To Treat Diseases (HTDS) Pending Merger Update
    CLEARWATER, FL , Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Hard to Treat Diseases www.htdsmedical.com Further to the company's news release of December 30, 2008 where amongst other things the company addressed the targeted merger candidate, firstly the company is pleased to announce that it has appointed its new Chief Science Consultant. [PR Newswire]

18. Corporate round-up
    ONGC closes Imperial deal ONGC Videsh , the overseas investment arm of India's largest oil exploration company ONGC, has formally announced the acquisition of Imperial Energy after 96.82% shareholders of the UK-based company accepted its open offer. [The Economic Times (India)]

19. Reduced bus fare cards for elderly, low income may increase to $5 per year
    Jan. 2--PROVIDENCE -- Between 16,000 and 17,000 senior citizens and low-income residents in Rhode Island may soon need to pay more for the bus-pass cards they use for reduced fares on Rhode Island Public Transit Authority buses. [Providence Journal, The (RI)]

20. DGH facing more losses in 2nd quarter
    Jan. 4--Decatur General Hospital will see losses in the second quarter that ended Dec. 31, Chief Executive Officer Dean Griffin said. [The Decatur Daily (AL)]

21. Parent Company of Renal Advantage Inc. Completes Acquisition of National Renal Alliance
    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BRENTWOOD, Tenn.-- --January 2, 2009--RA Group Holdings, Inc. , the parent company of Renal Advantage Inc. [Business Wire]

22. Your Sex Doctor: Start New Year with a clean bill of health
    NEW Year is a time to look forward, but you first have to clear up the results of mistakes you made in 2008. [Sunday Mirror]