- Hydrogels: Study shows use in ulcerative colitis and Army invests in wound healing research (fiercedrugdelivery.com)
A hydrogel is a polymeric material capable of holding large amounts of water in its 3-D structural network. Because it acts as the gel equivalent of a sponge, hydrogels are ideal for delivering different kinds of drugs and performing necessary functions. This week, hydrogels have shown to be useful in treating inflammatory bowel problems...
- ‘Milking’ deadly jellyfish for new medicines (medicalnewstoday.com)
study of venom in medicine has traditionally been confined to understanding its effect as a toxin..But scientists are becoming increasingly interested in studying venom systems...to discover ingredients to make new drugs… a new technique for "milking" the Australian box jellyfish of its deadly venom,...method that he and his colleagues have developed is practical and highly efficient, and it promises to remove a major bottleneck in the field of jellyfish venom research.
- How many digital health startups will fail? (healthcareitnews.com)
Despite digital health's record breaking…growth last year – more recent reports showing it hasn't slowed down…more than half of all digital health startups are likely to fail..those fledgling companies that raked in a record $4.1 billion for 2014. Rather than discard the investment…in getting sputtering start-ups off the ground, it often makes sense for healthcare stakeholders to acquire them, salvage their best people and technologies…Many digital start-ups that are dying or in danger of failure have developed solutions that can help traditional and non-traditional healthcare companies achieve their goals..
- State Accidentally Mails Out Private Health Information To The Wrong Patients (denver.cbslocal.com)
Protected health information from the (Colorado) Department of Health Care Policy and Financing was unintentionally mailed to the wrong people,… the letters were mailed between May 25 and July 5. A resident who received a letter not intended for that resident notified county workers about the error...
- Allscripts, CoverMyMeds partner (healthcareitnews.com)
EHR vendor Allscripts and CoverMyMeds have partnered to help patients receive their prescriptions faster…aims to increase the number of health plans available for Allscripts eAuth software clients… enables providers to authorize prescriptions electronically…Performing prior authorization electronically within EHR workflow helps improve efficiencies and reduce costs throughout the prior authorization process…
- For a Rare Disease, Drug Trials Scramble for Patients (wsj.com)
Companies vie for enrollees amid questions that trials will siphon participants away from each other…After years of effort, scientists and families of young patients with the genetic condition Niemann-Pick Type C are in a position to which any rare-disease community aspires: the prospect of not one, not two, but three companies launching clinical trials to develop therapies…the flurry of commercial interest has sparked an urgent debate. Can the community support more than one trial at the same time?
- TruMedicines launches Kickstarter for Rx adherence app (drugstorenews.com)
Big data and pharmaceutical tracking and authentication company TruMedicines… launched a 40-day Kickstarter campaign for a smartphone app that promotes medication safety…app will help stymy issues responsible for over a million deaths every year and billions of dollars in additional healthcare costs — counterfeit medication and adherence…inability to figure out whether a drug is legitimate or not was a problem that needed fixing...
- Lundbeck to advance schizophrenia drug solo after taking an ax to early-stage pipeline (fiercebiotech.com)Lundbeck cuts 1,000 jobs (in-pharmatechnologist.com)
Lundbeck has initiated a rejig of its pipeline, taking an ax to undisclosed early-stage assets in order to funnel cash into.. its most promising candidates…schizophrenia drug Lu AF35700 is among the beneficiaries… many of the drugs that are available..predominantly driving effects through D2 (receptor).. 35700..has a strong binding affinity to the D1 receptor… hopes to differentiate its pipeline candidate… through its side effect profile, giving patients who are resistant to D2-targeted drugs a treatment option that doesn't cause weight gain and metabolic disturbances.
- New York health network loses another IT official following probe into EHR implementation (modernhealthcare.com)
New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. has lost its second health IT leader amid an investigation into a multiyear, multimillion dollar installation of an electronic health-record system.Former Chief Technology Officer Paul Contino was terminated three weeks ago,.. In February, his boss, former Chief Information Officer Bert Robles, who had been managing the project, also was fired, …Two other administrators and seven consultants have also left the project,.. New York Post, citing unnamed sources, said the installation is off target by 18 months…
- Telehealth program slashes lengths of stay, boosts outcomes (healthcareitnews.com)
A telehealth program that engages patients before and after their hip and knee replacement procedures not only made those patients feel better about the experience and their providers, but reduced length of stay and improved post-discharge responses… VOX Telehealth… attribute… improvement to the fact that patients are more prepared for the process, so there are fewer complications or concerns that would merit a longer stay of(or) transfer to another facility...