A quick shout to Mike Landess, a Denver, CO newsman who this week released a half hour DVD special on prostate cancer (check out his blog). Mike was diagnosed with the disease in November 2006. The DVD, Prostate Cancer: My Story, chronicles every step of Mike’s journey from diagnosis, to doctors’ visits, to his current status. We met Mike in October while filming a documentary on Focal Therapy. Prostate Cancer: My Story is available to the public at no charge care of the Prostate Cancer Education Council, a non-for-profit that aims to increase awareness of prostate cancer screening and treatment…
Author: Global Cancer Consortium
Inovio Biomedical’s electroporation technology uses brief, controlled electrical pulses to increase cellular uptake of gene expression in DNA-based treatments; this enhances the potency of DNA-based immunotherapies against cancers and infectious diseases. Inovio has an extensive patent portfolio and line of devices and prototypes for electroporation-based DNA delivery. Interim clinical data from multiple studies has indicated safety and tolerability, heightened levels of antibody and T-cell immune responses, and durable local and systemic tumor responses – providing initial validation of electroporation’s ability to enhance DNA vaccine potency. The company licenses its technology and works through collaboration. Current partners include: Merck (cancers) Wyeth…
Trod Medical has received FDA 510(k) clearance for Encage, a minimally invasive technology for soft tissue ablation. The surgical system allows for precise percutaneous ablation of target tissue with well-defined margins, helping spare healthy surrounding tissue. Encage electrodes are inserted percutaneously and guided using ultrasound imaging. The electrode is viewed in real time via the ultrasound image while being precisely positioned into the target tissue. Encage may be used with a stand-alone, proprietary software for surgical planning and image guidance during the procedure. A RF-bipolar generator precisely controls the ablation. The company expects to ship product for the initial human…
Only months after Healthtronics withdrew its offer to acquire Endocare for $2.28 per share, Endocare and privately held Galil Medical have agreed to merge. The combined company will be focused on the development of cryoablation technologies, a minimally invasive method to freeze and destroy cancerous tumors. “This combination has the potential to eliminate millions of dollars in redundant costs and we believe that annualized cost savings of over $10 million could be realized by mid-2010. We expect that this transaction will result in positive adjusted EBITDA within 18 months after the close of the transaction,” said Michael Rodriguez, Endocare’s CFO.…
One of the central problems in using chemotherapy to treat cancer is its harmful effect on organ health. Lower dosages of the drug are often used to limit side effects, which may diminish benefits of the therapy. Delcath Systems has developed a drug delivery system that isolates the liver from the circulatory system. It allows chemotherapy agents to be administered to the liver and filters those agents from the blood before returning it to general circulation. The company is currently focused on delivering chemotherapy agents via its Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion (PHP) system in patients with inoperable liver metastases. This process…
Third quarter revenues at Clarient increased 59% to $19.0 million from the $11.9 million reported in Q3 2007. This marks the company’s 17th consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth. Higher testing volume, a favorable service mix and higher Medicare reimbursement rates drove revenues. Testing volume for the third quarter of 2008 increased 53% year-over-year. The company will add several new growth drivers in coming months. These include the launch of the long awaited Insight Dx Breast Cancer Profile, and the introduction of the Insight Dx Prostate Profile, licensed from Health Discovery Corporation. In September, Clarient announced that, with Definiens, it…
Meet the most important people in medical technology at In3 East, the largest East Coast strategic partnership and investment meeting for senior-level medical technology executives. Hundreds of venture capital companies and medical technology companies will gather to learn about the latest innovations and investment opportunities. Beyond providing an opportunity for companies to gain exposure to the venture community, it is a convenient ‘watering hole’ for medtech executives to find and build new relationships to support their efforts. The companies that are selected to present at Medtech Insight’s conferences offer investors a meaningful opportunity to conduct effective due diligence during a…
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast continues to show double digit growth in 2008 and is one of the fastest growing procedures in radiology departments, this according to Arlington Medical Resources (AMR), a diagnostic imaging research firm. In the first half of 2008, the total number of patients undergoing MRI of the breast increased 23 percent over the same period last year. MRI of the breast is typically used to diagnose breast cancer. Beginning in 2007, the American Cancer Society began recommending breast MRI as a screening modality for the 1.4 million American women at high risk for the…