| Novartis to Pay $72.5 Million to Settle Case Novartis will pay $72.5 million to settle U.S. Justice Department allegations it submitted false claims for off-label uses of a cystic-fibrosis drug. online.wsj.com |
Chronic-Fatigue Link to Virus Disputed Two groups of researchers studying a potential link between chronic-fatigue syndrome and a virus called XMRV have reached contradictory conclusions, according to people familiar with the findings. online.wsj.com |
China Biotech in Review: Pharma IPOs Raise $5.4 Billion in 12 Months ChinaBio Today submits: The spectacular $1.3 billion IPO of Sinopharm Group in September 2009 may have been the biggest headline grabber, but the underlying reality is that a broad range of China pharma companies have been warmly received by investors. In fact, a total of 23 China life science enterprises have gone public in the last year, listing their shares on China mainland exchanges or in Hong Kong (see story). Although eight of the deals were worth less than $100 million, their total value is $5.4 billion, showing that investors are very willing to put their money into life science companies. China’s central government spent 80 billion RMB ($11.8 billion) to reform the nation’s healthcare system in the first six months of 2010, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (see story). Of that, 53 billion RMB ($7.6 billion) was put into building a basic medical insurance system, and 26 billion RMB ($3.8 billion) went toward equalizing basic health care services in China. The latter is a way of saying that money was spent to improve the availability of basic services in rural areas.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Is This the Top of the Trading Range or Start of a Breakout? Michael Kudrna submits: Monday saw another gap-up followed by dip-buyers showing up to lead us toward a strong close. Volume was decent for this seasonal slow time with this making four straight positive closes in the S&P 500 and eight out of nine positive closes during this rally. Technically speaking, we are overbought but don’t tell that to the bulls right now as the momentum is impressive. The problem I see is nobody fears the downside anymore and that tells me we could be nearing a top. However, if retail numbers meet or beat expectations Tuesday morning, we could see another strong gap-up and even more bullish behavior while ignoring any other economic fears.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Competitive Technologies: More Frequent Sales to Come? David Greene submits:The largest order in Competitive Technologies' (CTTC.PK) history for the proprietary Calmare Pain Therapy Management device was announced Tuesday (Oct. 5). The record order was from Spero Pain Relief Therapy, LLC. to equip 13 new clinics which will open over the next two years in Utah, Nevada and Southern California. The clinic network has signed a purchase agreement for a minimum of 114 Calmare medical devices for the 14 clinics (first clinic opened one month ago) and will result in the recognition of $3 million in net revenue for CTTC over the next two years .("Net revenue" is defined as net after payment of inventor royalties and distributor and sales rep commissions). What is most significant about this large order is that it may mark the beginning of a broader awareness and appreciation by the medical community of the efficacy of the company's promising non-invasive treatment for chronic pain. Although the Calmare technology has 501-K marketing clearance from the FDA, the company's distributor network has been slow to meet with sales success. But with more clinical evaluations and clinical studies validating the efficacy of the system, the turn may be at hand.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |