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House Passes Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act Advocacy groups applaud passage of bill that would permanently repeal and replace SGR.
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Aural Trumps Oral for Ear Treatment A novel microfluidic drug delivery system makes it possible to reach parts of the body poorly served by oral and injectable medications.
Scientists Find Unusual Immune System Activity in Brains of Schizophrenics The "germ theory" of schizophrenia got a mild boost this week as scientists discover that recently afflicted schizophrenics show higher levels of inflammatory proteins in the brain.
Senate Health Care Reform Bill Unveiled Legislation may go to cloture vote this weekend. Read the details.
RSNA 2009 Preview This year's RSNA should provide a very interesting look at the effects of the economy on the major OEMs. As always, vendors are whipping up the hoopla, and inside this story are great previews of what's being debuted. But DOTmed reporters will also be there to get the real buzz. Look for video interviews in our Online News direct from the show.
Interview With Fred Robertson, President & CEO of TomoTherapy TomoTherapy president and CEO Fred Robertson talks with DOTmed about his perspective on ASTRO's 2009 annual meeting, changes in the radiation oncology industry and two important TomoTherapy product launches that occurred at the show. Watch the HD video.
Health Care Reform Round-Up: CBO Pegs Senate Bill at $849 Billion The numbers are in on the Senate's version of reform. Also read about the wide-ranging impact that the legislation would have.
Pen-Sized Microscope Aims for Precise Brain Surgeries A confocal microscope picking up brain-safe fluorescent dyes could result in more accurate and streamlined surgeries to remove tumors from the brain.
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Has Stunning New Guidelines on Mammography Agency recommends no routine screening for women 40-49, no self-examination. Read the details.
brings advanced technology
to vaccine production
DNA-based Influenza Vaccine Will Be Made by Protein Sciences, Government Says
The company is in late stage trials for a seasonal flu vaccine called Flublok. it plans to be making a swine flu vaccine in five weeks at its pilot production plant, CEO Daniel Adams has said.
Tiny Protein Sciences, Meriden, CT, which is now hiring scientists, joins the ranks of vaccine makers Sanofi-Pasteur, Glaxo and Novartis, which are making seasonal and swine flu vaccines for the government.
These manufacturers still grow vaccine in egg cells, a 50-year old process that takes about five months. Novartis has produced some swine flu vaccine using a mammalian cell-based technique that insiders say is not as productive as DNA technology, although Novartis' approach shaves time off the hen-based method.
Known as recombinant influenza vaccine, the technique Protein Science uses involves extracting a gene from a flu virus and placing it into an insect virus called baculovirus, whose DNA can be quickly cloned.
In addition to ramping up commercial production faster than the egg-growing (or mammalian cell methods), the cloning technology also allows cells to be frozen and stored indefinitely, HHS says.
If Protein Sciences' technology pans out, the contract with HHS could be extended up to five years at a total cost of approximately $147 million, HHS says.
"The technology has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe [DNA-based technology] could help meet a surge in demand for vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu," Secretary Sebelius said. "We want to use the technology to help our nation respond to emerging infectious diseases."
HHS notes, "if this new technology is demonstrated to be safe and effective and the FDA licenses the new technology for flu vaccines, the contract requires the company to ...provide a finished vaccine within 12 weeks of pandemic onset and to produce at least 50 million doses of pandemic flu vaccine within six months of pandemic onset."
Source: HHS
Read DOTmed's coverage of this important topic:
Novartis First to Make H1N1 Vaccine Using New Cell Technology
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9338/
WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9330/
Flu Slowing in Most Parts of U.S; Vaccine Makers Get $1 Billion
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9198/
Swine Flu Virus Update--Where We Stand and How We Got Here
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9020/
Delicate Balance of Life on Earth Revealed in Current Flu Spread
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9017/
CDC Must Decide Whether to Ramp up New Flu Vaccine
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/8975/
Race to Find a Flu Vaccine Is On; Flu Remedies Profit
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/8964/
All Bets Are on Drug Stocks; Government Has Ample Supply
http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/8922
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