Medical Travel for US Patients to New Zealand by Medtral

Medtral New Zealand, a company providing a comprehensive medical travel package covering travel, accommodation, hospital procedures, and post-operative care at the country’s world-class private medical facilities has forged a partnership with California-based Global Medical Conexions (GMCx). GMCx will add Medtral hospitals to its list of International Select Provider Organization (ISPO), which consists of the highest quality physicians and healthcare facilities.

“This strategic alliance will serve the interests of both organizations because the addition of medical travel to New Zealand opens opportunities for Medtral to expand its client base while providing our clients with the best and most attractively priced options for medical travel,” says Bob Repke, president of Global Medical Conexions. He added that, ”New Zealand is an ideal choice for self-insured companies seeking to reduce healthcare costs while maintaining or improving the quality of healthcare for their members or employees. New Zealand is a first world, English-speaking country with very high quality medicine and a clean, green environment that is ideal for recuperation. Additionally, the affordability of the travel and treatment packages is unparalleled.” It is worth noting that Medtral New Zealand’s network of hospitals adheres to Quality Health New Zealand (QHNZ) and International Society of Quality (ISQua) accreditation standards, allowing the company to promote the top notch medical services to patients seeking quality yet more affordable treatment. 

“Global Medical Conexions is at the forefront of this industry and well-positioned to bring New Zealand hospitals to U.S. employers,” says Steve Nichols, managing director of Medtral New Zealand. “We expect that self-funded employers will respond favorably to this opportunity and make New Zealand a top-of-mind medical travel option for employees.”

Dr Reddy’s Launches Inhalers for Asthma Patients in India

One of India’s foremost pharmaceutical manufacturer, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which is listed in NYSE, has launched the Combihale™ and Redihaler™ product lines in India, marking its entry into the inhaler market for asthma patients. The Combihale™ is a combination of a steroid and a long acting bronchodilator and would initially be available in two combinations, the Combihale™ FF (Formoterol + Fluticasone) and Combihale™ FB (Formoterol + Budesonide). 

Picture of Combihale™ from Dr Reddy’s website.

In addition, the Combihale™ would be supplied in a package with the Redihaler™, a dry powder inhalation device that was designed in-house by the company. This is expected to be the promotional offer as the Combihale™ range of drugs could be dispensed under the option of dry powder (DPI) or metered dose inhaler (MDI) format. According to the press release by the company, the inhaler market in India is valued at Rs 473 Crores (4.73 billion Rupees or approx US$100 million) and forecasted to grow at a rate of 17% annually. Given the increasing number of patients and the burgeoning middle class in India, the entry into the consumer market is a good time for the company.

Japanese Researchers develops Carbon Nanohorn to combat Cancer

Researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Fujita Health University announced on Tuesday that they had succeded in virtually destroying a tumor in a mouse after administering it with carbon nanohorn filled with medicine used in photodynamic therapy for cancer.

The researchers said that the finding will be applied in the development of a new cancer medicine using carbon nanohorn – which is as tiny as 1/10,000th of a hair in thickness.

According to the researchers, nanohorn itself absorbs laser beam and emits high heat, generating a synergistic effect of photodynamic therapy and thermotherapy in destroying cancer cells. Photodynamic therapy is intended to destroy cancer cells by emitting a laser beam to a light-sensitive substance gathered around the area of the disease, prompting it to produce active oxygen that kills cancer cells.

The researchers utilizes the photosensitizer, zinc phthalocyanine into the nanohorn measuring 2 to 5 nanometers in thickness and 40 to 50 nanometers in length. From there, they injected the nanohorn into the tumor of a mouse and emitted a laser beam at the nanohorn for 15 minutes every day. Researchers noticed that the tumour disappeared after a period of 10 days.

By absorbing light, black carbon nanohorn could generate a rise in temperatures to about 40 degrees Celsius, thereby generating a thermotherapy effect, which would have a secondary effect on the destruction of cancer cells.

Hoewever, Masako Yudasaka, head of the research team at the AIST, mentioned, “Since nanohorn tends to remain in a body for a long time, we need to examine its long-term toxicity and how to discharge it from a body.” The researchers made the announcement in the online edition of a bulletin for the National Academy of Sciences of the United States on Tuesday.

Sydney IVF gets First License to Clone Human Embryos

Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) issued its first license in allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos so as to be able to extract embryonic stem cells. The license was granted to Sydney IVF, an in-vitro fertilization firm who reportedly has access to 7,200 human eggs for its research. Should the company be successful in extracting embryonic stem cells from cloned human embryos, it would be the first to do that in the world.

Schematic diagram showing Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Picture from Wikipedia

Therapeutic cloning or somatic cell nuclear transfer, the method used for cloning human embryos was banned in Australia until the national parliament voted to lift the ban in December 2006. However, Australian national legislation still restricts the use of excess IVF embryos and the creation and use of other embryos in research. Human cloning for reproductive purposes have also been banned in the country. Even with the granting of the license to Sydney IVF, Dr John Findlay, Chair of the NHMRC’s licensing committee, said that the firm’s research will be closely monitored. He also added that scientists are not licensed to reach the fetal stage.

Stem cells that are extracted from the research would initially be used for testing of new drugs that will be used to combat diseases like muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease, while future therapeutic cloning would ultimately create body tissues matched to patients.

The research firm, Sydney IVF said that only eggs unusable for IVF and those that have been consented by donors would be used in the research. Three different types of cells, embryonic stem cells, cumulus cells attached to the collected eggs, and skin cells will be used to develop the cloned embryos. The firm had been the first in 2004 to extract stem cells from Australian IVF embryos and since then, have extracted and grown 10 more colonies of embryonic stem cells through its method.

Singapore Researchers find Key Gatekeeper Gene that play Key Role in Colon Cancer

A team of researchers at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) have discovered a new gatekeeper gene. A gatekeeper determines whether or not the disease begins in the human body – a crucial step in developing both an early diagnostic test as well as a therapeutic target. The absence of this gene paves the way for the growth and development of colon cancer.

In an earlier research breakthrough, the same team of researchers led by Professor Yoshiaki Ito, NUS Yong Loo Lin Professor in Medical Oncology and Principal Investigator of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR had reported that RUNX3 is a major tumor suppressor of gastric cancer. The research had also shown that RUNX3 plays a key role in breast cancer and bladder cancer, among others.

This latest finding is reported in the September issue of Cancer Cell, a top-tier biomedical research journal. In it, Professor Ito describes how he and his team found that inactivation of RUNX3 causes full-blown colon cancer to develop. For more on the press release, go here. 

TCM’s RFID Technology applied towards Healthcare ID

Leading barcode printer company, SATO, which is listed in Tokyo, announced a partnership arrangement with Motorola and TCM RFiD to develop and market a comprehensive patient information management system. This particular system is expected to utilize SATO’s quality wristbands and SATO’s Label Gallery 3, coupled with Motorola’s enterprise digital assistants (EDA) and TCM’s Intelligent Medicine Dispensing System (i-MDS). Together, they aim to provide a complete solution specifically designed to cater to the intense requirements of the healthcare industry.

Managing Director, SATO International Asia Pacific, Mr Lim Yee, commented that “SATO’s complete healthcare solution is specifically tailored to empower medical professionals with the essential tools to enhance their data collection needs, effectively and accurately. This will prevent inadvertent medical errors, thus bringing a peace of mind to patients and medical caregivers.”

Mr Michael Oh, Managing Director of TCM RFiD, further added that TCM’s award winning i-MDS solution aims to ensure that all the right procedures are being followed not only for drug administration, as well as for vital sign and specimen collection. Previously, TCM RFiD has won the contract to supply Singapore’s National Healthcare Group (NHG) with portable medicine verification scanners to ensure the correct medication goes to the right patients.

Picture of RFiD Scanner from TCM.

WooYoung Medical expands its Accufuser Series of Infusion Devices

In a press release by WooYoung Medical, 2 new models of its Accufuser line of products, the Accufuser ABx and Accufuser CTx, will be launched in September 2008. These 2 new products are especially useful for infusion of antibiotics at fast flow rates and anticancer agents at slow flow rates, respectively. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures from WooYoung Medical

In the case of antibiotics infusion, intermittent dosing of antibiotics has been the most common method, but continuous infusion of antibiotics have been gaining increasing acceptance as the standard protocol. According to studies, adopting such practices will offer distinct cost saving benefits for medical facilities while simultaneously improving patient outcomes.

US Patent for Molecular Toxicology awarded to Ocimum Biosolutions

Hyderabad-based, Ocimum Biosolutions, a leading integrated genomics company based in India has been awarded US patent No US 7,415,358 B2 entitled ‘Molecular toxicology modeling’. The patent describes elucidation of the global changes in gene expression and identification of toxicity markers in tissues or cells exposed to a known renal toxin. This invention covers a database of genes characterized by toxin-induced differential expression that is designed for use with microarrays and other solid phase probes. The genes have applications as toxicity markers in drug screening and toxicity assays. 

Chief Executive Office of Ocimum Biosolutions, Anu Acharya, commented that the company consistently been in the forefront of Genomics Innovation over many years and that this patent has reinforce their objective of continuing to be a leading player in the area of integrated genomics. The CEO also added that Ocimum will continue to pour in resources in areas like Genotyping, Gene Expression, PCR and other data validation methods so as to provide the latest technologies for their pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

The patent granted to Ocimum is expected to increase the company’s prestige in the areas of pharmaceutical outsourcing.

New drug Hotmin® offered by Eisai to Improve Peripheral Blood Circulation

One of Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company, Eisai Co. Ltd. is scheduled to release a new over-the-counter drug named Hotmin. According to the company’s press release, the new drug was designed to improve the peripheral blood circulation, and hence relieving symptoms of coldness in extremities and stiff shoulders.

With the product being mainly catered to women, as they tend to have poorer peripheral blood circulation than men due to differences in physical structure, Eisai have conducted a survey in Japan that more than half of the women in their 20s and 30s suffer from some kind of coldness in the extremities and/or suffer from stiff shoulders.

The new drug is to be sold in a tablet form, an taken orally and contains 3 main active ingredients: nicotinic acid in helping to dilate the peripheral vessels, ginseng extracts to increase blood flow, and d-alpha tocopherol succinate (a natural-type vitamin E). Through improving peripheral blood circulation, the drug is expected to optimize the delivery of oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, and assist in dispersing heat produced in the muscles around the body which will in turn relieve the symptoms of coldness in the extremities and stiff shoulders amongst women.

Picture from Eisai Co. Ltd.

Uscom’s Patent for Measurement of Oxygen Delivery

Press release from Australia-based Uscom mentioned that the company has received its US patent no 7338447, the method for combining blood flow measurement (USCOM) with oximetry to provide a noninvasive measure of the amount of oxygen being delivered to the cells of the body. With the granting of the US patent, it provides IP protection for the Oxycom device, the second product to be launched by this medical device company, after the USCOM 1A Hemodynamic Monitor.

The USCOM 1A Hemodynamic Monitor. Picture from Uscom Ltd.

With medical devices going non-invasive, the Oxycom is considered to be a first, by being able to capture accurate and non-invasive measurement of oxygen delivery to patients under critical care. According to Uscom, the device has applications in Paediatrics, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, and Anaesthesia.

The patent author and Chairman of Uscom Ltd, Rob Phillips said “Oxygen delivery is a critical measure of the effectiveness of the circulation, and reflects the severity of cardiovascular disease. The new Oxycom product, currently in testing, provides this information non-invasively and beat to beat; a first in the world of physiology and medicine.” For more on Uscom and its latest product offering, please visit their website.