Company news

Eli Lilly and Co. will pay Canadian drug developer Transition Therapeutics Inc. $7 million and take over the development of a potential diabetes treatment heading into mid-stage clinical testing. According to the Associated Press, Transition said Monday it also could receive up to $240 million in additional payments, plus royalties, if the treatment is eventually approved and sold. It also will pay Indianapolis-based Lilly $14 million in three installments during the mid-stage study. The drug, labeled TT-401, is being developed to treat the most common form of diabetes, type 2, and accompanying obesity. Demand for drugs that treat diabetes is climbing as rising instances of obesity are causing an explosion of diabetes cases globally.

The Indiana University School of Medicine won a $1 million grant from the American Medical Association to launch a virtual health system curriculum for training medical students. The med school is one of 11 grant recipients. IU will use a teaching version of an electronic medical record system to help students use huge quantities of data to make clinical decisions, as well as to monitor the cost of their decisions. Medical school officials said the virtual health system curriculum will be better suited to the changing health care environment its students will encounter after graduation.

Starting July 1, a new state law will allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations for pneumonia, tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis, HPV infections and meningitis, according to The Statehouse File news service. Currently, the only immunizations pharmacists can administer are flu shots. Pharmacists must continue to perform immunizations under physician-monitored guidelines. More than 40 states allow pharmacists to provide immunizations, although requirements for education and oversight vary. In Indiana, pharmacists must undergo immunization training. Already, the state has more than 2,700 pharmacists trained to provide the shots and several hundred new ones are added annually.