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Veritas Realty owner sells stake to partner

Veteran developer Danny Marr has sold his stake in Indianapolis-based Veritas Realty to a partner and plans to work as a residential real estate agent in Florida.

Racer dies in Anderson crash

A Madison County coroner confirmed Sunday that 49-year-old William Mefford of Knightstown died of head and chest injuries suffered in a Saturday night racing crash at the Anderson Speedway. Mefford hit a corner barrier traveling at least 75 mph on the quarter-mile track after his hood flew open. The driver was known as an accomplished racer who had won the track's Late Model division on May 7.
 

Chemical spill clogs intersection

Hazardous materials crews were called to an acid spill Monday morning on the east side. According to the Marion County Health Department, a vehicle hauling hydrochloric acid dropped a small box of the chemical on the street at the intersection of 30th Street and Shadeland Avenue. Police blocked off the intersection for about 40 minutes while crews cleaned up the spill.

 

Lightning fire destroys local home

A Franklin Township home struck by lightning early Monday morning was destroyed by fire. The homeowners, who have lived in the Wildcat Run neighborhood for 11 years, were awakened by a loud boom about 1 a.m. They did a “little investigating, but did not think the lightning hit their home,” an Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman said. Ten minutes later, neighbors were calling 911 and pounding on the door to tell them their home was on fire. They escaped without injury, but the house is likely a total loss.
 

Q&A

Bob Brody, CEO of Franciscan St. Francis Health, which operates three hospitals in central Indiana as part of the 13-hospital Franciscan Alliance system, discussed the rationale for its decision to take control of Visiting Nurse Service Inc.

Company news

Well, here’s some consolation for the nightmarish year WellPoint Inc. had in 2010: Its legal department was one of three finalists for “Best Legal Department” honors from Corporate Counsel magazine. The Indianapolis-based health insurer lost that competition to Google Inc., with UPS also a finalist. But WellPoint still got this praise from the magazine: “WellPoint’s lawyers had a tumultuous year, having to deal with political reaction to its Anthem Blue Cross subsidiary’s proposed California rate hikes, filed just as health care reform passions began to flare. Even after the Affordable Care Act was signed, the nation’s largest health benefits company continued to take heat from the president on down, while it struggled to interpret and comply with the new law.” Many regarded WellPoint’s headaches as self-inflicted, but that criticism was aimed at its former general counsel and now CEO, Angela Braly, not the current legal team.

Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to license the U.S. marketing rights of its disappointing sepsis drug Xigris to a newly created biotech company that will seek to reinvigorate it. The new company, BioCritica, will be based in central Indiana and will be jointly owned by Lilly and two private investment firms: New Jersey-based Care Capital LLC and North Carolina-based NovaQuest Capital Management LLC. The company will be led by David Broecker, who managed Lilly manufacturing operations in Germany and Ireland before becoming CEO of Alkermes Inc., a Massachusetts-based drug development firm. Within Lilly, Xigris was well down the priority list to get time from scientists and other staff. In 2010, it generated sales of just $104 million, which was down 18 percent from the previous year. Xigris was the first drug Lilly launched after it lost patent protection on its bestseller Prozac in 2001. Expectations for the drug initially were huge, with some Wall Street analysts predicting annual sales of $2 billion. But the drug struggled after U.S. regulators issued a strong warning about its bleeding side effects and because hospitals struggled to identify which patients and in which situations the drug was appropriate. BioCritica hopes results from a new clinical trial of Xigris will establish clarity on how to use it, thereby reenergizing sales. BioCritica has an option to acquire the international rights to Xigris at a later date, as well as options to acquire other critical-care drugs that are in Lilly’s pipeline. BioCritica also hopes to acquire critical-care drugs from other drugmakers.

Riley Hospital for Children lost its CEO last week, but got a fresh round of positive publicity to help it find a new one. Dan Fink resigned on Friday, according to Indiana University Health, the parent organization for Riley. IU Health said it would launch a national search for a replacement. Meanwhile, Riley was once again ranked as one of the top 50 children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Riley was nationally ranked in each of the 10 specialties included in the report. Its only top 10 ranking is in urology. The complete rankings can be viewed online here.

A team led by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine has identified a potential new way to target the incurable disease of emphysema with drugs. The researchers identified a lung protein in mice that appears to play a role in smoking-related emphysema and have created an antibody that blocks the protein’s activity, according to an article posted on the website of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The lead author on the study is Matthias Clauss, a research professor of cellular and integrative physiology at the IU med school. Mice exposed to cigarette smoke that received an inhaled version of the antibody had significantly less cell death and inflammation and improved lung function compared to the mice that did not receive the treatment. The benefits to the treated mice continued even after the treatment stopped.

People

Eli Lilly and Co. named Dr. David M. Kendall, currently chief scientific and medical officer of the American Diabetes Association, as a distinguished medical fellow who will serve as senior medical adviser for Lilly’s diabetes division. He will transition from his current role in late July. Kendall also is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and an adjunct medical director at the International Diabetes Center, both located in Minneapolis.

New restaurant space planned for Regions Tower

The owners of downtown's 36-story One Indiana Square/Regions Tower are working on plans to renovate part of the skyscraper's first floor to accommodate a massive new restaurant.

Lilly licenses Xigris rights to new biotech firm

Eli Lilly and Co. has agreed to license the U.S. marketing rights of its slow-selling sepsis drug Xigris to a newly created local biotech company called BioCritica that will seek to reinvigorate sales of the medication.

Purdue proposes international student fee hikes

Under the proposed increases, foreign students enrolling this summer would pay an additional $1,000 on top of 3.8-percent tuition increases for all out-of-state students. Purdue also has proposed a $2,000 fee for 2012-13 academic year.

Governor’s race shaping up to be entertaining

Indiana’s 2012 gubernatorial race features two strong front runners. Democrat John Gregg is a gregarious and folksy former House Speaker. Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Pence is an outspoken and articulate conservative.

You-review-it Monday

Did you catch the Urbanski love-fest with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra? Or Dance Kaleidoscope teaming with Cathy Morris?

OrthoIndy looks to loopholes for growth

OrthoIndy, the physician practice that owns the Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital, was able to open a new outpatient facility this spring by working around growth restrictions in the 2010 health care reform law. But its choices for further growth are much starker—which is why it’s lobbying to repeal that provision of the law.

IU Health buying docs in hospital ventures

Indiana University Health is now quietly unwinding the physician ownership of its hospitals in Carmel and Avon—which sparked loud controversy when they opened in 2004 and 2005.