Indiana University, which has received nearly $600 million from the endowment over the last three decades, will leverage the
new gift to increase its
scientific discoveries and commercialize life science innovations.
Carmel firm using $12 million in venture capital for buying spree is now nation’s second-largest operator of sleep centers.
As a physician, I owe it to my patients to help get health care reform right. From the front line, physicians can offer
changes that could result in more cost-effective, efficient and accessible health care. That’s why I joined the Coalition
to Protect Patients’ Rights, along with 10,000 other doctors.
House and Senate versions of health care reform could halt the trend toward physician-owned hospitals.
<p><strong>Dow AgroSciences LLC</strong>, which seems to sign a new deal every week, announced two, in fact, in the past eight
days. The Indianapolis-based developer of agricultural products announced Nov. 24 that its Canada subsidiary acquired the
assets of Hyland Seeds, a division of Thompsons Ltd. of Blenheim, Ontario. Dow Agro is adding distribution
capacity for the 2010 launch of its SmartStax variety of genetically modified seeds. Then on Dec. 1,
Dow Agro invested an undisclosed amount in Ontario-based Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. The companies have been collaborating
since 2004 to genetically engineer plant traits, and now will expand their work into field crops, such as corn and soybeans.
Dow Agro’s investment secured it a commercial license option for Agrisoma technology.</p><p>The <strong>Indiana
Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute</strong> has received $2.5 million to help it turn laboratory discoveries into
treatments faster. The money will be used to bring the <strong>University of Notre Dame</strong> into the institute, now a
partnership of Indiana and Purdue universities. Other funds will go to build up the institute’s Web site
and to figure out best practices for community-health efforts. Nearly $1 million of the funds will be used to recruit patients
to participate in clinical trials conducted by physicians at the Indiana Clinic, a new joint venture of the <strong>IU
School of Medicine</strong> and the Indianapolis-based <strong>Clarian Health</strong> hospital system.</p><p>Officials of
<strong>Wishard Health Services</strong> released details Tuesday of their first
request for bids on construction of a new Wishard hospital downtown. Hospital officials
are looking for contractors to build a 2,300-space parking garage, the first of five buildings to
house the new hospital. Marion County voters agreed Nov. 3 to back bonds that Wishard’s
parent organization will sell to fund the $754 million project. A meeting about
the bid process will be held Dec. 17. The new hospital is scheduled to open in December
2013.</p>
FDA action should boost sales of the Eli Lilly and Co. drug, which were already on pace to top $3 billion this year.
The St. Vincent Health hospital system has joined with Indianapolis-based Novia CareClinics LLC to set up clinics on employers’
campuses, offering health care for their workers with no insurance companies involved.
A Marion County judge has frozen certain Hansen & Horn Group Inc. funds after the Indianapolis homebuilder failed to pay
a $183,000 legal judgment. The move sheds light on the severity
of the company’s woes.
Doctors for Patient Care says doctors and patients need to get involved in the current debate over health care to preserve the good qualities of the current health care system while fixing its problems.
The unsustainable
system of health care that we now find ourselves participating in has been decades in the making. What makes us think we can
fix it—really fix it—overnight?
Dr. Jane Fesenmeier, a pediatrician, has joined St. Vincent Physician Network in Brownsburg. Prior to joining St. Vincent, she served as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Dr. Keith Cushing, a neurologist at Indianapolis-based Josephson, Wallack, Munshower Neurology, has begun practicing at Johnson Memorial Hospital’s medical office building in Franklin.
Connie Brandes, a registered nurse, has been appointed director of ambulatory services at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers. She will oversee the hospital’s occupational health, renal dialysis and wound-care departments. She formerly directed the hospital’s emergency and ambulatory nursing services. Jason Kaufman, a registered nurse, has been appointed to replace Brandes as director of emergency services.
Sondra K. Hutchison, a registered nurse, has been named manager of occupational health at St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers. Previously, she worked at Arnett Clinic Occupational Health in Lafayette.
Indiana companies achieved second- and third-place finishes in Purdue University’s life sciences business plan competition
this year. Nano-Rad LLC, based in West Lafayette, won $36,000 for being runner-up. It is developing low-dose
radiation therapy for zapping edges of tumors left over after surgery. The third-place finisher was Lafayette-based Glytrix
Inc. It won $14,000 for its plan for therapies that reduce skin scarring after surgery. The winner was Massachusetts-based
Novophage Technology, which is developing a corneal-repair device for patients’ eyes as an alternative to expensive
corneal transplants. It took home $30,000.
Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences,
still a bit player in the seed business, continues to partner with its larger rivals to expand its market presence. Dow Agro,
a subsidiary of Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co., signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement to share its herbicide-tolerant
trait for soybeans with Delaware-based DuPont and its Pioneer unit. In exchange, Pioneer is licensing non-exclusively its
Optimum GAT herbicide-tolerant trait for soybeans to Dow Agro. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
St.
Vincent Health and OrthoIndy are the latest hospital and physician groups to run into each others’
arms in response to the reform winds coming out of Washington, D.C. The Indianapolis-based organizations announced Friday
they will create a management company to handle physician work at St. Vincent’s hospitals in Indianapolis. St. Vincent also
acquired a minority stake in OrthoIndy’s orthopedic hospital, located a few miles west of St. Vincent’s flagship facility
on West 86th Street. All doctors face a 21-percent cut to Medicare reimbursement next year unless Congress steps in to change
it, which it has done in the past. And with Congress spending nearly $1 trillion to expand health insurance coverage, doctors
have small hopes that reimbursement from federal programs will reverse their recent trends of falling or staying flat.
“Clearly, when we did this transaction, we had an eye on health care reform,” said John Martin, CEO of OrthoIndy,
a group of more than 70 physicians who specialize in bone, joint and spine therapy.
Arcadia
Resources Inc. lost $4.1 million, or 3 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of $3.2
million, or 2 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 percent, to $25.6 million. Indianapolis-based
Arcadia is trying to grow its DailyMed pharmaceutical service, which packages the right dosages of prescriptions into individual
packets, to make it easier for patients on numerous medications to stick to their regimens. Arcadia announced Monday it is
rolling out DailyMed in California. While Arcadia’s pharmacy revenue grew slower than expected, it still soared 181 percent
over the same quarter last year, to $3.4 million. Profit margins in that business also grew to 15.1 percent, up from 11.1
percent in the previous quarter.
The National Institutes of Health have given $1.3 million to Indiana
University to establish the East African Center of Excellence in Health Informatics. The new center will help East
African countries use electronic health records to increase the efficiency and quality of health care.
The specter of declining reimbursement, as well as the desire for statewide growth, lie behind St. Vincent Health’s decision
to form a physician management firm with OrthoIndy and buy a minority stake in its Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital.
St. Vincent Health has acquired a minority interest in Indiana Orthopaedic Hospital and is in discussions with OrthoIndy physicians
and other independent doctors to create a management company that would oversee orthopaedic and spine services at St. Vincent
Indianapolis. The health care providers announced the deal early Friday.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana is doling out $3.1 million to Indianapolis-area doctors—its first payments
based on a local quality measuring system.
Indianapolis-based Arcadia Resources Inc. has appointed former Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith to its
board of directors. Goldsmith, who served as mayor from 1992 to 2000, is a professor in the American
Government Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He will replace Tres Lund, a
major Arcadia shareholder.
Dr. Christine Davis has joined St. Vincent Physician
Network in Indianapolis. The internist received her medical degree from the University of Louisville
School of Medicine.
Community Health Network promoted Jon Fohrer to CEO of its ambulatory
services. He has served as network vice president of ambulatory services since November 2002 and led the orthopedic
service line since 2006. Fohrer holds a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University and an MBA from Butler University.
Indianapolis-based Clarian Health has named Mike Yost its executive director of marketing. Yost was
a brand leader at locally based Eli Lilly and Co. for its Zyprexa and Cymbalta drugs.
Clarian also named attorney Tory Castor its vice president of government affairs. Castor worked at Hays
Murray Castor LLP and Bingham McHale.
