Company news
Eli Lilly and Co.’s osteoporosis drug Forteo was used in the first successful human trial of an implantable device that delivers injectable drugs—showing promise for eliminating the need for regular shots. Massachusetts-based MicroCHIPS Inc. implanted wirelessly controlled drug-delivery devices in women with osteoporosis. The devices delivered daily doses of Forteo into the women’s bloodstreams. The device could be helpful for Lilly and its peers, who are trying to develop more biotech drugs like Forteo. Such drugs are typically made up of large proteins, which cannot be reduced to pill form and must instead be injected. Many patients resist taking injectable drugs and many do not fully comply with their prescribed regimens.
A Cicero-based developer plans to build a $15.7 million senior health care center at 16th Street and Arlington Avenue on Indianapolis’ east side. The city’s Metropolitan Development Commission approved the project Wednesday after accepting Mainstreet Property Group LLC’s offer to purchase the property for $912,500. Mainstreet plans to begin construction in July and finish by June 2013. The facility would include 100 beds for skilled care, short-term rehabilitation and assisted-living patients. The facility is expected to create up to 150 jobs, said Zeke Turner, Mainstreet’s CEO. Overall, the company owns or co-owns 13 senior health care centers in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, and has six more under development. It plans to break ground on as many as 12 centers by the end of the year, including a $13.3 million facility in Westfield, Turner said.
Marian University is looking to hire as many as 25 professors to help launch its College of Osteopathic Medicine, which is slated to open in August 2013. The school, which would be Indiana’s second medical school, would train 150 physicians each year. Marian, a small Catholic university in Indianapolis, wants to hire as many as three professors in each of seven disciplines: anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, physiology, pharmacology and pathology.
