Capitalizing on the newfound national reputation of Butler’s men’s basketball means the relatively small program must raise its revenue game—without pricing the Bulldog faithful out of the arena.
It’s ironic that the last man rumored to be moving an NFL franchise to Los Angeles might now be one of the obstacles for a new NFL owner cropping up in the City of Angels.
Dr. David Roodman has been named director of hematology oncology at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. He also will begin Nov. 15 as a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Four researchers from his bone disease lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will move with him. Over the past 10 years, Roodman has received significant financial support for his research, including more than $13.2 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health. He was recruited to IU through a physician scientist initiative funded by a $60 million grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc.
Dr. Justin Smith has joined the St. Vincent Physician Network in Fishers. He offers primary care to all ages and has a special interest in sports medicine and preventive care. Smith has a bachelor’s degree from Butler University and did his medical training at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Krystal L. Cole, a certified physician’s assistant, has joined Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons with St. Francis Medical Group. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Indiana University and did her physician assistant studies at Western University of Health Sciences in California.
Nicole G. Barnes, a registered dietitian, has been appointed clinical nutrition manager for Franciscan St. Francis Health. Since 2006, she has served as a clinical dietitian for the hospital system. Barnes received a master’s degree in dietetics at D’Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University.
A few years back, the Indianapolis-based American College of Sports Medicine created the American Fitness Index, ranking the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. To no surprise, the Indianapolis area has never ranked well—coming in 44th last year and 45th this year. But now, the College of Sports Medicine is piloting a program—in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City—that will try to do something about it. The college, which includes physicians, researchers and other health professionals, will interview leaders in both cities to identify key areas for action, then offer expert assistance to launch efforts to boost physical activity, and try to reduce rates of smoking, obesity and other maladies. The goal is to add four additional cities in 2012 and 2013 each, bringing the total to 10 communities that will receive tailored technical assistance. The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis are both supporting the pilot.
BioCrossroads’ Indiana Seed Fund has invested $300,000 in a startup company developing an absorbable stent to treat cardiovascular disease. Zorion Medical is chaired by former Eli Lilly and Co. executive David Broecker, who has moved to Indianapolis from Boston. Broecker, a Wabash College graduate in chemistry and mathematics, previously was president and CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based biopharmaceutical company Alkermes Inc. Broecker also is CEO of BioCritica Inc., a locally based firm founded last May that acquired commercialization rights to Lilly’s Xigris, a drug to treat the blood infection sepsis. Zorion developed a stent that can be absorbed into the body—as opposed to existing stents made of metal. The biomaterial also can deliver drugs to help heal the artery.
Los Angeles-based CBRE Inc. says Indiana University Health is cheating it out of commissions related to several real estate deals in Indianapolis, Lafayette, Frankfort and Mooresville. Most notable is IU Health’s canceled plan for a $73 million administrative office building at 16th Street and Capitol Avenue, which would have been built near a $120 million neuroscience hub across the street from IU Health's Methodist Hospital campus. IU Health instead purchased the Gateway Tower plaza at 10th and Illinois streets to house administrative staff. Officials told IBJ in March the price was so good on Gateway Plaza—where the hospital system already rents 130,000 square feet—that they couldn’t refuse. Attorneys for IU Health declined to comment because the ligitation is pending.
The California-based St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which raises money for childhood cancer research, awarded a $145,566 grant to Dr. Jodi Skiles, a pediatric researcher at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research, conducted in the United States and in Kenya, will focus on developing individualized dosing regimens of vincristine, a core anticancer agent used in many childhood cancers, which reaches toxic levels for some patients much more quickly than others.
Buses in Bloomington and on the Indiana University campus could lose funding starting in 2014 if local officials don’t include Interstate 69 in their transportation infrastructure plans.
Lots of new restaurants and frozen-yogurt spots are coming to Indianapolis.
As constitutional challenges to the health reform law’s mandate to buy insurance advance, WellPoint Inc.’s chief financial officer reiterated that the company does not object to the mandate, just to its lack of penalties.
Cigna Corp. will buy fellow health insurer HealthSpring Inc. in a $3.8 billion deal as it becomes the latest managed care company to snap up a bigger share of the fast-growing Medicare Advantage market.
A widow and empty-nester, Diane Thomas makes space count in her ‘little’ 1920s-era home in the Meridian Kessler neighborhood.
New York-based Ener1 said in a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it would be suspended from the NASDAQ exchange starting Thursday due to non-compliance with filing requirements.
King Crimson frontman and former guitarist for Frank Zappa, Adrian Belew plays Birdy’s Oct. 27. Details here.
The Indianapolis Children’s Choir celebrates smoky music with ISO’s symphonic organist Martin Ellis in a “Music of the Night” concert Oct. 28 at North United Methodist Church. Details here.
Diane Kondrat stars in “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins” at the Waldron Arts Center in Bloomington Oct. 28-Nov. 18. Details here.
Butler University Composer in Residence Michael Schelle premieres a new work as part of the Indiana Wind Symphony’s “Hollywood and Halloween Treats” program Oct. 30 at the Palladium. Details here.
Stephanie J. Block, who wowed the crowd recently in an appearance with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, returns to headline the annual benefit for the Cabaret at the Columbia Club Oct. 28. Details here.
The De Pue Brothers Band (yes, the ISO’s Zach is part of a family of musicians) play the Indiana Landmarks Center Oct. 30. Details here.
The Phoenix Theatre’s rolling world premiere “Jericho” concerns a woman who lost her husband on 9/11. Scot Greenwell and Phoenix newcomer Abby Rowold star. Details here.
Over the last 12 months, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy has conducted license litigation involving at least 35 pharmacy personnel statewide who’ve been accused of stealing drugs from work.
Several local radio employees lost their jobs this week in a round of layoffs by San Antonio-based Clear Channel, the parent company of WRZX-FM 103.3, WFBQ-FM 94.7 and WNDE-AM 1260.
Happiness comes from how you feel about yourself, your family, your friends. Joy is external and temporary. Yes, I’m talking about IU and the Colts.
City leaders and economic development officials planned to pay tribute Oct. 28 to Bush Stadium’s historical significance before work begins to convert the venue into loft apartments.
Security for Indianapolis’ Super Bowl—already ramped up from regular-season NFL games—could get even tighter. Sources said there has been talk of President Obama attending the February event.
What a difference a decade makes. Ten years ago, Eli Lilly and Co. stationed trucks filled with Xigris packages around the country, ready to rush supplies of the severe sepsis medicine to hospitals as soon as it won market approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With the company having lost patent protection on its bestseller Prozac earlier that year, Lilly was desperate to get a new drug on the market. And Xigris, perceived as a breakthrough in a completely unserved market, was thought to be the ticket. Analysts thought the drug would generate as much as $2 billion per year in sales. But last week, Lilly announced it would pull Xigris from the market after a new study showed the drug failed to reduce mortality in patients. In between, Xigris never lived up to its hype. The FDA approved it for a narrower use, limiting its sales. Xigris generated $104 million in revenue last year. In May, Lilly licensed U.S. marketing rights for Xigris to a start-up company, BioCritica Inc.
WellPoint Inc.’s challenge of rate-increase reductions by insurance regulators in Maine will soon reach that state’s highest court—and could have ramifications across the country, according to a report by Kaiser Health News and the Washington Post. WellPoint’s subsidiary, Anthem Health Plans of Maine, will argue Nov. 10 before the Maine Supreme Court that the premium rate increases approved by Maine regulators were "inadequate," because they reduced its built-in profit margin of 3 percent to zero in 2009, 0.5 percent in 2010 and 1 percent this year. If the court sides with WellPoint, the decision "has the potential to destabilize a key aspect of insurance regulation and will have far reaching effects impacting all states,” according to a brief filed in support of the Maine regulators by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. And if WellPoint loses, it could encourage regulators in other states to make similarly aggressive rate reductions. WellPoint also sees national ramifications. The company is spreading the cost of the litigation to policyholders outside of Maine because the outcome could have "a big impact on the industry and not just Anthem," a company official testified during a hearing in April.
Purdue and Indiana universities will share a National Institutes of Health grant to launch a cancer advocacy network and for research on applying systems-engineering principles to cancer prevention and treatment. The $500,000 grant was awarded to Purdue and IU through their joint Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute project. As part of the project, Purdue and IU staff will identify and train recruiters to get more patients enrolled in clinical trials of new cancer treatments.
Third-quarter profit fell nearly 8 percent at WellPoint Inc. but exceeded expectations of Wall Street analysts. WellPoint earned $683.2 million or $1.90 per share. Excluding investment gains, the company would have earned $1.77 per share, 3 cents higher than in the third quarter last year. Analysts were expecting $1.68 per share, excluding investment gains, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. WellPoint’s operating revenue in the quarter rose nearly 6 percent, to $15.16 billion, narrowly topping analysts’ forecast of $15.12 billion. The company pleased analysts by adding 169,000 new members to its insurance plan during the quarter.
Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences on Thursday reported record third-quarter sales of $1.2 billion, up 27 percent from the same period a year ago. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were $75 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, reversing a $12 million loss through greater volume and higher prices. Dow Agro is a unit of Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co.
