China remains a small market for Eli Lilly and Co. It generated $320 million in sales for the company in 2010, just 1.3 percent of its $23 billion in sales worldwide. But Lilly has big ambitions in China and is racing to capitalize on its rapid economic growth.
The Warsaw-based maker of orthopedic implants has filed suit to stop a Detroit-area law firm from making allegedly false claims and using its trademarks on websites designed to attract plaintiffs to sue Zimmer over one of its knee-replacement implants called NexGen.
The Mishawaka-based Franciscan Alliance plans to spend $8.4 million to open an administrative center in Greenwood, creating 84 jobs in the next four years.
In this installment of IBJ's Who's Who series, meet key members of the city’s banking and finance sector. They include bankers, fund managers, venture capitalists, lawyers, financial planners and others who influence the movement and availability of money in the local economy.
Physicians are regarded as smart, successful and helpful when you’re sick—but not usually as a big driver of the economy. Now, however, physician trade groups are arguing that docs are good for business too.
In the not-too-distant future, scientists tell us, we will regard the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy agents as akin to the bleeding therapy administered by 19th century country doctors. And a Purdue University chemist has developed a tool to help make the future of laser-guided cancer therapies a reality. W. Andy Tao has developed a nanopolymer that can be coated with drugs, enter cells and then be removed to determine which proteins in the cells the drug has entered. Knowing which proteins are targeted would allow drug developers to test whether new drugs target only desired proteins or others as well. Eliminating unintended protein targets could reduce the often-serious side effects associated with cancer drugs. Tao said there currently is no reliable way to test drugs for “off-targeting.”
Indianapolis-based Medical Animatics, a 3D animation company, is making a foray into the game business. The company will develop a game for kids ages 6-12 to help them learn safe behaviors at home, in their neighborhoods, at school or at a park. Medical Animatics will develop the game for Ohio-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Health games designed to be both educational and enjoyable are being developed by two other companies with Indiana ties—Bloomington-based Wisdom Tools LLC and Indianapolis-based Gabriel Entertainment, as well as by growing numbers of developers around the country. Medical Animatics also develops 3D animated instructional and informational materials for the health care, higher education and sports industries.
Northern Indiana's Manchester College plans to begin work this summer on its new $18 million pharmacy school. School spokeswoman Jeri Kornegay said Thursday that a ground-breaking for the 75,000-square-foot building in Fort Wayne is expected early this summer, possibly in June. Until the building is complete in July 2012, the college's School of Pharmacy will continue to occupy space at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, about 30 miles east of North Manchester. The project is supported by a $35 million grant from Lilly Endowment that's the largest gift in the college's history. While pharmacy schools have opened on a rapid pace around the nation in recent years, Indiana is one of 18 states with a shortage of pharmacists. Manchester’s will be the third in Indiana offering doctorates in pharmacy, joining schools at Butler University in Indianapolis and Purdue University in West Lafayette.
Mishawaka-based Franciscan Alliance plans to spend $8.4 million to open an administrative center in Greenwood, creating nearly 85 jobs in the next four years. The Catholic health care system, formerly known as Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, will buy, remodel and equip the 96,505-square-foot freestanding building at 1040 Sierra Drive. The administrative center—dubbed the Franciscan Ambulatory Business Office—will house all physician billing operations for the organization’s 13 hospitals in Indiana and Illinois. Franciscan Alliance employs 18,200, including 556 physicians, and expects to grow its physician team to more than 630 next year. Hiring at the administrative center should begin in April as renovations are made. Franciscan Alliance is the second hospital system to announce plans recently to consolidate operations in central Indiana. In October, St. Louis-based Ascension Health, the parent organization of St. Vincent Health, decided to locate a $10.9 million professional service center in Indianapolis, creating up to 500 jobs by 2013.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the best hospitals in the Indianapolis area based on the ones that have medical specialty groups of either national prominence or high performance on such metrics as survival, safety, staffing, technology and patient volumes. Topping the list was the downtown medical complex of Clarian Health, now called Indiana University Health. The academic medical center—which includes Methodist, IU and Riley hospitals—ranked nationally in 11 areas, including gastroenterology, urology, geriatrics, orthopedics, neurosurgery and cancer. It also scored as high-performing in gynecology. Coming in second in the ranking was St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital, which scored as high-performing in 12 specialties. Other hospitals in the local top five were IU Health North Hospital, St. Vincent Carmel Hospital and, in a tie for fifth place, St. Vincent Heart Center and Wishard Health Services.
Visionary Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Community Health Network, appointed Dr. Larry Monn as chief operating officer. VEI oversees Community’s joint ventures with physicians. Monn, who has been VEI’s chief medical officer since 2007, fills the position left vacant by Kyle Fisher, who was promoted to CEO of VEI. Monn, a plastic surgeon, earned his medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Alliance Home Health Care hired Dr. Charles F. Hasbrook as its medical adviser. Hasbrook currently serves as the medical care provider at Larue Carter Hospital Primary Care Clinic. He earned his medical degree from IU School of Medicine.
The IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center has added six research fellows: Dr. Helmut Hanenberg focuses on DNA repair disorders in children; Susan Hickman is developing a research program focused on decision-making in patients with advanced cancer; Yan Liu investigates how stem cells in the blood remain dormant and renew themselves; Brenna McDonald studies leukemia, breast cancer, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury on patients' brains; Kevin Rand studies hope, optimism and life goals among cancer patients, and how they relate to treatment decisions and well-being; and Nathan Stupiansky explores cancer prevention and cancer vaccines, such as the HPV vaccine.
Rick Holigrocki, a clinical psychologist, has been named dean of the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Indianapolis. He has been serving as acting dean since August. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Windsor.
Being an accountable care organization will be the major leagues of health care after the federal Medicare program set a high bar for the new kind of doctor-hospital organization.
The Indianapolis university originally hoped to open state’s second medical school in fall 2012, but that time line proved too aggressive.
Dr. Kevin B. Gebke has been named OneAmerica Professor of Preventive Health Medicine and chairman of the Indiana University Department of Family Medicine. He has been interim co-chair of the department since July 2009. He succeeds Dr. Douglas McKeag, who chaired the department for 10 years. Gebke received his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
Dr. Lisa Altuglu, a pediatrician, has joined St. Vincent Physician Network in Indianapolis. Altuglu earned her medical degree from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown, Ohio.
Sarah Knisely-King, a registered nurse, has been named director of the emergency department at Community Hospital South. She returned to Community South after serving as interim nurse manager and assistant director of emergency care at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Fla. She earned her nursing degrees at Purdue University.
Dr. Aasha Trowbridge has been appointed medical director for Franciscan St. Francis Neighborhood Health Center, succeeding Dr. Mercy Obeime, who has been promoted to the newly created role of director for global and community health. Obeime will continue to see patients at the neighborhood clinic, but will also help expand Franciscan St. Francis Health’s involvement in health problems that extend beyond its local and national boundaries.
Physicians, dentists, nurses, veterinarians, pharmacists and other medical workers would have to undergo a criminal background check when applying for a new state license under a bill approved Tuesday by an Indiana House committee.
Physicians, dentists, nurses, veterinarians, pharmacists and other medical workers would have to undergo a criminal background check when applying for a new state license under a bill approved Tuesday by an Indiana House of Representatives committee, according to the Associated Press. The House Public Health Committee voted 7-1 in favor of the bill, which would permit state boards to suspend, deny or revoke the licenses of people with criminal offenses determined to affect the person's ability to perform their duties. The Senate already has approved a version of the bill, which also would allow state boards to randomly select some seeking license renewals for criminal checks. Nearly 200,000 people are currently licensed or certified in one of the 20 professions specified in the bill. The bill allows action against a person's license if they've been convicted of various offenses, including illegal drug possession, fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance and sex crimes.
After two setbacks in the United States, Eli Lilly and Co. and Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. won the backing of European Union regulators for Bydureon, their once-weekly diabetes medicine. The London-based European Medicines Agency recommended Bydureon for approval in adults with Type 2 diabetes, according to a statement from the companies. The drug still must receive final approval from the European Commission. Bydureon is a long-acting version of Byetta, the twice-daily drug introduced by Indianapolis-based Lilly and San Diego-based Amylin in 2005. But Byetta has been losing sales to Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S's once-daily version of the medicine, Victoza, which has also been shown to be slightly more effective at reducing patients’ blood-sugar levels than Bydureon in a clinical trial. Lilly and Amylin had hoped to get Byrdureon approved a year ago. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration delayed a decision in the spring and then in October demanded a new study of Bydureon’s effects on patients’ hearts. Lilly and Amylin expect to resubmit Bydureon to the FDA in the second half of this year. Analysts expect sales of Bydureon to top $1 billion a year and perhaps even approach $2 billion. Byetta had sales last year of $710 million, while Victoza rang up $450 million.
Indianapolis-based NICO Corp. won approval to sell its Myriad surgical device in Europe, the company reported last week. NICO can now sell its minimally invasive brain-tumor-removal device in the 27 countries that constitute the European Union. The Myriad device has been for sale in the United States since 2009 and has been used in more than 1,000 procedures, involving both adults and children. About 2 million people worldwide are diagnosed each year with a brain tumor.
Indianapolis-based Krieg DeVault LLP hired Jason D. Schultz as an associate in its health care practice, working from the firm’s office in Mishawaka. Schultz focuses on transactions and compliance for hospitals, physician groups, mental health facilities, radiology facilities and medical device manufacturers. He previously worked for Indianapolis-based Baker & Daniels LLP.
Indiana University Health named Dr. Douglas Schwartzentruber medical director of cancer services and associate director for clinical affairs at the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis. Schwartzentruber, a surgical oncologist, most recently was medical director of cancer care at IU Health’s hospital in Goshen. Last year he was named to Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world for his research showing potential for a vaccine therapy to treat cancer. He is a graduate of the IU School of Medicine and a former research investigator at the National Cancer Institute.
IU Health hired James G. Terwilliger as vice president of cancer services for its statewide network of hospitals. Most recently, Terwilliger served as executive vice president of cancer centers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Terwilliger holds a bachelors degree from Boston University and a masters of public health from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Indiana Health Information Exchange named Jim Hill vice president of sales. Previously, Hill was CEO of his own software company, Achievant, which provided human capital-management services. Hill holds a bachelor's degree from IU and an MBA in marketing from Butler University.
Carnival barkers hustle you into the “doctor’s office,” where virtually any diagnosis leads to a “prescription” for the FDA-unapproved “Sour Diesel.”
Capital from members of StepStone Angels could fund business incubator’s tenants.
Roche Diagnostics Corp. won regulatory approval for a new HPV test, giving it a technological edge in the $300 million market for automated cervical cancer tests.
Community Hospital South has hired Dr. Sheryl King as director of inpatient pediatrics. She holds a medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine. King practiced in Bloomington for 12 years before moving her practice to Johnson County in 2007.
Community South Hospital named Cheri Pfahler, a registered respiratory therapist, as its neonatal and pediatric cardiopulmonary manager. She comes to Community after serving as clinical coordinator of respiratory care for women’s and children’s services at Franciscan St. Francis Health.
Community Health Network named Jessie Westlund, a registered nurse, its chief integration officer. Westlund has previously been CEO of Community’s home health services unit.
Community Health Network also named Tom Malasto as chief operating officer of its three Indianapolis hospitals: Community North and the Indiana Heart Hospital in Castleton, Community East and Community South, along the county line between Marion and Johnson counties. Malasto has previously been CEO of the Indiana Heart Hospital.
Victor Esan has accepted the position of chief practice officer of IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where he will work to form and grow physician partnerships in and around Muncie. Esan previously worked at Howard Regional Health System in Kokomo. He earned master's degrees in public management and business administration from Indiana University Kokomo.
India J. Taylor Owens, a registered nurse, has been selected as director of emergency services at Franciscan St. Francis Health, overseeing the emergency departments at Franciscan’s Beech Grove, Indianapolis and Mooresville hospitals. Owens most recently served as director for emergency services at Indiana University Health West Medical Center in Avon.
WellPoint Inc. named Meg Rush vice president of consumer experience and e-marketing. Most recently, Rush served as vice president of product management and design for WebMD Health Services. Rush holds a bachelor's degree from St. John Fisher College in New York and a master's of management degree from Pennsylvania State University.
Adam Chavers has joined Indiana University Health as executive director of corporate real estate for the chain’s hospitals statewide. Before joining IU Health, Chavers served for seven years as Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Inc.’s vice president of acquisitions, dispositions and investor relations.
Tippecanoe County residents may despise Indiana University sports teams, but they seem to have had no problem welcoming IU to their community to provide health care.
Dad isn’t just recording workout data or accessing records that already exist, he’s creating his own diagnostic information.
