Three promising efforts are under way in Indianapolis to unite the community and propel us forward. I hope we pursue each initiative with a sense of urgency and change the trajectory on our health, skills and economic prosperity.
More than 500 of the country’s best swimmers will be in Indianapolis this week to compete in the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships in the IU Natatorium at IUPUI. The event, which runs Tuesday through Saturday, is a qualifier for the world championships next month in Spain. About 20 Olympians, including Ryan Lochte, will appear at a Fan Expo during the event.
Hostess Brands LLC has asked the city for a tax abatement on $10 million in new equipment. City officials might decide on July 3, but Hostess is moving ahead with its plans to reopen the plant that closed in November.
An eastern Indiana city could sell the factory to a cabinet company for $1 as part of a deal for it to hire more than 300 workers.
It looks like Eli Lilly and Co. has a winner. The Indianpaolis-based drugmaker’s experimental diabetes drug dulaglutide helped patients with Type 2 diabetes lose weight while suffering only manageable side effects, according to Phase 3 clinical trial data released over the weekend at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Chicago. According to Bloomberg News, dulaglutide, if approved, may be a significant competitor to Novo Nordisk A/S’ Victoza, which generated $1.64 billion in 2012. A clinical trial comparing the drugs may report results by the end of the year. “We look at the space and we feel we have an opportunity to offer a significant new product,” said Sherry Martin, senior medical director for diabetes development at Indianapolis-based Lilly. The company plans to submit the drug to U.S. regulators for approval by the end of this year. Dulaglutide is projected to sell $835 million in 2018, according to the average of six analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Martin said the drug would be the only weekly injection in the class that doesn’t require patients to prepare the dose for administration.
The California Public Employees Retirement System saved $5.5 million, or 19 percent of its affected medical claims, under a two-year pilot project with Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. that steered patients away from high-cost health care providers that don’t produce better outcomes. WellPoint executives told Bloomberg News that the cost-capping, or reference-pricing, policy employed in the pilot program is now gaining momentum among employers. The California pension program, known as Calpers, became a partner in the pilot program after a WellPoint analysis found similar hip and knee surgeries cost anywhere from $15,000 to $110,000 per patient, with no difference in patient outcomes, according to Bloomberg. So in 2011, Calpers and WellPoint’s Anthem Blue Cross unit began steering patients toward 46 hospitals that agreed to keep their costs below $30,000—known as the program's “reference price.” If workers went to another provider, then they were responsible for any costs above $30,000. About 400 members opted for the designated hospitals in 2011, a 21-percent increase over previous years. Calpers’ in-patient costs for hip and knee surgeries dropped to an average of $28,695 from $35,400, according to WellPoint. The study was conducted by HealthCore, a research unit owned by WellPoint, and released Sunday at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Baltimore.
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine blocked the progression of Type 1 diabetes among newly diagnosed patients using a drug originally sold to treat psoriasis. In a clinical trial involving 49 patients, those who were given the drug alefacept (sold under the brand name Amevive) kept producing the same amount of insulin over the next year, while patients receiving a placebo saw their level of insulin drop over the same period. If the results are repeated in studies involving more patients, the drug could enable Type 1 diabetics to maintain some insulin production and avoid the debilitating complications caused by the disease, said Dr. Mark R. Rigby, a professor of pediatrics at the IU medical school. Nearly 3 million people are estimated to have Type 1 diabetes in the United States. Although the disease can be managed with insulin injections, it cannot be reversed or cured. Long-term complications can include visual impairment, heart disease, stroke, problems in the extremities leading to amputation, and other problems.
An Indiana University School of Medicine researcher has received a $3.8 million three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study estrogen as a treatment for schizophrenia using an unreleased drug developed by Eli Lilly and Co. A team led by Dr. Alan Breier, a professor of psychiatry at the IU medical school, will use a drug discovered by Lilly scientists that mimics some of the actions of the hormone estrogen, but without many of the side effects, such as feminization in men and uterine cancer in women. Breier's study is one of nine projects to receive support from a new NIH program called Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules.
With recent attention focused on hospital prices, WellPoint and its peers have been enjoying a nice break from their long-running status as Public Enemy No. 1 in the nation’s health care debate. They shouldn’t expect it to last.
About 20 years ago, I wrote about neighbors trapped under an impenetrable dome. No, I won’t be getting a royalty check.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s writing/directing debut to close Indianapolis International Film Festival in July.
Fox Studios Inc., the venerable stained glass company whose work is on display at countless churches throughout the state and even the Indiana Statehouse, is closing.
“Hoosier History Live!” is believed to be the nation’s only live, call-in show about a state’s history. The 5-year-old show has only an estimated 1,000 listeners, but they tend to be those who are passionate about all things Hoosier heritage.
We have plenty to celebrate, most of which happens on the field of play. The bad stuff happens on the fringes.
What if we had a public school system the entire city could be proud of?
Indy-area runners will have a chance to run through the tunnel and onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for the first Colts Back to Football Run on Aug. 24. The five-kilometer race will end at the 50-yard line.
Buyers coming into the market range from retirees to wealthy executives and even modest earners.
Stuck for something to do this weekend? Start with one of Indy’s most popular festivals and consider a concert among the critters.
Eli Lilly and Co.’s injectable form of the antipsychotic Zyprexa is being investigated by U.S. regulators after two patients died three to four days after receiving the drug.
Drug companies like Eli Lilly and Co. can be sued for paying rivals to delay low-cost versions of popular medicines, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a decision that rewrites the rules governing the release of generic drugs.
Eli Lilly and Co. will pay Canadian drug developer Transition Therapeutics Inc. $7 million and take over the development of a potential diabetes treatment heading into mid-stage clinical testing. According to the Associated Press, Transition said Monday it also could receive up to $240 million in additional payments, plus royalties, if the treatment is eventually approved and sold. It also will pay Indianapolis-based Lilly $14 million in three installments during the mid-stage study. The drug, labeled TT-401, is being developed to treat the most common form of diabetes, type 2, and accompanying obesity. Demand for drugs that treat diabetes is climbing as rising instances of obesity are causing an explosion of diabetes cases globally.
The Indiana University School of Medicine won a $1 million grant from the American Medical Association to launch a virtual health system curriculum for training medical students. The med school is one of 11 grant recipients. IU will use a teaching version of an electronic medical record system to help students use huge quantities of data to make clinical decisions, as well as to monitor the cost of their decisions. Medical school officials said the virtual health system curriculum will be better suited to the changing health care environment its students will encounter after graduation.
Starting July 1, a new state law will allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations for pneumonia, tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis, HPV infections and meningitis, according to The Statehouse File news service. Currently, the only immunizations pharmacists can administer are flu shots. Pharmacists must continue to perform immunizations under physician-monitored guidelines. More than 40 states allow pharmacists to provide immunizations, although requirements for education and oversight vary. In Indiana, pharmacists must undergo immunization training. Already, the state has more than 2,700 pharmacists trained to provide the shots and several hundred new ones are added annually.
NFL fans won’t be carrying much into games this season, unless it fits inside a clutch or a zip-lock bag. The NFL revealed a new security policy on Thursday that bans all bags except clear plastic bags that do not exceed approximately a square foot, or small clutch purses or other handheld bags that are roughly the size of your hand. Seat cushions will also be banned this year. According to the NFL, the new policy will increase security and speed up entrance into the stadium. The Indianapolis Colts have announced that they will be complying with the new security measures.
The state's corporate-friendly environmental policies aside, Indianapolis Power and Light Co.’s parent chose the city as its new center for U.S. operations largely because of the utility's billion-dollar upgrades.
