House Votes to Repeal Medical Device Tax
Source: Washington Post, Ed O'Keefe  (6/7/12)
"The Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012 would repeal a 2.3% excise tax on gross sales receipts in excess of $5M for manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices, including defibrillators, pacemakers and prosthetic limbs. Congressional budget officials estimate that the tax would raise nearly $30B in revenue between 2013 and 2022." More >

New Technique Offers Better Understanding of Human Tissues
Source: ScienceDaily   (6/6/12)
"The study is one of the first to explore how this technology, called bimodal dual AC mode microscopy, can improve our understanding of human tissues and biomaterials." More >

New AMA Chief: No Chaos with Court's Health Ruling
Source: Associated Press, Lindsey Tanner  (6/6/12)
"The AMA has supported Obama's health overhaul, though a vocal contingent of doctor-members has urged the group to back off that stance." More >

Six Biotech Stocks Riding the Baby Boomer Wave
Source: Diane Alter, Money Morning  (6/6/12)
"While no one has discovered a cure for Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's or other ailments that come along with old age, several biotech companies are racing to cure a long list of diseases and disorders. The prospects are daunting but the possibilities in the biotech field are literally endless, for patients and investors alike." More >

ASCO 2012: Finally, Progress Reported With Targeted Treatments for Lung Cancer
Source: Anette Breindl, BioWorld  (6/5/12)
"While breast cancer's pink ribbons have become a cottage industry, many of lung cancer's victims—even if they are nonsmokers—are less enthusiastic about being the face of a disease that many people view as self-inflicted. But several presentations at this year's ASCO meeting suggested that scientists are beginning to make inroads into the disease, which kills more patients than breast, prostate and colorectal cancer combined." More >

Autologous Immunotherapy Updates at ASCO Further Define Antitumor Immune Responses
Source: Patricia Dimond, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News  (6/4/12)
"Accumulating clinical and immunologic evidence presented at this year's ASCO meeting moved autologous cancer therapeutics further toward meeting the need for less-toxic therapies." More >

Biotech Ideas That Will Change the World: Patrick Cox
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (5/31/12)
For Patrick Cox, disruptive technologies drive change and harbor opportunity. Cox, editor of Breakthrough Technology Alert and Technology Profits Confidential, and a contributor to The Daily Reckoning, strives to find novel ideas in small-cap companies that are off investors' radar screens. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Cox reveals—in his characteristic none-too-shy style—where he believes investors can find huge returns in biotech companies that will change the world. More >

3 Biotech Stocks That Could Change the World
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (5/31/12)
Every investor is in search of a breakthrough that will change the world. Patrick Cox has seen it all before, as an insider at Netscape Communications before it was acquired by AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) at the end of 1998, and before Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) ever noticed that the world was shifting under its feet. The browser revolution began with the straightforward idea that all computer operating systems could be networked with seamless cross-platform ease. I recently interviewed Cox, now editor of Breakthrough Technology Alert and Technology Profits Confidential, for the story "Biotech Ideas That Will Change the World" in The Life Sciences Report. He sees a new revolution in progress as stem cell technologies and targeted therapies begin to change the entire paradigm of medical practice. More >

House Votes to Approve FDA Funding Bill
Source: Reuters, Anna Yukhananov  (5/30/12)
"The House of Representatives approved a bill that helps fund the Food and Drug Administration and gives it new authority to prevent drug shortages and speed reviews of medical devices." More >

The 152-Year-Old Brain That Changed the Course of Science
Source: Michael Robinson, Money Morning  (5/29/12)
"An accident a century and a half ago has provided a major link to one of the biggest quests in all of science: getting a complete map of the human brain. Once we have that under our belts, you will see one biotech breakthrough after another after another." More >

M&A Likely to Grow with Deal Premiums and Multiples
Source: Alex Philippidis, Genetic Engineering & Biotech News  (5/28/12)
"The bad news for the IPO market should be good news for biopharma M&A this year. Big companies are increasingly willing to pay a big price for a larger presence, notably specialty pharma and diagnostics." More >

'Arise and Walk!'—A Miracle Cure in the Works
Source: Severine Kirchner, Daily Reckoning  (5/28/12)
"Stem cell therapies are on the threshold of making truly miraculous cures an everyday event." More >

ASCO Abstracts 2012
Source: Market Technology Stock Newsletter  (5/25/12)
"The ASCO abstracts came out last week and a review of the massive data dump has revealed a few nuggets." More >

Make Friends with Companion Diagnostics to Bolster Your Biotech Portfolio: Stephen Brozak
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (5/24/12)
Hitting just the right target and engineering cells to perform certain tasks will unlock the deep secrets of biology and change the entire paradigm of medicine, says WBB Securities President and Managing Partner Stephen Brozak. He is not picking the ultimate winners just yet, but he is playing stem cell and personalized medicine developers as a diversified portfolio, knowing that successes will overpower the also-rans. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Brozak shares names from his list of finalists. More >

It's Like Having a 'Fountain of Youth' in a Bottle
Source: Michael A. Robinson, Money Morning  (5/23/12)
"Scientists have tweaked a benign virus so that it can extend the lifespan of mammals by up to 24%. And if taken at the right time, this modified virus could extend the average life expectancy for an American to roughly 98 years from the current 78.5." More >

Superior Biotechnology Leads to Superior Drugs
Source: Ray Blanco, The Daily Reckoning  (5/23/12)
"Revolutions in our understanding of the genome and proteome are opening up new pathways toward vanquishing the cancer foe." More >

Collectively, 'Rare' Disease Variants Are Pretty Common
Source: Anette Breindl, BioWorld  (5/22/12)
"The fact that variants are rare does not mean they are not useful for drug discovery. Cholesterol-lowering statins, for example, were identified because of rare variants that lead to extremely low cholesterol levels in their carriers." More >

Health System Builds Telehealth Network; Sees Great Return on Investment
Source: Healthcare Finance News, Erin McCann  (5/22/12)
"Polycom, a video conference and communications company, is helping Saint Vincent Health System build a telehealth network by visually connecting healthcare professionals and patients in virtual environments across 26 facilities in Pennsylvania." More >

Prostate-Cancer Screening Isn't Worth Risks, US Panel Says
Source: Bloomberg, Alex Nussbaum  (5/22/12)
"The 16-doctor panel urged against screening for men of all ages. The report cited the slow growth of most prostate tumors as well as false positive rates that may be as high as 80%." More >

Prostate Cancer Screening Isn't Worth Risks, US Panel Says
Source: Bloomberg, Alex Nussbaum  (5/22/12)
"The 16-doctor panel urged against screening for men of all ages. The report cited the slow growth of most prostate tumors as well as false positive rates that may be as high as 80%." More >

World's First Stem-Cell Drug Approved
Source: Medical News Today  (5/21/12)
"The decision is historic as it's both the first stem-cell drug going into formal use, as well as the first treatment for graft-versus-host disease, a devastating breakdown occurring after a bone marrow transplant that kills around 80% of children affected." More >

Five Companies in the Casey Portfolio Worth Watching: Alex Daley
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (5/17/12)
Biotech and medtech expose investors to rapid growth in healthcare innovation. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Chief Investment Strategist Alex Daley of Casey's Extraordinary Technology matches science to unmet needs to bring big ideas and big returns to investors. More >

Buyout Options Gaining a Foothold
Source: Alex Philippidis, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News  (5/17/12)
"Deals involving buyout rights have two features that make them attractive to smaller partners: up-front payments and a longer-term path to liquidity for their investors." More >

Biotech Stock ETFs: How to Ride the Surge in Mergers & Acquisitions
Source: Don Miller, Money Morning  (5/16/12)
"Investing in biotech stocks requires not only an understanding of the company's finances, but also knowledge of the company's potential based on its products and technologies. You can reduce some of the guesswork by using exchange-traded funds, which give you exposure without betting the farm on a single company." More >

Stakeholders Share Data to Design Better Trials for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Source: Patricia F. Dimond, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News   (5/15/12)
"The Coalition Against Major Diseases is an industrial consortia of companies willing to share precompetitive knowledge and work in support of projects identified as high priority by the FDA and in the interest of public health." More >