Pages

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

外資獨資醫院 將面臨醫保障礙 !

大陸醫藥-公私合營 醫療外資看好商機 2012-06-18 01:13 旺報 【記者李蜚鴻/綜合報導】 大陸積極推出醫改,醫療外資看好商機。(中新社)上海市緊鑼密鼓地籌建國際醫學園區,以便按照醫改方案取銷公立醫院利潤豐厚的特需醫療,值此之際,國際醫療資本非常看好其中的商機。上海市具體解決方案,是建立浦東與虹橋兩大國際醫學園區,提供高端醫療服務,而把公立醫院床位資源還給公眾。
特需醫療 利潤豐厚 據了解,一家美資背景的醫療集團,正在與上海中心城區某著名公立三甲醫院商談合作,可能採取的方式包括共同成立基金做「院中院」,經營從三甲醫院剝離的專科特色。但在此次新醫改中,大陸衛生部明確反對這種「公私合營」的做法。此外,多位醫改研究者與實踐者還提出,目前公立醫院法人治理尚未完善,院方無權擅自處置醫院的資產。鉅亨網報導,公立醫院普遍開設的特需醫療,加劇了優質醫療資源的緊張。大陸五部委於20094月發布的新醫改方案中,提出公立醫院提供特需服務的比例上限為10%。而上海的做法更為徹底,該市20115月正式發布的醫改方案提出:剝離「院中院」,逐步取消公立醫院特需床位。但眾多三甲醫院院長對此持保留意見,他們認為應該區分高端醫療和特需醫療。上海交大附屬第六人民醫院院長賈偉平表示,高端醫療定位高、品質高、價值高,而特需醫療中除了這部分,還包括一般的非基本醫療服務,為很多沒有錢的普通人精心治療,也是公立醫院的責任。對公立醫院而言,特需醫療意味著豐厚利潤,醫療投資方拋出的方案顯然更具吸引力。前述外資醫療集團負責投資收購的高管說,合作方式之一是與公立醫院共同失立有關基金,公立醫院作為有限合夥人,與國際醫療資本進行收購。
外資運營 恐有障礙 上述設想並非異想天開,上海市政府2003年底發布的《關於本市促進社會辦醫發展民辦醫療機構的若干意見(試行)》就曾明確表示,鼓勵社會力量通過醫院管理公司等多種形式,參與公立醫療機構的經營管理,逐步形成公益性和經營性醫療機構錯位競爭、共同發展的基本格局。中國經濟網報導,從實踐方面說,與公立醫院合作是外資進入大陸醫療市場的上佳選擇。這位外資醫療集團的高管表示,雖然外資獨資辦理醫院在政策上已經放開,但純外資醫院實際運營中,在醫保資格認定和額度分配、醫療服務收費和稅收等方面都有障礙。他說:「現在外資醫院還無法與公立大醫院競爭,只能合作。」據了解,美資背景的上海市百瑞腫瘤中心,在2011年開業試運行之前,也與當地多個三甲醫院進行了長時間的合作,包括互相派遣專家、轉診病人等。三甲醫院的聲譽為外資醫療機構打開市場提供了相當有力的支撐。對公立大醫院而言,引進外資投資者也有利於他們提高運營效率。據透露,前述與外資商談「院中院」合作的上海市中心城區某三甲醫院年收入27億元,但利潤只有100萬左右。「社會資本管理的最大優勢就是效率優先」,上海浦東一家曾由民營管理公司托管的公立二級醫院院長說。
贏利模式 環環相扣 引進外資往往意味著同時引進了專業化的醫院管理。在國外,這早已形成良好的贏利模式─相關的藥品和器械採購、體檢、後勤等業務形成了一整條產業鏈,每一個環節都可以作為一個「贏利點」,而醫療業務本身則可從逐利中退出。但在此次新醫改中,衛生部對上述「公私合營」的模式始終沒有鬆口。對於「社會資本利用公共資源『搭便車』營利」的爭議,該高管指出,在合作過程中,外資醫療資本也有品牌、管理等無形資產投入。反對的觀點還認為,目前公立醫院的法人治理結構尚不完善,醫院所有者普遍缺位,院方無權擅自處置醫院的資產。外資醫療資本對公立大醫院趨之若鶩的背後,仍然是優質醫療資源、特別是高端醫療人才的爭奪,其成因既包括優質資源的數量短缺,也包括配置扭曲和使用浪費,這些正是新醫改必須著力解決、卻至今未有關鍵突破的問題。

成大&日本富士通 合作分析台灣健保資料 !!

成大、富士通 合作基因資料庫【聯合報╱記者修瑞瑩/台南報導】 2012.06.19 09:03 am成大與日本超級電腦團隊合作建置基因庫 / 修瑞瑩 成功大學昨天與日本富士通簽約,雙方將進行超級電腦運算合作,日方最有興趣的是台灣的健保資料,希望透過運算,找出更佳的疾病治療與預防方法,不過因人權團體反對,台日合作只能步步為營。成大表示,健保局過去提供資料供學術機構或醫界進行研究,被人權團認為洩露個資及販賣資料,因此原本計畫與日方合作的超級電腦分析案,停滯不前,但健保資料庫如果能在保護個資的原則下,由超級電腦分析,必能找出許多有利國人健康並節省健保資源的關鍵。富士通顧問武田春仁昨天表示,日本不像台灣有完整的健保資料,因此即使擁有超級電腦,仍然無法進一步運算出有用的資料,發展停頓,台灣有這項優勢,如果沒有善加利用,非常可惜。成大健康資料加值應用研究中心主任呂宗學昨天也表示,政府不公開健保資料進行分析,才是剝奪台灣人權,因為利用分析可以知道哪些人吃了不該吃的藥、哪些治療是無效的,否則有多少病人是冤死的都不知道。富士通在日本政府協助下建置超級電腦「京」,可運算大量資料,知名的「自然」雜誌4年前曾報導,因超級電腦產生,世界將進入「大資料(Big Data)」時代,許多過去要花費多年蒐集整理的資料,利用超級電腦短時間就能完成。富士通總經理池上一郎昨天與成大校長黃煌煇簽署合作備忘錄,將一起建置生物基因資料庫,協助台灣培養相關人才。富士通希望與台灣進一步展開健保資料分析合作。


「京」(K Computer)是富士通與日本理化學研究所共同開發的超級電腦。位於日本神戶的理化學研究所內。名字來源於中文數字單位「京」,即1016次方。預定20126月完成計算機系統的構築工作,並於同年11月正式運行。在20116月,TOP500宣布硬體還未全部組裝完成的京的LINPACK測試達到了每秒8.162拍次浮點運算(8.162petaFLOPS),即每秒8162萬億次運算,同時效率達到了93.0%,使其成為世界上最快的超級電腦。至20111115止在美國公布比較結果。「京」繼6月的比賽結果後,此次仍然奪得世界第一 同年11月,全部組裝完成後的京LINPACK性能達到10PFLOPS(即每秒1京),創下了10.51PFLOPS的紀錄,與邏輯性能11.28PFLOPS相比,運行效率達到93.2%。
Source: 维基百科

台灣生技整合育成中心 (SI2C) 鎖定蛋白質藥物 !!

生技種子基金 看上蛋白質藥  【經濟日報╱記者黃文奇/台北報導】 2012.06.19 04:10 am 台灣生技整合育成中心(SI2C)昨(18)日宣布重大進展,首席顧問蘇懷仁團隊表示,近期召開成立的首度選題機制,在7件具潛力的候選案源中,已遴選出一個具有潛力的蛋白質藥物,SI2C籌備中的「種子基金」,招手日星韓已有眉目。蘇懷仁近期與科技政委張善政、工研院生醫所所長邵耀華等人,同赴美國波士頓參加「2012北美國際生物科技產業展(BIO 2012)」,並宣布近期SI2C選題進度與營運概況。SI2C成立於去年11月,為行政院生技起飛鑽石行動方案4大支柱之一,主要任務是評估、建構及串連產業價值鏈研發能力、平台及核心設施,讓有潛力的新藥與醫材能順利往價值鏈後端推動;並建立選題機制,發掘篩選國內外具潛力案源,進行輔導與協助,預計明年上半年轉型為民間育成新創公司。據SI2C透露,最受注目的種子基金,將於724日國內舉辦的「亞洲生技商機高峰會議」期間,向日本、韓國、新加坡、美國的育成中心領導人探詢合作機會,也意味近期蘇懷仁透露的「SI2C種子基金招手日星韓」已有眉目。在選題進度方面,SI2C表示,今年6月首度召開新藥開發盤點委員會,已在7件具潛力的候選案源中,選出一件案源進行深入評估,該獲選藥物為蛋白質藥物為國內研究機構所研發,未來投入發展的資金來源包括政府資金、民間法人投資及原研究機構的計畫研究經費等。BIO 2012大會期間,蘇懷仁也將於621日主持一場論壇,與來自產官學研界的講員共同探討,如何能讓台灣現今在特有疾病領域的藥物與醫材開發,價值鏈能量能受到國際肯定與認同。為擴大發掘具潛力案源的來源,蘇懷仁也將於BIO大會期間的年中舉辦的「BTC海外會議」,討論如何借重BTC委員的協助,與美國、歐洲及亞洲的學研及創投界建立連接及合作關係。【2012/06/19 經濟日報】

農委會 協助 農業科技 IPO !

農委會出招 助標竿農企上市櫃【經濟日報╱葉小慧】 2012.06.19 04:27 am 農委會扶植標竿農企業,希望促進透過多元管道取得資金,櫃買中心副總經理朱竹元表示,農企業最終是要掛牌取得直接資金,大江生醫已申請登錄興櫃,正式IPO指日可待。為協助農企業邁向資本市場,增闢籌資管道提供農業市場競爭力,台灣金融研訓院昨(18)日舉辦「農企業籌資宣導及案例分享研討會」,吸引大江生醫、龍佃海洋生技、芬芳食品等業者及創投業者參加。農委會去年12月訂定農業科技或新創事業具市場性意見書作業要點,提供評估意見書給證交所或櫃買中心,可望縮短12年的上市櫃時程。2012/06/19 經濟日報】

β-Carotene 生產商 立弘生化 上櫃 (Q2 2013)

立弘生化本週四開法說 明年Q2上櫃 去年獲利暴增238倍  2012/6/19  鉅亨網提供 從事營養保健食品的立弘生化科技(1780),將於本週四(21)日召開登錄興櫃後首場法人說明會,公司預計年底前送件申請上櫃。立弘去年在高毛利產品出貨大幅成長帶動下,獲利大爆發,稅後淨利達1529萬元,年增達238倍,每股稅後純益0.16元,公司預計年底前申請上櫃,明年上半年掛牌。 立弘成立於90年,從事營養保健食品(Nutraceutical)生產銷售,主力產品為類胡蘿蔔素(β-Carotene),主要用途為食品添加物及飼料添加物。營養保健食品是屬高科技產業,生產技術極為艱難的科技產品。 目前全世界所需β-Carotene 9成以上是以合成法為主,而合成法製造廠商完全掌握在荷蘭的DSM及德國的BASF公司自創品牌AltrateneR提供客製化服務產品,目前已成為全球第三大及亞洲第一家有能力生產類胡蘿蔔素全系列產品的廠商。立弘為建構發展成為一個營養保健商品之專業產銷公司,除了目前以食品添加物及飼料添加物為主要訴求外,預計於近年內擴展至保健藥品及化妝品等利基市場,並成為中國市場最主要的類胡蘿蔔素供應廠商。近年來人們普遍都有「預防保健」的概念、對營養保健品的接受度也很高。 隨著人們生活水準提昇、保建意識逐漸增強、高齡化社會到來及文明病增加,保健品的使用量也將迅速成長。目前全球保健品的需求量以每年約6%的成長率成長,預計到2011年市場總值約為1590億美金,立弘未來具有相當大的爆發力。 立弘2010年營收3.74億元,營業毛利9525萬元,毛利率25.47%,稅後淨利6.4萬元,每股稅後純益損平;2011年營收3.82億元,營業毛利1.1億元,毛利率28.8%,稅後淨利1529萬元,每股稅後純益0.16元。

神經膠細胞(astrocyte) 不再只是 "清道夫" 可能與記憶有關 !!

Researchers develop new drug that blocks traumatic memories  June 19, 2012 in Medical research    Understanding memory is still one of the greatest challenges in science. In recent years, no one doubted the role that neurons played in the formation of cerebral networks. A few years ago however, the scientific world turned to the study of astrocytes with more attention. A collaborative research project led by experts from the Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile, Ghent University and Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, recently proved that astrocyte cells play a crucial role in the formation of memories. The finding gives doctors a new target for medication to combat neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease or post-traumatic stress disorder. Their work was recently published in FASEB Journal. Astrocyte cells account for 85 percent of cells in the brain and until recently, they were considered to be the "assistants" to neurons, since they were in charge of collecting the waste produced by the sinapsis used to speed up the neuron's reuse. But scientists have now discovered that these "assistants" play a more important role than was previously thought. Despite the fact that astrocytes are abundant, studying them was always complicated by the lack of tools used to isolate their function in the neurological connections as well the fragile nature of the cells themselves. Jimmy Stehberg, leader of the Neurobiological Lab in the Universidad Andrés Bello explains that in conjunction with other investigators, they were able to create a compound that blocks a specific astrocyte connecting channel, one that the experts assumed was involved in the process of the formation of memory. In order to prove their theory they injected the compound into the brain of a group of mice which were previously subjected to a traumatic experience The mice that had the compound injected into them did not show any physical or cerebral reactions, while the ones who hadn't received the injection showed signs of stress. With this, scientists demonstrated that blocking this channel in the astrocyte also blocks the process of the consolidation of memory. This proves that memory does not only depend upon neurons, but that it also needs the astrocytes, to be able to consolidate short-term memories. The discovery could position the astrocyte as a focal point of investigation for neurological and psychiatric science. In their paper, the authors said that astroctytes are "a novel pharmacological target for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, particularly for memory-related disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder".More information: Release of gliotransmitters through astroglial connexin 43 hemichannels is necessary for fear memory consolidation in the basolateral amygdala,… 416.abstract Journal reference: FASEB Journal

Bio2012 花絮...2012年台灣生技商機論壇

 記者唐嘉麗麻州劍橋市報導 June 18, 2012 生灣生物技術開發中心董事長李鍾熙17日在劍橋市舉辦的「2012台灣生技商機論壇」中指出,過去三年來,台灣生技資本市場規模快速成長了近四倍。在全球金融危機後,亞洲市場已成為全球生技及醫藥界躍躍欲試的地區。台灣基礎及臨床醫學的進展,近年台灣生技IPO市的蓬勃,已成歐美進軍亞洲的最佳合作夥伴。他說,台灣期盼在海外尋求密切合作,也歡迎海外生技領域團隊與人才到台灣上市。台灣生技產官學界代表70多人,到波士頓參加1821日在波士頓會議展覽中心舉行的Bio2012全球生技大會。台灣生技中心為促進台灣與波市地區在生醫領域的商機交流,特與駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處、新英格蘭玉山科技會合辦「2012年台灣生技商機論壇」,200座位的會場,幾乎座無虛席。論壇由玉山會長馬曾夏慧主持。台灣行政院科技會報辦公室執行秘書江惠華、麻州生命科學中心執行長Susan Windham-Bannister分別在開幕中致詞。台灣基亞生技董事長張世忠、哈佛教授Van Jay Wedee DePuy Spine全球臨床事務總裁方威凱、貿協駐紐約辦事處魏光勛、ICARES創辦人樂亦宏、Ernst & YoungGlen Giovannetti等,分別從台灣與北美角度,剖析台灣及亞洲生技產業的商機與利基。

佰研 董事長陳樂維 續任!

佰研:公告本公司董事會推選董事長 鉅亨網新聞中心 2012-06-19 11:49:58  第二條 第61.董事會決議日期或發生變動日期:101/06/19 2.舊任者姓名及簡歷:陳樂維;佰研生化科技股份有限公司董事長兼總經理3.新任者姓名及簡歷:陳樂維;佰研生化科技股份有限公司董事長兼總經理4.異動情形(請輸入「辭職」、「職務調整」、「解任」、「任期屆滿」或「新任」):任期屆滿5.異動原因:本公司第六屆董事會推選陳樂維先生續任本公司董事長。6.新任生效日期:101/06/197.其他應敘明事項:

peaches, plums and nectarines with anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties !

Bioactive compounds in peaches, plums and nectarines can fight-off diabetes, cardiovascular disease   Published on June 19, 2012  Peaches, plums and nectarines have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight-off obesity-related diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to new studies by Texas AgriLife Research.The study, which will be presented at the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia next August, showed that the compounds in stone fruits could be a weapon against "metabolic syndrome," in which obesity and inflammation lead to serious health issues, according to Dr. Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, AgriLife Research food scientist."In recent years obesity has become a major concern in society due to the health problems associated to it," said Cisneros-Zevallos, who also is an associate professor at Texas A&M University. "In the U.S., statistics show that around 30 percent of the population is overweight or obese, and these cases are increasing every year in alarming numbers."While he acknowledged that lifestyle, genetic predisposition and diet play a major role in one's tendency toward obesity, "the major concern about obesity is the associated disease known as metabolic syndrome."Our studies have shown that stone fruits - peaches, plums and nectarines - have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight the syndrome," Cisneros-Zevallos said. "Our work indicates that phenolic compounds present in these fruits have anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties in different cell lines and may also reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol LDL which is associated to cardiovascular disease."What is unique to these fruits, he said, is that their mixture of the bioactive compounds work simultaneously within the different components of the disease.

NF-κB inhibitors prevent aging-related degenerative!!!

 Published on June 19, 2012 Age-associated degeneration is caused, at least in part, by accumulated cellular damage, including DNA damage, but how these types of damage drive aging remains unclear. Dr. Paul Robbins and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh sought to address this question using a mouse model of DNA repair deficiency. The Robbins team found that DNA damage drives aging, in part, by activating NF-κB, a transcription factor that responds to cellular damage and stress. They report that inhibition of NF-κB reduces oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage, oxidative protein damage, and cellular senescence induced by oxidative damage. Their data suggest that NF-κB inhibitors can mitigate cellular damage and could provide clinical benefit for degenerative changes caused by aging.Source: Journal of Clinical Investigation 

放射免疫療法 Zevalin 成功用於復發型淋巴癌 !!

New clinical data for ZEVALIN Injection for intravenous use presented at 17th EHA Congress  Published on June 19, 2012 Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NasdaqGS: SPPI), a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology and hematology, today announced new clinical data presented in an oral presentation for ZEVALIN® (ibritumomab tiuxetan) Injection for intravenous use at the 17th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA). In one of only four abstracts accepted for oral presentation in the meeting's clinical transplantation session (Abstract # 1118), Dr. Avichai Shimoni (Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel) presented an update with longer follow-up time from a multi-center, prospective randomized study, for which he reported that ZEVALIN administered in combination with BCNU, etoposide, cytarabine (Ara-C), melphalan (BEAM) therapy — Z-BEAM — resulted in a 91% two-year overall survival (OS) rate in patients with refractory/relapsed aggressive lymphoma, versus a 62% OS rate in patients administered BEAM aloneCANCER", the Journal of the American Cancer Society, Spectrum's development program for ZEVALIN has been expanded to include support for a larger, randomized international study using the Z-BEAM regimen as a preparative regimen for patients with lymphoma who receive autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). This international study, known as the "SPINOZA trial" (Study with Preparatory Induction Of ZEVALIN in Aggressive Lymphoma), recently started accrual.

放射免疫療法 Zevalin ( Ibritumomab ) 嘉義基督教醫院血液腫瘤科 黃叔牧主任  在癌症的治療領域中,傳統的化學藥物治療是癌症治療上重要的一環,特別在血液惡性疾病如血癌、惡性淋巴瘤中,化學治療在大部分情況下常扮演很重要的角色。但是,全身性化學藥物治療並不具特異性,相對的對身體的副作用也較廣泛,因此,隨著醫學的進步以及對於癌細胞分子生物醫學的瞭解,另類新興的治療方法也有長足的進步。以細胞表面抗原為標地的免疫療法,或者利用各種細胞訊息傳遞途徑之作用為目標的治療方式,漸漸地被引進成為癌症的新方法,不僅能使癌症治療效果更好,且更能降低對病患的傷害性。例如 : 乳癌治療的Her-2 接受器的阻斷劑( Herceptin ) 以及惡性淋巴瘤治療的抗-CD20表面抗原的單株抗體( Rituximab ),都是利用免疫療法引發病患體內的補體及殺手細胞的細胞毒殺作用,而造成癌細胞的死亡。而健保局於9311起,也已開放Rituximab 使用於 (1) 復發或對化學療效有抗性之低度B 細胞非何杰金氏淋巴瘤 ; (2) 併用CHOP 或其他化學療法用於CD20抗原陽性之B 瀰漫性大細胞非何杰金氏淋巴瘤之60 歲以上病患。Anti-CD20 ( Rituximab ) B-淋巴細胞的表面抗原之單株抗體的使用,既然可以如同導向飛彈般精準打擊癌細胞。那麼,若是我們在這單株抗禮上再加上“ 放射元素 ”,此精準的飛彈將會成為功能更強大、效果更好的導向原子彈了 Zevalin (Ibritumomab) 即是利用此種概念而研製的新藥,它將上述Anti-CD20( Rituximab) 再加上90 Y ( Yttrium , )之放射元素結合而成 。在 2002年,Witzig 分析143位復發或執拗性之低惡性度淋巴瘤,利用含放射元素的Zevalin 及沒有帶放射元素的Rituximab,發現治療效果有意義的由56% 提升至80%,完全緩解由16%提升至30%,甚至原本對Rituximab 沒有效果的病患,如果再加上使用帶放射元素的Zevalin,仍有74% 的治療效率呢 Zevalin 的主要毒性是可逆的骨髓造血抑制,但是它和一般的化學治療引起的造血抑制有所不同,後者大多發生在10-14天之間,約於21天恢復正常。而Zevalin 所引起的骨髓抑制較晚,常發生在4-9週之間,然後逐漸恢復。其次要注意的是,若病患的骨髓有多於25%的淋巴瘤細胞侵犯,或者骨髓細胞密度少於15% 等,使用Zevalin常會引起嚴重的泛血球低下,臨床上需注意此現象的發生 Zevalin 的其他副作用與Rituximab相同,包括疲倦、畏寒 、發燒、頭痛、腹痛、噁心、嘔吐以及皮疹等輕度症狀。雖然Zevalin 治療後69個月也會造成病患的周邊血液內之B-淋巴細胞消失,但是對病患的T-淋巴細胞及免疫球蛋白的影響卻不大,所以,發生很嚴重的感染而需住院的危象並不多見。Zevalin 的研發讓免疫療法更進一步升級為放射免疫療法,使得治療 B-細胞群的惡性淋巴瘤更進入一個新境界。未來的研究焦點可以放在如何將此藥與化療藥物合併使用,或者提高治療次數或劑量以便更提高病患的治療緩解率,那將是另一個重要的課題了。

風險高.醫病糾紛多 婦產科醫生減

公視新聞網 /醫療 婦產科醫師人力十分吃緊!衛生署原本預定在今年1月試辦生育風險基金,一旦生產過程發生產婦或嬰兒無法預期之重殘、死亡,病家可獲最高200萬元補償,希望能降低醫病糾紛,讓年輕婦產科醫師回流,但這個政策如今卻面臨難產,今天婦產科醫學會呼籲政府,應落實婦幼政策,否則未來台灣將會沒有婦產科醫師。帶著眼鏡,長相斯文,他是花蓮玉里榮民醫院婦產科醫生鄭吟豪,因為得隨時待命,壓力太大,加上當地只有兩位婦產科醫師,另一位又將在六月底調職,鄭醫師再也支撐不住只好向醫院請了兩星期的假。

==101.5.31醫生鄭吟豪== 從去年11月到現在7個月 都是我一個人在這邊看診 及接收住院及手術婦產科醫師荒到底有多嚴重?根據婦產科醫學會的統計,近10年來,婦產科人力成長率只有16%,平均年紀達54歲,目前全國40歲以下的婦產科醫生只有377位,有80%的年輕醫生每個月接生不到10個。風險高、醫病糾紛多、健保給付制度及經濟誘因又不夠,都是造成人力萎縮的原因。衛生署原本預定在今年1月試辦生育風險基金,一旦生產過程發生產婦或嬰兒無法預期之重殘、死亡,病家可獲最高200萬元補償,但此政策如今卻面臨難產命運。

==婦產科醫學會理事長 謝卿宏== 這個生育風險補償條例本身 可以來做一個初步的 計畫來研究說 到底醫師負多少責任 讓我們根據以後可以在 施行醫療事故補償的時候 可以有一個依據 這整個案子送到行政院之後 卡了78個月 那我們婦產科醫學會的立場來說 我們非常的痛心婦產科醫學會表示,已經有部份產科醫生說,將在龍年結束後,退出產科的行列,因此呼籲政府,應落實婦幼政策,否則未來台灣將會面臨沒有婦產科醫師接生的窘境。 (2012-06-17 12:00)中晝新聞

生育事故救濟計畫 行政院"難產"!

 「馬總統如果您再不走,婦產科醫師就先走了」/生育事故救濟難產 醫界激憤嗆馬自由時報-20120618 上午05:00 〔自由時報記者王昶閔、王貝林/台北報導〕台灣婦產科人力嚴重流失,崩盤危機已現。有助撫慰病家、減少醫療糾紛的「生育事故救濟計畫」,好不容易經衛生署提出,卻傳出因行政院反對,陷入難產狀態,令醫界群情激憤,痛批總統馬英九婦女政見跳票,恐使婦產科醫師爆發出走潮。傳政院反對 醫界、婦團譁然婦產科糾紛多、給付低、工時長,年輕醫師不願投入,以致堅守崗位的婦產科醫師過勞。為降低醫病緊張關係,馬英九在二○○八年競選時做出承諾,衛生署宣布,今年起試辦生育事故救濟計畫,對產程中產婦或嬰兒無法預期的死亡或重殘,核發最高兩百萬元救濟金。但計畫時程一再拖延,最近更傳出被行政院擋下,令醫界與婦女團體譁然。台灣婦產科醫學會昨日緊急召開記者會,呼籲馬總統拿出魄力,協調政策執行,「馬總統如果您再不走,婦產科醫師就先走了。」婦產科醫學會理事長謝卿宏表示,此結果令人痛心,最近幾起醫療糾紛,病人對醫師提告前,先訴諸媒體做出指控,即使檢方不起訴,但已傷害醫師個人名譽,整個婦產科醫療生態更遭嚴重扭曲,年輕新血望之卻步。四月起,新竹國泰醫院已改採預約接生限制名額,每月一日一大早,孕婦的老公們就得到醫院排隊搶號碼牌,若抽不到號碼,就得改到他院產檢。婦產科醫學會秘書長黃閔照指出,若婦產科醫療環境持續惡化,各醫院都可能比照新竹國泰醫院,實施生產預約制度。目前台灣已有四成鄉鎮無婦產科醫師,六成鄉鎮找不到醫師接生,婦產科人力青黃不接,逐漸走向崩盤,下一代找不到醫師接生,絕非危言聳聽。政院:不同意見待整合衛生署醫事處簡任視察周道君指出,行政院的確對該計畫內容與預估成效有不同意見,因此尚未核定,但並未「打回票」,衛生署將持續與行政院溝通。負責審查的行政院政務委員張善政昨天表示,相關部會對此案有不同意見,正由幕僚單位整合中。負責幕僚作業的行政院內政衛福勞動處長蘇永富指出,法務部對生育事故故意或過失的認定,認為應有較嚴謹的審核機制,這部分已漸有共識;另正積極了解坊間的生育保險有無這類給付,相關整合已加緊作業,以配合明年度預算能夠來得及編列。

Why are so many women starting the menopause before 40?

 By JUDITH KEELING PUBLISHED: 22:49 GMT, 18 June 2012 | UPDATED: 22:49 GMT, 18 June 2012 When Amanda Warne's periods stopped at the age of 21, doctors put it down to stress and over-training following an intensive diet and exercise regimen. For the next four years she suffered terrifying mood swings and depression and paid countless visits to her GP and a specialist — while a series of blood tests revealed see-sawing hormone levels.Finally, doctors concluded the sporty student had suffered a premature menopause. 'Some days I could barely crawl out of bed. I felt as though I was going mad,' said Amanda Warne (now aged 33) of her menopause, which began at just 21 Blood tests showed her levels of key hormones were such that she had been through the menopause — and it wasn't clear why. 'I couldn't believe it,' says Amanda.'I was studying at the London College of Fashion and was with my first boyfriend, the love of my life, who was desperate for children. 'He told me bluntly he knew he wouldn't be able to stay with me for ever because his desire for children would always outgrow the love he had for me.'I became an insecure wreck and felt worthless.'

More... Are statins worth the side-effects for women? They're the heart wonder drugs that help millions but many are left exhausted... Psoriasis sufferers who are too scared to use the steroid cream that can beat it She also found herself crippled with mood swings, depression, panic attacks and bouts of exhaustion — classic menopausal symptoms. 'Some days I could barely crawl out of bed. I felt as though I was going mad.'I knew something had really changed in my body, but no one seemed to listen,' says Amanda, now 33 and a businesswoman living in North London. Taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) improved her quality of life, but Amanda still suffers exhaustion, low libido, headaches and a tingling sensation in her head. 'I knew something had really changed in my body, but no one seemed to listen,' said Amanda (pictured aged 21) She finds the latter particularly worrying following the publication of alarming new research last week by U.S. doctors who discovered that women who go through a premature menopause are also more likely to suffer a potentially fatal brain haemorrhage, a cerebral aneurysm.This occurs when part of the artery weakens and swells.The artery can then burst and cause a stroke or death, with half of those suffering a cerebral aneurysm likely to die.And the younger a woman is when she becomes menopausal, the greater the chances of a cerebral aneurysm — Amanda went through the menopause 30 years before the average age of 51. 'I do realise I may be facing a shortened life expectancy,' she says.The new U.S. research is part of a growing body of evidence pointing to the staggering toll on a woman's overall health associated with early menopause — a concern because more women are being diagnosed with the disorder. Most scientists define a premature menopause, or premature ovarian failure (POF), as occurring when a woman's ovaries stop working before the age of 40, though some studies include women up to the age of 45. As well as cerebral aneurysm, they are also at greater risk of heart disease — they are 50 per cent more likely to die and 80 per cent more likely to suffer from heart disease than women who go through the menopause between the ages of 52 to 55.A study last year by Imperial College London found that women who had early menopause were also twice as likely to have a poor quality of life in health terms. Another study, by the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., found that affected women had a greater risk of dying early, developing heart disease, neurological disorders, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, psychiatric disorders and osteoporosis. Women were particularly likely to die early or develop heart disease if they'd not been taking HRT following their early menopause, said the researchers. 'These recent studies are telling us what we have suspected for some time, but until now no one has done the work to quantify it,' says Dr Kevin Harrington, a consultant gynaecologist at the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London. Taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) improved her quality of life, but Amanda still suffers exhaustion, low libido, headaches and a tingling sensation in her head The trigger for all this is dramatically falling levels of the hormone oestrogen.'Oestrogen plays a very important role in maintaining the health of all the connective tissues in the body,' he says. 'This includes blood vessels, skin, ligaments and bones.'The deteriorating quality of the blood vessels in the brain is responsible for conditions such as strokes. Low oestrogen affects connective tissues in the eyes and mouth, too, which is why these patients are more prone to gum disease, tooth loss and cataracts. The thyroid gland can also be affected, says Dr Harrington. This is possibly because auto-immune diseases are thought to be a major cause of premature menopause.'It may be the kind of person whose body produces antibodies that attack the ovaries is also prone to producing antibodies that attack the thyroid.' This could be the case for Amanda, as she also suffers from an underactive thyroid — causing her to gain weight and feel permanently tired. But though Amanda's heart-breaking story is unusual, it's not nearly as rare as was once thought.'Premature menopause is more common than people realise,' says Nick Panay, chairman of the British Menopause Society and consultant gynaecologist at Queen Charlotte's and the Chelsea and Westminster hospitals in London.Indeed, previous estimates put the number affected at just 1 per cent, but a study last year from Imperial College London suggested as many as 6 per cent (one in 16) of women experience it. Lifestyle may be to blame. The Imperial College study found a link with smoking.Further research last year also suggested a link between premature menopause and PFCs — chemicals found in non-stick pans and food packaging. The women with the highest levels of PFCs in their body had the lowest levels of oestrogen in their blood. Genetics may play a part, too, with women more likely to go through early menopause if their mother did. However, doctors say more research is needed.Mr Panay also believes that while doctors are seeing more cases of premature menopause, this might be because the condition has previously been under-reported. Furthermore, the success in treating cancer in children, adolescents and women of child-bearing age might lie behind some cases of POF — for instance, premature menopause can be a side-effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.But bleak as this sounds, all experts agree that for many women serious health risks can be reduced if they're given a suitable course of HRT from the time they are diagnosed up to the age of 52. 'HRT replaces the oestrogen the woman would otherwise be producing naturally during this time — and with it the protection it affords,' says Mr Panay. Clearly early diagnosis is key, yet despite improved recognition of POF, campaigners say much more could be done. A recent British Menopause Society report noted some doctors were still unaware of the need to protect prematurely menopausal women against future illness and called for the creation of a national register of all such patients to ensure they receive correct advice and care. Campaigners are also calling for HRT to be made free of prescription charge for women who've suffered a premature menopause.'If you had diabetes you would get insulin, so why should women who have gone through a premature menopause and have a hormone deficiency have to pay?' argues Mr Panay, who is also patron of the support group Daisy Network.This is something 42-year-old Tracy Higgins, a welfare officer from Bishop's Stortford, Herts, would agree with.Tracy, who is married to Nigel, 47, went through the menopause after giving birth to her daughter Amelie, now four.She suffered Sheehan's Syndrome, where the pituitary gland in the brain becomes damaged after being starved of oxygen following severe blood loss.One of the results can be that the ovaries no longer produce eggs. 'I am pleased to be protected by HRT, but being made to pay for it is adding insult to injury,' she says.'My prescription involves two hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, so I pay double; £15 every three months.'The bill for Amanda Warne has been far steeper.She struggled to find an oestrogen replacement that didn't make her feel ill — symptoms included sore breasts, extreme bloating and exhaustion — and at one stage was spending £250 a month on a plant-based oestrogen remedy she bought online; she's stopped because of the cost. A year ago, she spent £12,000 on IVF using donor eggs after falling in love with a new partner, Greg. Unfortunately, she suffered a miscarriage at three months. The couple were subsequently told they were eligible for a free round of IVF on the NHS and waited three months for an appointment — only to be finally told no funds were available.Amanda feels that further IVF would be too expensive and take too great a toll on her emotionally and physically.'It's been a long battle for me, but there are other young women out there who may have issues with their periods that they are not getting answers to.

抗肿瘤,上海取得重大成果

20120619 海峡都市报 上海在自主产权抗肿瘤新药的研发领域获得突破,作为上海市重大科技项目,专门用于晚期肿瘤的治疗性中药新药枫苓合剂(国药准字Z20053611)在上海张江高科技园问世。"枫苓合剂"背靠上海强大的科研团队,53位中医肿瘤专家参与,采用最新的中药现代化双合提取突破性技术。专家预言,枫苓将全面替代传统的化疗药物,患者从此可以少花费,又可无毒副作用治疗肿瘤,为无法手术、不宜放化疗的晚期肿瘤病人带来生存希望。

枫苓合剂克服了传统疗法的不足为什么很多病人经手术,放、化疗后,仍因复发、转移而死亡,还有许多病人边治疗、边扩散、边转移……究其原因,手术只是对原发病灶的切除,而不能有效控制残余肿瘤细胞的复发、转移。放、化疗既杀肿瘤细胞,也杀正常细胞,造成敌我不分,玉石俱焚,常常造成"瘤消人亡"的局面。与传统的手术,放、化疗等疗法完全不同,纯中药抗肿瘤新药枫苓合剂没有任何副作用,从机体免疫内因入手,按照肿瘤的生物学特性,多步骤,多环节,从而彻底解决了传统疗法的不足,更能及时修复受损的免疫系统,迅速控制病情,缩小肿块,防止复发和转移。

枫苓合剂是如何使肿瘤缩小、消失的?

1.切断肿瘤新生血管,使肿瘤得不到营养供应而饥饿死亡。肿瘤的生长需要新生血管提供营养,并排出其代谢废物,而枫苓能阻止肿瘤新生血管的形成,同时能切断肿瘤的新生血管,使肿瘤得不到营养供应而饥饿死亡,这和人不吃饭会饿死是同样的道理。

2.激活体内抗肿瘤细胞群攻击肿瘤细胞,使肿瘤迅速凋亡。枫苓能增殖、活化体内巨噬细胞,使之更容易识别、攻击肿瘤细胞。并促进体内产生大量白细胞介素12,激活自然杀伤细胞NK,杀伤性T细胞及LAK细胞,对肿瘤展开不间断,密集式地攻击,使肿瘤细胞很快死亡、消失。

3.生成大量肿瘤坏死因子TNFa,加速溶解肿瘤细胞,使肿瘤迅速消亡。可见,新药枫苓合剂最成功之处就在于:在不知不觉中,肿瘤缩小消失了。经第二军医大学上海长海医院、上海中医药大学曙光医院、同济大学附属铁路医院及广州中医药大学附属二院等大量临床证实,该药主要针对胃、肝、食道、胰腺和肠等消化系统肿瘤的临床治疗,临床药理研究表明,对肺、鼻咽、乳腺、宫颈、前列腺等肿瘤效果非常好,许多患者使用后,肿瘤很快缩小、消失了。

枫苓已率先列入上海医保目录笔者了解到,鉴于枫苓合剂的出色效果,国家科技部、上海科委拨专款鼓励规模化生产,力争全面替代传统的化疗药物,而国家药品监督管理局也批准其为国家抗肿瘤新药,同时上海率先将其列入医保目录(医保编号Z0131200010020),在上海19家大医院肿瘤科使用,上海医保患者已早于全国其他地方患者受益。

Quintiles to invest $14 million in Shanghai regional HQ

BY LAURA OLENIACZloleniacz@herald-sun.com; 919-419-6636DURHAM – Durham based-Quintiles is investing $14 million in a regional headquarters in Shanghai to serve its business in China and in nearby Asian countries and is looking to significantly grow its workforce in China by year's end. The company manages clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies, and it also supplies capital as well as consulting and commercialization services for pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device development companies.Quintiles launched operations in China in 1997. It has offices in Beijing, Dalian and Hong Kong, as well as in Shanghai. The company is looking to "significantly" expand its lab testing capabilities in China, according to a recent news release by the company.Through a joint venture agreement, Quintiles will be working with the Shanghai Clinical Research Centre to provide lab testing services to local customers.The Shanghai Clinical Research Centre is a clinical research center in China founded in 2008. It operates as a third-party assessment and resources provider to make drug development more efficient.The collaboration follows last year's launch of Kun Tuo, Quintiles' contract research organization serving China. The organization was launched to help local and global companies get their medicines successfully registered in China. In addition, a $14 million investment in a 43,000-square-foot headquarters in Shanghai is meant to provide infrastructure to back the company's China growth strategy. The headquarters is expected to house more than 450 employees in the next five years, and is expected to be ready by 2013. Phil Bridges, a spokesman for Quintiles, said Quintiles has 350 employees in China. He didn't have any information on how many employees in Shanghai will be new, but he did say the company expects to grow to 600 employees by the end of the year."These investments and agreements demonstrate our commitment to this district and to China," said Ling Zhen, general manager for Quintiles' operations in China, in a prepared statement. "Quintiles recognizes the unique needs of our customers in China. By collaborating with SCRC in labs we can help local and international biopharma companies develop new and better medicines to serve China's enormous unmet medical needs."According to information in an email from Bridges, Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan have seen an increase in clinical trials launched in the past two years.The company has seen "very robust demand" for high-quality, low-cost lab work in China, according to the e-mail from Bridges."With the investment of, and support from Quintiles, the SCRC lab will be in an even better position to serve a bigger clientele base and to meet their increase in demand in China," his email states. Read more: The Herald-Sun - Quintiles to invest 14 million in Shanghai regional HQ

A new indicator for breast cancer relapse identified

June 19, 2012 in Cancer Researchers at the IMIM (Institut de Recerca Hospital del Mar) have proven that the absence of the 14-3-3 protein sigma in breast cancer cells is directly associated with these cells' capacity to activate the signalling of a protein complex called NF-kB, which is related to tumour progression. The activation of NF-kB in tumours was also identified as the best indicator for relapse in breast cancer patients, compared to other parameters currently used, such as the presence of affected ganglions or the tumour's size and degree. The investigators have also described a group of genes that are activated in breast cancer cells and that are also associated with a poor prognosis in other types of tumours. Previous studies had detected that the 14-3-3 protein sigma was not present in the tumours of many breast cancer patients. They have now discovered that 'the lack of this protein does not in itself establish a prognosis factor for these types of cancer, although the NF-kB complex is an essential requirement for it to remain active chronically, as it is associated with tumour invasion and metastasis or, stated differently, the progression of the tumour', comments Lluís Espinosa, study coordinator and researcher in the IMIM stem cells and cancer research group. Breast cancer is most common among women in Western countries and relapse and metastasis are the fatal consequences of this disease. Identifying the mechanisms involved in the survival of breast cancer cells and their ability to colonise other tissues are crucial issues for improving treatment. With the participation of some 100 patients, this study analysed the possible usefulness of determining the lack of the 14-3-3 sigma and/or the activation of NF-kB in tumour cells as a factor in prognosis and diagnosis, as well as for future clinical and therapeutic applications. The results obtained from this project have opened up new roads of investigation that will have to centre on identifying the pharmaceuticals that induce the expression of the 14-3-3 protein sigma in breast tumours and characterise their effect on tumour cells. They also hope to define which genes activated by the NF-kB complex are important for tumour progression in this group of patients and to study their potential as possible therapeutic targets. According to Espinosa 'This opens up the possibility of researching and employing specific therapeutic strategies for this concrete group of patients who, in principle, have bad prognoses and an especially high risk of relapse'. The study was initially led and developed at the IMIM by Dr Lluís Espinosa's and Anna Bigas' group and collaboration from researchers and doctors from the Hospital del Mar, the Jimenez Díaz Foundation, the Barcelona Institute of Biomedical Research (IRB) and Pompeu Fabra University. More information: "Inhibition of Specific NF-κB Activity Contributes to the Tumor Suppressor Function of 14-3-3σ in Breast" Cancer.Julia Inglés-Esteve, Mònica Morales, Alba Dalmases, Ricard Garcia-Carbonell, Alba Jené-Sanz, Núria López-Bigas, Mar Iglesias, Cristina Ruiz-Herguido, Ana Rovira, Federico Rojo, Joan Albanell, Roger R. Gomis, Anna Bigas, and Lluís Espinosa. PLoS ONE 7(5): e38347. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038347 Journal reference: PLoS ONE

Abnormal gene product associated with prostate cancer generated by unusual mechanism

 June 19, 2012 in Cancer Researchers have identified a potential new pathway in prostate cancer cells by which cancer-driving gene products can be generated, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Our work shows that cancers have many more tricks than we thought to generate potential cancer-driving genes or gene products," said Hui Li, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and a recipient of an Innovative Research Grant from Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). The AACR is the scientific partner of SU2C. Gene fusion is a common characteristic of human cancers. In many cases, the protein products of these gene fusions, which are generated via an RNA intermediate, have a key role in the genesis of the cancer. A well-characterized example of this is the protein that drives chronic myeloid leukemia, BCR-ABL, which is generated via RNA intermediates from a fusion gene formed by chromosomal translocation — an event involving exchange of genomic DNA between two distinct chromosomes. "For many years, chromosomal translocation was considered the sole way in which single RNAs consisting of copies of parts of two genes, so-called fusion RNAs, could be generated," said Li. "We have shown that fusion RNAs can be generated without changes to DNA by a new mechanism that we are calling cis-SAGe [cis-splicing of adjacent genes]." Recently, a fusion RNA formed from parts of the SLC45A3 and ELK4 genes was identified in prostate cancer cells in the absence of any DNA alterations. Li and his colleagues confirmed in two prostate cancer cells lines that the SLC45A3-ELK4 fusion RNA could be detected even though there was no evidence of genomic DNA rearrangement. Detailed molecular analysis of the prostate cancer cell lines indicated that the SLC45A3-ELK4 fusion RNA was generated by cis-SAGe. SLC45A3 and ELK4 are neighboring genes, and cis-SAGe occurred when an RNA that crossed the boundary between the two genes was formed. The protein CCCTC-binding factor normally acts to insulate SLC45A3 and ELK4 from each other. Li and his colleagues found that levels of this protein at the gene boundary inversely correlated with the amount of SLC45A3-ELK4 fusion RNA generated, providing molecular insight into how the quantity of this fusion RNA could be regulated. A functional role for the SLC45A3-ELK4 fusion RNA in prostate cancer was suggested by two observations. First, it promoted the growth of the two prostate cancer cell lines in culture. Second, its levels in human prostate samples correlated with prostate cancer disease progression — normal prostate tissue expressed the lowest levels and prostate cancer specimens from men with metastatic disease expressed the highest levels. "These data are not sufficient to say that the SLC45A3-ELK4 fusion RNA has a causal role in prostate cancer," said Li. "But they are highly suggestive, and I am very excited that this high-risk project, which I would not have been able to pursue without the grant from Stand Up To Cancer, has uncovered what seems to be a new way in which cancer can be driven." Journal reference: Cancer Discovery 

Diabetes May Hasten Mental Decline

 Older adults with poor blood sugar control performed worse on tests of memory, thinking By Robert Preidt Monday, June 18, 2012 MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with diabetes and poor blood sugar control are at increased risk for greater declines in their memory and thinking abilities, a new study finds.Researchers followed more than 3,000 people without dementia, average age 74, for more than 10 years.At the start of the study, 23 percent of the participants had diabetes. Of the more than 2,300 participants without diabetes, 159 developed the condition during the follow-up period.People with diabetes at the start of the study scored lower on initial tests of their thinking skills than those without diabetes. During the follow-up, participants with diabetes showed much greater declines in mental function than those without diabetes.The study was published online June 18 in the journal Archives of Neurology.The findings support the theory that older adults with diabetes have reduced thinking and memory skills and that poor blood sugar control may be a contributing factor, said Dr. Kristine Yaffe, of the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and colleagues in a journal news release.The investigators said further research is needed to determine if early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes reduces the risk of mental decline and if good blood sugar control helps reduce the effect of diabetes on thinking and memory function.While the study found an association between diabetes and mental decline, it did not show a cause-and-effect relationship.SOURCE: Archives of Neurology, news release, June 18, 2012 

Implanted device delivers genetically engineered neurotrophic factor directly to the brain

 Published on June 19, 2012New approach reported in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience Studies suggest that neurotrophic factors, which play a role in the development and survival of neurons, have significant therapeutic and restorative potential for neurologic diseases such as Huntington's disease. However, clinical applications are limited because these proteins cannot easily cross the blood brain barrier, have a short half-life, and cause serious side effects. Now, a group of scientists has successfully treated neurological symptoms in laboratory rats by implanting a device to deliver a genetically engineered neurotrophic factor directly to the brain. They report on their results in the latest issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.Researchers used Encapsulated Cell (EC) biodelivery, a platform which can be applied using conventional minimally invasive neurosurgical procedures to target deep brain structures with therapeutic proteins. "Our study adds to the continually increasing body of preclinical and clinical data positioning EC biodelivery as a promising therapeutic delivery method for larger biomolecules. It combines the therapeutic advantages of gene therapy with the well-established safety of a retrievable implant," says lead investigator Jens Torn-e, NsGene A/S, Ballerup, Denmark.Investigators made a catheter-like device consisting of a hollow fiber membrane encapsulating a polymeric "scaffold," which provides a surface area to which neurotrophic factor-producing cells can attach. When implanted in the brain, the membrane allows the neurotrophic factor to flow out of the device, as well as allowing nutrients in. Dr. Torn-e and his colleagues used the neurotrophic factor Meteorin, which plays a role in the development of striatal projection neurons, whose degeneration is a hallmark of Huntington's disease. The scientists engineered ARPE-19 cells to produce Meteorin and used those that produced high levels of Meteorin in their experiment.

佳醫 上海醫美啟動

【經濟日報╱記者黃文奇/台北報導】 2012.06.19生技公司佳醫(4104)、F-康樂股東會雙報喜,佳醫大陸投資獲喜訊,該公司副總經理王明廷昨(18)日表示,公司與大陸國藥合作成立的轉投資公司「御佳醫療」,近期取得首張醫療執照,7月間上海醫美事業正式啟動;此外F-康樂今年營運將可成長四成,獲利同步成長。佳醫昨日舉行股東會,通過配發股票、現金股利各1元;該公司昨日股價收60.1元,上漲2.2元,F-康樂則收39.55元,上漲1.55元。王明廷說,去年向大陸國家食品藥物監管局申請執照,今年正式核發執照,時程約半年,是佳醫集團與國藥合作後,第一個核准執行醫療行為的許可證,具有指標性意義。據了解,佳醫與國藥合作,目前包括醫美、洗腎等事業;其中洗腎事業將由共同合作的大陸醫院執行,而醫美事業則於7月,在上海開設醫美診所,首期規模約300坪,下半年試營運。王明廷透露,年底前會繼續在上海打造醫美旗艦店,佔地約近1,000 坪,可望於明年起開始貢獻收入;至於今年景氣低迷是否對公司有所影響,王明廷說,醫美事業與景氣連動較緊密,集團確實因此保守看待下半年營運,但影響應該不大。不過,王明廷也指出,目前集團轉投資事業ABH,由於汐止旗艦館目前共有180床,僅有20床有客人進駐,因此短期內尚處於虧損狀態,今年還不會賺錢。【2012/06/19 經濟日報】

LDL particles may be a more accurate measure of early-stage atherosclerosis

Published on June 19, 2012LipoScience, Inc., an in vitro diagnostic company advancing patient care by developing high value proprietary clinical diagnostic tests using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, today announced publication of a clinical study in the current issue of Atherosclerosis suggesting that low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles may be a more accurate measure of early-stage (subclinical) atherosclerosis than LDL cholesterol among retired National Football League (NFL) players."These results suggest that LDL particle number may be a more effective indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis in retired NFL players with metabolic syndrome"Researchers conducted carotid artery plaque screenings as well as traditional and specialized lipid testing on 948 retired professional football players. Carotid arteries supply oxygenated blood to the brain and a plaque buildup may narrow these arteries, which may decrease blood flow and increase the risk of a stroke. Carotid artery plaques were present in 41 percent of this population, and while various measures of cholesterol - LDL particle number, LDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol - were all associated with these plaques, the link to atherosclerosis was strongest for LDL particle number.In addition, nearly twenty percent (187) of the retired players tested also had metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. In this subset of players, LDL particle number and non-HDL cholesterol were significantly associated with carotid artery plaques, whereas LDL cholesterol was not.

New method generates cardiac muscle patches from stem cells

June 19, 2012 in Cardiology A cutting-edge method developed at the University of Michigan Center for Arrhythmia Research successfully uses stem cells to create heart cells capable of mimicking the heart's crucial squeezing action. The cells displayed activity similar to most people's resting heart rate. At 60 beats per minute, the rhythmic electrical impulse transmission of the engineered cells in the U-M study is 10 times faster than in most other reported stem cell studies. An image of the electrically stimulated cardiac cells is displayed on the cover of the current issue of Circulation Research, a publication of the American Heart Association. For those suffering from common, but deadly, heart diseases, stem cell biology represents a new medical frontier. The U-M team of researchers is using stem cells in hopes of helping the 2.5 million people with an arrhythmia, an irregularity in the heart's electrical impulses that can impair the heart's ability to pump blood. "To date, the majority of studies using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells have focused on single cell functional analysis," says senior author Todd J. Herron, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the U-M. "For potential stem cell-based cardiac regeneration therapies for heart disease, however, it is critical to develop multi-cellular tissue like constructs that beat as a single unit," says Herron. Their objective, working with researchers at the University of Oxford, Imperial College and University of Wisconsin, included developing a bioengineering approach, using stem cells generated from skin biopsies, which can be used to create large numbers of cardiac muscle cells that can transmit uniform electrical impulses and function as a unit. Furthermore, the team designed a fluorescent imaging platform using light emitting diode (LED) illumination to measure the electrical activity of the cells. "Action potential and calcium wave impulse propogation trigger each normal heart beat, so it is imperative to record each parameter in bioengineered human cardiac patches," Herron says. Authors of the study note that the velocity of the engineered cardiac cells, while faster than previous reports, it is still slower than the velocity observed in the beating adult heart. Still the velocity is comparable to commonly used rodent cells, and authors suggest human cardiac patches could be used rather than rodent systems for research purposes. The new method can be readily applied in most cardiac research laboratories and opens the door for the use of cardiac stem cell patches in disease research, testing of new drug treatments and therapies to repair damaged heart muscle. More information: "Simultaneous Voltage and Calcium Mapping of Genetically Purified Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell–Derived Cardiac Myocyte Monolayers," Circulation Research, June 8, 2012; 110: 1556-1. Journal reference: Circulation Research 

Skin disease shares common inflammatory pathway with metabolic disorder

 Published on June 19, 2012Psoriasis is an independent risk for Type 2 Diabetes, according to a new study by researchers with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, with the greatest risk seen in patients with severe psoriasis. Researchers estimate that an additional 115,500 people will develop diabetes each year due to the risk posed by psoriasis above and beyond conventional risk factors. The research is published in the latest issue of the Archives of Dermatology, a JAMA Network publication."These data suggest that patients with psoriasis are at increased risk for developing diabetes even if they don't have common risk factors such as obesity," said senior author Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, associate professor of Dermatology in the Perelman School of Medicine. "Patients with psoriasis should eat a healthy diet, get regular exercise, and see their physician for routine preventative health screenings such as checks of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar."Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease affecting over 7.5 million Americans and causes thick, inflamed, scaly patches of skin. The disease has previously been associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular mortality."This research builds on previous work demonstrating a diverse set of increased health risks for people with psoriasis," said lead author Rahat S. Azfar, MD, MSCE, adjunct assistant professor of Dermatology in the Perelman School of Medicine. "In addition to having an increased risk of diabetes, people with psoriasis are more likely to have metabolic syndrome, high triglycerides, and raised glucose levels, even if they are not overweight or have other common risk factors for these conditions. Both patients with psoriasis, especially those with severe psoriasis, and their treating physicians should be aware of the potential for systemic metabolic complications associated with this skin disease."Both psoriasis and diabetes are diseases caused by chronic inflammation. A shared pathway - TH-1 cytokines - can promote insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, and promote inflammatory cytokines known to drive psoriasis. 

國鼎牛樟芝 AntroquinonolR 發表於 Planta Medica

國鼎牛樟芝研發獨特成分,國家頂級護肝保證 2012619日報稅忙季結束,許多上班族驚覺過度勞累及生活作息不正常導致肝功能下降等問題,身體亮起警示燈,國內生物科技公司近年來紛紛推出許多健康保健食品,其中,國鼎生技以新藥研發為基礎,建立專屬的篩選平台,與國內各大學術與研究機構合作,致力於改善國人生活品質,並於營養保健與預防醫學的領域中有所斬獲與貢獻。國鼎牛樟芝是國內第一家取得衛生署「護肝健字號」的樟芝產品,並榮獲2007年「營養健康食品類國家品質標章」、「中華民國之國家新創獎」、2008年「國家生技醫療品質銀獎」。平日對於保健養生十分重視的藝人陳美鳳,分享自身保持美麗、維持健康的小撇步:「肝好,身體就會越來越好,由於國鼎牛樟芝是有衛生署健字號的健康食品也有多項專利,目前國內更有2,000多個藥局經銷,因此令人感到方便、安心、又健康」。國內藥學專家曾說,牛樟芝有「森林紅寶石」之美名,是國寶中的國保,國鼎牛樟芝經過嚴謹的研究過程,得到有效數據,其研發之獨特成分安卓奎諾爾R (AntroquinonolR),有助於降低血清中GPT(ALT)值,並獲得6項美國專利認證、全球84國專利,追求無國界服務及提供最高品質產品。現今市面上健康食品林立,牛樟芝相關產品亦不勝枚舉,究竟該如何選購令人安心、健康有保障的牛樟芝呢?首先,要注意其原料及成分,是否有額外添加物及確實的保健功效。再者,要選擇經過嚴謹藥物準則生產及製作的牛樟芝產品。最重要的是,有國家健康食品標章認證的產品,才能確保安全及效果。綜合上述,「國鼎牛樟芝」品質精純,100% 純天然,無額外添加其他成分,嚴選牛樟芝菌種來源,培養於「無菌環境」,做到零污染之最高規格。並研發專屬「固態培養」技術,科技化生產程序、標準化製程,達到穩定品質。國鼎牛樟芝萃取純化出稀有成分AntroquinonolR(安卓奎諾爾R) 」,已發表於國際知名期刊 Planta Medica,其指標性成分、品管成分、保健功效成分,通過各項安全性試驗,安全無虞,並獲得6項美國專利、全球84國專利,此外,國鼎牛樟芝於2010年取得美國FDA及台灣衛生署一期臨床實驗許可,其護肝效果也是重養身保養者的首要考量。國鼎牛樟芝由來自國內外醫學、生物科技領域頂尖科學家組成之團隊研發而成,替每個人的健康做把關。

Tracking America's physical activity, via smartphone

June 19, 2012 By Angela Herring in HealthStephen Intille, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science and Health Sciences "We know that most Amer­i­cans are too seden­tary," said North­eastern asso­ciate pro­fessor Stephen Intille, a founding fac­ulty member of the university's new Per­sonal Health Infor­matics grad­uate pro­gram with dual appoint­ments in the Col­lege of Com­puter and Infor­ma­tion Sci­ence and Bouvé Col­lege of Health Sci­ences. "What we need is high quality infor­ma­tion about what drives deci­sions about phys­ical activity so we can design the next gen­er­a­tion of health interventions." Toward that end, Intille has teamed up with Genevieve Dunton, an assis­tant pro­fessor of pre­ven­tive med­i­cine at the Uni­ver­sity of Southern Cal­i­fornia, to gather infor­ma­tion about where, when, why and how teenagers get their phys­ical activity. Tra­di­tional studies ask par­tic­i­pants to place an activity mon­itor on their hip, which uses an accelerom­eter to mea­sure motion. "What you get are data recording roughly how active a person is throughout the day, but you don't get any infor­ma­tion other than this motion pat­tern," Intille explained. But in order to develop informed inter­ven­tions, public health pro­fes­sionals also need to know things like where people are when they're exer­cising or seden­tary, if they're with other people and what they're doing. That's why Intille and Dunton, with the sup­port of a two-​​year, $450,000 grant from the National Insti­tutes of Health, will develop and eval­uate a mobile phone app that sup­ple­ments the activity-​​monitor data. Using the loca­tion and motion tech­nolo­gies already embedded in mobile devices, Intille's app will deter­mine appro­priate times throughout the day to ask study par­tic­i­pants about the con­texts that are influ­encing their activity. "The fun­da­mental idea is there is a rela­tion­ship between the motion of your phone and the activity that you do and the use of the activity mon­itor." The phone will rec­og­nize periods of increased or reduced phys­ical activity (for example, if you take it off while playing a high-​​impact sport or take a nap) and present ques­tions about what a par­tic­i­pant is doing during the "inter­esting" periods. "It's about cre­ating and eval­u­ating a tool that would help us aug­ment the type of infor­ma­tion that we get from stan­dard research tools so that researchers get that addi­tional con­tex­tual info about where and why teens are doing the activity," said Intille. Dunton explained that the higher quality data will allow researchers to better under­stand the rela­tion­ship between phys­ical activity, seden­tary behav­iors, and the risk of meta­bolic, car­dio­vas­cular and other chronic diseases. Intille's lab at North­eastern focuses on sensor-​​driven mobile health tech­nology. Other studies to come out of it have used a sim­ilar approach, but this is the first time the app will be pro­grammed to rec­og­nize major activity changes. "Pre­vious studies would ask ques­tions ran­domly throughout the day, but that's not a very effi­cient way to do it," Intille said. This is the first time the app will be pro­gramed to aug­ment an existing research tool by rec­og­nizing major activity changes and using a game-​​like inter­face that makes it easy for teens to fill in gaps by answering carefully-​​timed questions. He hopes that the app will pro­vide a valu­able, low-​​cost tool for future studies that also inves­ti­gate phys­ical activity patterns. "In the long term, we could poten­tially use this same type of tech­nology as an inter­ven­tion," said Intille, who explained, for example, that users would receive pos­i­tive feed­back mes­sages through the phone when the app detects that they are being phys­i­cally active. Provided by Northeastern University 

Tea drinkers may be at greater risk of prostate cancer: study

 June 19, 2012 in Cancer(Medical Xpress) -- Men who are heavy tea drinkers may be more likely to develop prostate cancer, according to research from scientists at the University of Glasgow which is published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer. The study, which was led by Dr Kashif Shafique of the Institute of Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow tracked the health of more than 6,000 male volunteers over a period of 37 years and discovered that those who drank more than seven cups of tea per day had a 50% higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared with non-tea drinkers or those drinking less than 4 cups per day. The Midspan Collaborative study began in Scotland in 1970 and gathered data from more than 6,000 male volunteers, all between 21 and 75 years of age. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their usual consumption of tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking habits and general health, and attended a screening examination. Just under a quarter of the 6,016 men included in the study were heavy tea drinkers. Of these, 6.4% developed prostate cancer during a follow-up of up to 37 years. Researchers found that men who drank more than seven cups of tea per day had a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer compared to those who drank no tea or less than 4 cups per day. Dr. Shafique said, "Most previous research has shown either no relationship with prostate cancer for black tea or some preventive effect of green tea. We don't know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway." "We found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, be non alcohol-drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels.However, we did adjust for these differences in our analysis and still found that men who drank the most tea were at greater risk of prostate cancer." Prostate cancer is the most common cancer amongst men in Scotland and between 2000 and 2010 incidence increased by 7.4%.

工研院第11度參加北美BIO生技大展

2012/06/19       駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處處長洪慧珠(左起)、行政院政務委員張善政、貿協駐紐約辦事處處長魏光勛,一起為「台灣生技主題館」揭幕剪綵。工研院/提供 【台北訊】「2012 BIO International ConventionBIO)」 618在美國波士頓登場,台灣代表團再次發揮團隊精神,集合台灣產、官、學、研等單位,包含國科會、衛生署、科管局、超級整合育成中心(SiiC)、經濟部生醫推動小組、工研院、生技中心及多家知名台灣生技大廠,攜手於「台灣生技主題館」亮相,共同行銷台灣生技產業卓越的研發與製造能量。工研院更藉此國際生技產業年度盛事,發表「膠原蛋白支架」及「溫感水膠」兩大技術,展示工研院關鍵核心研發能量。今年「台灣生技主題館」分別以農業生技重要成果、研究機構與產學的重大生醫科研成果及卓越臨床試驗服務能量三大區塊展示,分區展出當前台灣生技研發能量及合作機會。參展單位之一的工研院,今年參展重點包含關鍵核心研發能量與承接國際醫療大廠訂單,希望藉此加速台灣產業與國際接軌。工研院自2003年開始參加此項全球最大的生技展BIO,生醫所所長邵耀華博士指出,此行以創新前瞻研發成果為重點,主推「膠原蛋白支架」及「溫感水膠」兩大關鍵核心研發能量。其中以基因重組方式開發出創新的「膠原蛋白支架」優勢,在於已可與國際大藥廠現有藥物結合,達到增加抗體、抗原親和力、降低副作用及減少使用量之目的,讓國際藥廠無需花費過多資源便可讓「老藥翻身」。不僅如此,「膠原蛋白支架」技術可與目前多款藥物做結合,有效增強藥物治療功效,達到創新藥物解決方案重要里程碑。目前已有多家國際大型藥廠表達與工研院洽談此技術合作,充分突顯國際藥廠對「膠原蛋白支架」高度重視。針對另一關鍵核心研發能量「溫感水膠」,邵耀華指出,以往醫師用藥瓶頸在於如何精準釋放藥劑,工研院有鑑醫師此需求,因而研發「可吸收性溫感水膠」載體,未來藥劑僅需搭配溫感水膠,便可達到於人體內適時適量釋放目的,醫師用藥因此將更為精準。工研院現已將溫感水膠用於髖關節搭配生長因子使用,輔助廠商搶食每年高達8.5億美元骨修補材市場,預估未來將同步應用在其餘市場,如與牙科醫師合作,用於植牙前修補骨缺損,或搭配麻醉藥劑、止血劑及各類敷材,估計未來 5年內產值上看16億美元。今年除持續讓國際了解到工研院關鍵研發核心能量外,為與國際生技大廠接軌,讓台灣生技產業得以持續升值,工研院於展中向國際展示工研院承接國際訂單能量。目前工研院已通過GMP嚴格審核標準工廠包含骨科醫療器材工廠、中草藥工廠、原料藥工廠及細胞工廠等,未來國際生技業者產品進入臨床試驗前,可藉由工研院的GMP工廠進行小量試產,為上市前做更好的準備,並與工研院現有關鍵核心研發能量相結合,共同開發下世代創新醫療器材與生技製藥產品。

診所串通養老院 詐領健保2千萬

 2012-06-16 01:10 中國時報 黃文博/台南報導嘉義縣民雄地區的「成功診所」,五年來收集親友和鄰近「感恩老人養護中心」一百多人的健保卡,合計盜刷兩萬筆,再向健保局詐領診療費近二千萬元,養護中心因此每月可分到廿多萬元利益。台南地檢署偵訊後,負責人張嘉昇與任會計的姊姊林張春瓊收押,醫師林智輝廿五萬交保。 健保局台南分局去年在比對成功診所健保請領款時,發現該診所有一百多名固定病患的診療費,有異常的請領情況;但健保局派出稽查員前往了解時,竟遭到診所和「感恩老人養護中心」的惡言相向。 健保局於是列出成功診所最近二萬筆有異常的診療費了解,懷疑每筆可能詐領五百到一千元,將資料移請台南地檢署檢肅黑金專組檢察官林仲斌、劉修言偵辦。 兩位檢察官前天指揮嘉義市調查站和台南市警局到成功診所、感恩老人養護中心搜索,除查扣帳冊、病歷資料外,還發現六張本人未到診而被用來盜刷的健保卡。同時傳喚醫師林智輝、養護中心負責人張嘉昇、蔡美月夫妻,以及在診所掛號的林張春瓊。 檢調發現,林智輝從民國九十六年十月起,除收集親友健保卡外,還找上張嘉昇配合,利用張男集中保管院民健保卡機會,總共收集一百多張健保卡,輪流向健保局詐領每筆五百到一千元的診療費和醫藥費;五年來合計詐領近二千萬元,而這些被利用來詐領的民眾,好處都沒分到,養護中心每月則可分到廿多萬元。 由於林智輝已坦承部分犯行,檢方認有詐欺、偽造文書之嫌,諭令廿五萬元交保;另以有串證之虞,向台南地院聲押張嘉昇夫妻和姊姊林張春瓊,但法官只裁准收押兩姊弟,蔡美月被飭回。

腦中風治療及照護問題 健保局澄清:有給付及獎勵措施

 優活健康資訊網 (2012-06-19 12:11)分享|(優活健康網記者談雍雍/綜合報導)針對有關日前媒體報導台灣腦中風學會指稱,注射腦中風藥物r-TPA不是手術,健保無給付,健保局也澄清此為錯誤訊息。缺血性腦中風是目前台灣地區最常見的腦中風型態,健保局自9311起即給付急性缺血性腦中風發病三小時內使用合成的血栓溶解藥(r-TPA,Actilyse®),增加中風病人康復的機會或降低殘障等級。經查,98年至100年診斷為腦中風的病人中,醫療院所申報使用r-TPA藥品的人數,由724人增加至1,263人,有逐年升高之趨勢。對於急性缺血性腦中風的病人,若能儘早診斷、儘速使用r-TPA於發病3個小時內,是得到好的治療結果重要因素,因此提升各級醫院的急診品質是對於這類病患照顧的重要策略。健保局於9911起即調增檢傷分類的急診診察費支付標準,並將夜間急診診察費用加成率由2成提高為5成。並於10151日公告實施的「全民健康保險急診品質提升方案」中,納入急性腦中風的急診病人,在符合健保用藥規定3個小時內診斷及完成r-TPA注射之個案給予獎勵,每個個案可以申報2,000點的獎勵,以確保病患在用藥安全的前提下,得到適當、有效的醫療照護及品質。對於腦中風病人或其他病疾病患住院治療時,按病床類別(加護病房或一般病房),每天支付住院診察費由712點至257點不等,如需要會診其他專科醫師,則支付住院會診費,而且腦中風病患住院治療期間接受本保險給付範圍內的病床費、檢驗、處置、手術或藥物治療,健保均有給付,並無文內提及「治療中風沒有健保給付,頂多會診費及中風給付與治療粉刺給付費用相同」的情事。

AstraZeneca, Rigel enter global license agreement for R256 inhaled JAK inhibitor to treat chronic asthma

Published on June 19, 2012AstraZeneca and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced an exclusive worldwide license agreement for the global development and commercialization of R256, Rigel's inhaled JAK inhibitor shown to inhibit IL-13 and IL-4 signalling, which is being investigated as a treatment for moderate to severe chronic asthma.In preclinical research, R256 has been shown to reduce airway inflammation and improve lung function. AstraZeneca will be responsible for beginning first-in-human clinical studies for R256, and for designing and conducting the clinical development of the compound.AstraZeneca will have exclusive rights to commercialise R256 around the world.AstraZeneca now has one of the strongest respiratory and inflammation pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry as well as extensive experience successfully developing and commercialising innovative treatments for a range of respiratory diseases.Under the terms of the agreement, Rigel will receive an upfront payment of $1 million with an additional $8.25 million in early milestone payments anticipated by the end of 2013.Together with other specified developmental, regulatory and launch milestone payments, the R256 collaboration could be worth up to $100 million.Additionally, upon marketing approval of R256, Rigel will be eligible to receive tiered royalty payments on product sales."R256 emerged from Rigel's comprehensive study of chronic and severe asthma and lung inflammation.With AstraZeneca as our development partner, severely asthmatic people may one day have inhalable R256 as an additional, useful treatment option. This marks our second collaboration with AstraZeneca in the area of immunology and we are confident it will be as mutually rewarding as the first," said Donald Payan, M.D., executive vice president and president of Discovery and Research at Rigel Pharmaceuticals."We are pleased to be expanding our relationship with Rigel and to develop and commercialise this novel asset, R256," said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of Innovative Medicines at AstraZeneca. "Despite the number of medicines available to asthma patients today, there remains a need for more targeted therapies for moderate to severe chronic asthma.Through this agreement, R256 will benefit from the wealth of experience AstraZeneca has in bringing innovative treatments for respiratory diseases to millions of patients around the world."

Covidien introduces knotless suturing device for laparoscopic surgery

 Published on June 19, 2012Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced the latest additions to its growing bariatric surgery portfolio of products and services designed to improve patient and surgeon experiences with weight loss surgery and other procedures."Bariatric surgery requires a significant amount of surgical stapling and suturing to ensure anastomotic closure"Covidien's V-Loc™ knotless suturing device is now available as a reload that works with the Company's proprietary Endo Stitch™ and SILS™ Stitch suturing devices for multi-port and single-port laparoscopic surgery. The new device can increase operating room efficiency during bariatric surgery and other procedures."Bariatric surgery requires a significant amount of surgical stapling and suturing to ensure anastomotic closure," noted Dana D. Portenier, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center. "The ability to suture internal tissue laparoscopically without the need to tie knots can help surgeons shorten one of the most labor-intensive tasks performed during bariatric surgery. As an early user of the Endo Stitch device with the V-Loc reload, I've been able to perform laparoscopic suturing with greater ease and efficiency than I previously could have using traditional devices that require knots."By combining proprietary automated needle-passing technology with a knotless suturing device, the V-Loc device for Endo Stitch and SILS Stitch devices offers distinctive benefits over hand suturing and conventional automated suturing options. The V-Loc device for use with Endo Stitch has a unique barb and loop design, enabling faster suturing by eliminating the need to tie any knots and saving surgeons 35-42% of the time required to suture inside the body, according to a recent pre-clinical study. Compared to conventional suturing, the proprietary Endo Stitch™ suturing device can save 45-70% of laparoscopic suturing time, clinical studies show."Covidien works closely with surgeons to develop devices that not only improve patient outcomes, but also make surgery easier, safer and more efficient. We believe that our new V-Loc knotless suturing reloads for minimally invasive surgery will help surgeons perform aspects of their procedures with greater efficiency," said Paul Hermes, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Covidien Surgical Solutions. "Covidien is committed to the advancement of bariatric surgery technology and offers a full portfolio of products and services to support bariatric surgeons, their practices and patients."Covidien's comprehensive bariatric surgery portfolio is on display here at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), which runs through June 22. By visiting Covidien booth #305, ASMBS attendees can gain demonstrations of, and first-hand experience with, the new V-Loc reloads, as well as the recently launched LigaSure™ 5 mm blunt tip vessel sealing instrument (44 cm), the LigaSure Advance™ pistol grip vessel sealing instrument and the Endo GIA™ Black reloads with Tri-Staple™ technology. 

台灣生技論壇 剖析亞洲商機

記者唐嘉麗麻州劍橋市報導 June 18, 2012 生灣生物技術開發中心董事長李鍾熙17日在劍橋市舉辦的「2012台灣生技商機論壇」中指出,過去三年來,台灣生技資本市場規模快速成長了近四倍。在全球金融危機後,亞洲市場已成為全球生技及醫藥界躍躍欲試的地區。台灣基礎及臨床醫學的進展,近年台灣生技IPO市的蓬勃,已成歐美進軍亞洲的最佳合作夥伴。 他說,台灣期盼在海外尋求密切合作,也歡迎海外生技領域團隊與人才到台灣上市。台灣生技產官學界代表70多人,到波士頓參加1821日在波士頓會議展覽中心舉行的Bio2012全球生技大會。台灣生技中心為促進台灣與波市地區在生醫領域的商機交流,特與駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處、新英格蘭玉山科技會合辦「2012年台灣生技商機論壇」,200座位的會場,幾乎座無虛席。論壇由玉山會長馬曾夏慧主持。台灣行政院科技會報辦公室執行秘書江惠華、麻州生命科學中心執行長Susan Windham-Bannister分別在開幕中致詞。台灣基亞生技董事長張世忠、哈佛教授Van Jay Wedee DePuy Spine全球臨床事務總裁方威凱、貿協駐紐約辦事處魏光勛、ICARES創辦人樂亦宏、Ernst & YoungGlen Giovannetti等,分別從台灣與北美角度,剖析台灣及亞洲生技產業的商機與利基。

大同世界科技..雲端醫療照護!

大世科 整頓效益顯現【經濟日報╱記者黃國蓉/台北報導】 2012.06.20 02:21 am 大同集團旗下系統整合商大同世界科技8099)昨(19)日召開股東常會,董事長林郭文艷表示,正積極整頓大世科旗下子公司群輝康健,爭取新專案已有初步斬獲,效益將陸續浮現。大世科為大同集團中少數穩定獲利子公司。大同集團眾多子公司營運陷低潮,華映、綠能等皆虧損,大世科則穩定獲利,近年每股稅後純益皆有2元以上水準。不過,受旗下子公司群輝康健業績不佳拖累、以及補列高額所得稅費用,大世科去年稅後純益1.1億元,年減17.71%,每股稅後純益下滑至1.65元。群輝康健原為大世科內部醫療及政府標案部門,2008年切割獨立,由大世科百分之百持股,主要客戶為中型醫療機構,包括署立醫院等,去年獲利衰退,使大世科按權益法認列子公司投資收益由前年至去年減少2,343萬元,進而使稅前淨利較前年衰退10.35%昨日股東會中,有前離職員工以股東身分發言,群輝康健分割後,連續3年經營績效不佳,公司應有所作為。林郭文艷表示,去年醫管會爆發弊案,許多主管被收押,影響署立醫院專案排案,是原因之一,但同時也不會逃避內部檢討。林郭文艷表示,去年一整年相當關切群輝營運狀況,今年4月,更親自和群輝開了3次會,會議甚至開到半夜,積極檢討內部問題,緊盯專案管理、加強研發和業務間溝通;目前積極爭取署立醫院以外的專案,也已有初步斬獲,若成功拿下案子,預計今年或明年就能挹注營收。林郭文艷說,醫療照護未來仍有許多發展空間,不會放棄群輝康健。大世科去年本業獲利變動不大,營收29.6億,年增1%,毛利率18.45%、營益率4.6%,均維持歷年水準。昨日股東會通過每股分派現金股利1.5元,大世科昨日下跌0.25元,收17.9元,現金殖利率約8.38%。【2012/06/20 經濟日報】