| Is your vision cloudy or blurry? You may have a cataract
When George Shin was 20, he noticed what looked like a small spider when he looked out of his right eye. In the Army at the time, he went to a doctor, who told him not to worry about it. Decades later, as his vision became worse, Shin eventually couldn't read road signs while driving, especially at night. While he taught one of his karate classes, a student mentioned her husband's cataract surgery, which helped him continue flying planes. "I was spending a lot of money on glasses," said Shin, who lives in Enumclaw. "I had five different pair for seeing different distances and things, so I thought I would check it out." Shin was diagnosed with cataracts and had one removed from his right eye in October 2003, and 30 days later, one from his left. The day after each surgery, he said, his vision was 20/20.
arGentis Appoints Scientific Advisory Board
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 2, 2007 - arGentis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announces the formation of a five member Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for Ocular Therapies. arGentis is currently advancing two transdermal therapies for the treatment of dry eye syndrome (DES) into the clinical development. The transdermal testosterone formulation treats DES in menopausal women, while the transdermal progesterone formulation treats DES in the wider population, including younger women and men. Both therapies are uniquely applied in a cream formulation to the upper and lower eyelid, transdermally delivering the active pharmaceutical ingredient directly to the affected glands. The SAB, which includes some of the foremost experts in dry eye syndrome, clinical trial development and drug formulation, will provide counsel on a broad range of scientific, regulatory, clinical and product development matters.
Deal makers hear from PB executives
The M&A Advisor hosted a conference for about 100 major national players in the turnaround sector Monday at The Colony, and the program featured speeches by two Palm Beachers. Wilbur Ross Jr., CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC, gave an overview on the United States auto industry, citing light-vehicle sales by month since December, and comparing sales during February for Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. Ross also gave a case study on Plascar Participacoes Industriaia S.A., a Brazilian auto parts supplier. Last year, WL Ross & Co. created International Automotive Group Brazil LLC to acquire a controlling stake in Plascar. It was an overleveraged subsidiary of a bankrupt parent, with lagging cash flow, high debt expense and poor prospects for new customers. IAC Brazil acquired $48.2 million in Plascar loans and 56.5 percent of its equity capital, for a total of $20.5 million.
Stem Cell Therapy: The Holy Grail of Medicine
Stem cell therapy is the new buzz in medical corridors with 'miracle' cures being reported everyday. Nancy Singh analyses the promises it holds for various diseases and the growing market for it. Four-month-old Aarohi Bhatt recently created medical history for being cured of a rare heart condition believed to be untreatable. The cause of her cureĀStem Cell Therapy (SCT) using her father's blood at Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai. Besides being a difficult surgery, it was for the first time in the world that SCT was successfully done on a child so young. Stem cell therapy is said to be expensive, however, considering that the effects of treatment are long lasting, without requiring expensive repetitive treatment, this seems affordable. Frost & Sullivan estimates that the annual cost of $2,500 per patient for SCT, at the manufacturer's level, is an average cost distributed over several years.
|
