Genelabs Technologies announces that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for a Phase III clinical trial of Prestara for treatment of systemic lupus.

Relsys International, a provider of software solutions for adverse event reporting, pharmacovigilance and risk management, announces a partnership with Cato Research (CATO), to provide a hosted version of Relsys’ Argus Safety in the first quarter of 2007.

AG Mednet launches the world’s largest diagnostic imaging exchange network, enabling hospitals and diagnostic imaging centers of all sizes to provide the highest standard of scan interpretation to referring physicians, improving patient care and service.

The 2007 Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility, and Excellence in Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy bill, or CARE bill, has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Michael Enzi and Ted Kennedy.

On seeing the potential of the booming market for biomarkers, Covance announced the launch of its biomarker expert team. It consists of a panel of scientists who provide technical and scientific expertise for customers in the selection, development, validation and testing of biomarker assays.

Napo Pharmaceuticals announces that it has received approval from the principal independent review board (IRB) overseeing a pivotal, phase 3 ADVENT study of crofelemer for diarrhea in people living with HIV/AIDS.

Myriad Genetics announces that it has initiated a Phase II human clinical trial of its therapeutic candidate, Azixa (MPC-6827), in patients with melanoma that has spread to the brain. The trial is designed as an adaptive, open label, multiple dose study.

CEO and Chairman Jim Walker of Octagon Research Solutions, a pioneer and leader in the electronic transformation of clinical R&D in the life sciences industry, announces the appointment of Jim Adamek as vice president of commercial software.

The Swiss contract research organization SGS Life Science Services will standardize around Phase Forward for electronic data capture (EDC). The news release noted that SGS handles more than a million case report forms a year in the course of 100 trials or so, with 2,000 under its belt since the company was founded in 1975. SGS already uses Phase Forward’s Clintrial clinical data management application and its Clintrace drug safety tool. “This partnership was a natural next step,” said Florent Hédiard, marketing director, SGS Life Science Services.

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