Merge Healthcare said that imaging core lab Intrinsic Imaging would be the first company to use its system for managing images. "This will result in Intrinsic performing medical imaging trials more efficiently and cost effectively than other service providers," said Todd Joron, president and COO of Intrinsic. "The coupling of our deep radiology, therapeutic and clinical trial expertise with advanced imaging technologies will revolutionize how imaging in clinical trials is currently performed and evaluated." Here's a release.

Aris Global, a pharmacovigilance software firm, and invivodata, a patient diary firm, will align their product lines. "We are very excited about our partnership with invivodata," said Sylva Collins, VP of clinical solutions at Aris Global. "The use of invivodata’s proven ePRO system brings scientific and regulatory credibility in capturing the patient's experience in a clinical trial." Here's a release.

Cmed and Aeras said they are capturing data in a Phase II trial in South Africa using mobile devices. The page turn rate is a fifth of a second, far better than some browsers handle EDC on desktop computers. Here's a release.

PPD named Henrietta Ukwu as senior VP of regulatory affairs. In an 18 year career in the industry, Ukwu was trained as a physician in Nigeria and the U.S. and most recently worked at Wyeth and Merck. The press release notes she oversaw "the successful original regulatory development, filings and approvals of 14 new products."

Eliseo Salinas joined Elan as VP and chief medical officer. Previously, the company said, Salinas worked at Wyeth, Shire and Adolor. He'll be based in San Francisco. Elan's current chief medical officer and head of development, Menghis Bairu, will resume his primary responsibility as executive VP and general manager of Tysabri.

The FDA's advisory panel on the diabetes drug Avandia concluded after 18 witnesses,1,000 pages of documents and a personal appearance by the head of the FDA, Margaret Hamburg. A final decision on whether the drug will remain on the market is yet to be made by Hamburg, but the reputations of both the agency and manufacturer GSK have been damaged. An agency report accused GSK of significant misconduct: misclassifying serious adverse events. The external advisory panel members voted to keep the drug on the market anyway, largely due to concerns about stranding patients currently taking Avandia, and over doubts as to whether Avandia triggers deaths with the same frequency that it causes strokes. GSK is also winning on the legal front, putting aside $2.4 billion for Avandia lawsuits, a fraction of what other manufacturers have needed to pay for problems of a similar severity. Here's an article in a local newspaper and Slate.

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