A small California paper has an interesting story about patient recruitment. There’s not much new here for industry insiders. Doctors are quoted bemoaning the shortage of patients eligible and willing to participate in clinical trials. One new twist is that the physicians interviewed are complaining about HIPAA, the federal privacy… more...

Clinical Data announced it will provide genomic testing services to the pain research community based on Algynomics’ proprietary panel of genetic markers. This panel is designed to examine the genetic basis or underpinnings of human pain sensitivity, pain conditions, and responses to existing and new pharmacological agents used to treat… more...

The New York Times has a nice piece on the political mess around the nomination of FDA head Andrew von Eschenbach, who’s been doing the job for a year. During the 6 years of the Bush administration, the NYT points out, the FDA has had a confirmed leader for 18… more...

Australian officials are considering a new physician role in clinical trials. The goal is to avoid the TeGenero debacle in London. Australians will have certain physicians coordinate patient care. The pilot program starts on January 20, 2007 and appears to be a way for primary care physicians to dip their… more...

The FDA approved a $7,000 system from Medtronic that combines an insulin pump and a continuous, implanted glucose monitor. The device is intended for monitoring and treating Type I diabetes and is the first of its kind. While unlikely to be covered by insurance, it prevents the need for repeated… more...

Technology to track individual genetic variation in clinical trials is being more widely used. The latest deal Illumina announced is a $7 million genotyping services agreement to support prostate cancer, with researchers funded by Cancer Research UK, a charity.Illumina’s service group will conduct whole-genome genotyping (greater than 550,000 single nucleotide… more...

Perkin Elmer announced a collaboration with George Mason University and two high profile scientists formerly in the federal government. PerkinElmer announced a five-year research agreement to develop a new and innovative approach for cancer detection and risk stratification. Scientists from both organizations will work together on the design of several… more...

Quadrant Software has broken ground on a new $2 million headquarters in Tampa, Florida. The company offers paperless process management services to Abbott, Amgen, CVS and firms outside the life sciences.  more...

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) unveiled an enhanced online clinical trials registry, enabled by IBM search software. The IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal is a multi-national project involving pharmaceutical, biotech and vaccine trial information from companies in the US, Europe and Japan. The website enables patients and… more...

SAP, the German software company, will triple its research staff in China and spend up to $150 million there through 2008. Sales in China are growing twice as fast as the industry rate of 13 percent a year. SAP’s revenues in the country rose 42 percent in 2004, partly thanks… more...