SpineMark, a spine-oriented contract research organization, signed an alliance with Wooridul Hospital of Korea. “Wooridul Hospital is renowned for its state of the art facilities and work in spine treatment research,” said Marcy Rogers, president and CEO of SpineMark. “This collaboration is a natural extension of our work and commitment to advancing spine treatment options to patients on a global level,” she said. Here’s the release and a story we did on the company last month.

Sanofi-Aventis’s anti-obesity drug, Acomplia, has been linked to the deaths of five patients. The product was approved in Europe but rejected by U.S. authorities. CNN says forty percent of patients taking the drug develop psychiatric problems. Here’s a story.

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inVentiv Clinical Solutions named Scott Treiber as the new senior VP of clinical operations. Treiber brings more than 20 years of experience in the clinical and medical research industries. “We are pleased to have Dr. Treiber join the inVentiv clinical senior management team,” said Mike Hlinak, president and CEO of inVentiv Clinical. “Dr. Treiber brings invaluable experience from his long and progressive tenure in the CRO industry and will be integral to inVentiv’s commitment to delivering high quality clinical operations oversight to our growing list of full service clinical trial clients,” he said. Here’s the release.

Vince and Associates Clinical Research opened a 50-bed, Phase I unit. “This new, upscale unit adds depth to our existing expertise in conducting multi-therapeutic Phase I-IV clinical trials and is designed to offer a full range of Phase I investigative services to our biopharmaceutical clients,” said Brad Vince, founder and CEO. “The new facility will add over 20 new jobs to the Kansas City area by the end of 2008.” The facility is divided into four dormitory areas and was designed to maximize subject recruitment and retention by ensuring the comfort of volunteers. Here’s the release.

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AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals has received Bio-IT World magazine’s 2008 best practices grand prize for its use of Safe-BioPharma digital signatures to sign electronic submissions passed through the FDA’s eSubmissions Gateway. Bio-IT World’s best practices awards recognize organizations for outstanding innovations and excellence in the pharmaceutical industry’s use of technology. “AstraZeneca is to be congratulated for receiving this award and for its leadership in taking the first steps toward fully paperless FDA submissions,” said Mollie Shields-Uehling, president and CEO of Safe-BioPharma Association. “The company is an example of the realization of the Safe-BioPharma vision to catalyze the transformation of the biopharmaceutical and health care communities to a fully electronic business environment,” she said. AstraZeneca won another Bio-IT World best practice award for standardizing patient screening data globally and making it available to all AstraZeneca sites. Here’s the release.

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