With its secondary hyperparathyroidism treatment, Sensipar, set to face generic competition in a few years, Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) made the most obvious move to solve the problem. It bought a biotech developing a compound for the disease.
Amgen is paying $315 million for KAI Pharmaceuticals -- entirely, it seems, for KAI-4169, which has completed phase 2 development. KAI had a partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) to develop a heart drug, but that appears to have died in development.
Amgen wants to push KAI-4169 into phase 3 trials quickly, so it's lending KAI some money so the company can press on with trial planning before the deal closes. The fact that KAI needs a loan probably signals that it was a little desperate for a sale and that Amgen probably got a good deal.
There's no doubt the KAI acquisition is a good fit. There's the obvious experience in selling Sensipar, which brought in more than $800 million last year. But secondary hyperparathyroidism is a hormone imbalance that is often caused by kidney failure, so it fits well with Amgen's anemia drugs.
Follow-on compounds often struggle after the first-generation drug goes generic -- think Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) Pristiq and Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) Invega competing against Effexor and Risperdal, respectively -- but KAI-4169 has one advantage because it'll be administered intravenously at the same time a patient is undergoing dialysis. Sensipar and Abbott Labs' (NYSE: ABT) Zemplar, which is also approved for secondary hyperparathyroidism, are taken orally. Patients usually prefer popping pills to other methods, but not if you're already hooked up to a machine.
The true sales potential for KAI-4169 will ultimately depend on the phase 3 efficacy data, so it'll be a while before we know whether the KAI acquisition was a good buy. But for now, it looks like a good move to combat the inevitable loss of Sensipar.
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The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?
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Innovative Dialysis Systems Uses Corepoint Integration Engine to Integrate ... - DOTmed.com
Frisco, Texas - Corepoint Health announced today that Innovative Dialysis Systems and its parent company Ambulatory Services of America, Inc., used Corepoint Integration Engine to implement 11 complex healthcare IT interfaces during the first quarter of 2012. Using Corepoint Integration Engine, Innovative Dialysis was able to integrate 17 newly acquired dialysis centers seamlessly. Innovative Dialysis is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., and Ambulatory Services of America is headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn.
Hal Porter, Vice President of Information Technology at ASA, said "a key reason we chose to partner with Corepoint Health was due to Corepoint's reputation for solid customer service and their ability to help us build healthcare interfaces quickly and productively."
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Porter highlighted the advantages of Corepoint's Integration Engine in assisting Innovative Dialysis and ASA in integrating the recent acquisition of Renal CarePartners, Inc. Porter said, "Because Corepoint Integration Engine makes it easy to connect disparate systems and databases, we were able to seamlessly integrate the data from the 17 acquired facilities, each with a unique information system. It would have been much more difficult and taken much longer without Corepoint Health."
"Since installing Corepoint Integration Engine, Innovative Dialysis' clinical staff works more efficiently, so that staff members can spend more quality time with patients," Porter said. Prior to partnering with Corepoint Health, the same patient data had to be entered into three to four different databases. Now, Innovative has one central point of patient registration, and that information is distributed to all associated databases through interfaces built and maintained using Corepoint Integration Engine.
"Our plan is that Corepoint Integration Engine will become the central nervous system for everything we do, so we will have more control over the data. Now we can translate the data and make different systems work better together," Porter said.
Because every healthcare provider is unique, Corepoint Health CEO Phil Guy said it is important to truly understand each provider's integration challenges, something that is only possible through open communication and a team approach.
"We are proud of the relationships we have built with our customers, which truly is a collaborative partnership created from frequent, candid conversations that allow us to understand each client's unique needs. This team philosophy helps Corepoint Health thoroughly understand and address each customer question, suggestion, or initiative," Guy said. "Knowing our customers, combined with our flexibility to consistently add new product features, are key factors that Corepoint Integration Engine has been named the number one interface engine in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Professional Services for the past three years."
Quality healthcare for kidney patients - Oman Daily Observer
MUSCAT — Renal failure is a serious health problem and it is one of the key challenges facing the healthcare system in the Sultanate.
Statistics show that around 3,340 renal failure patients have reached the end-stage kidney failure from 1983 till 2010. Out of this 1,620 have survived with 898 patients undergoing dialysis on regular basis while 780 others have had kidney transplantation. On an average, 100-110 out of one million Omanis are infected with this disease yearly.
The Health Ministry has set up dialysis centres across the Sultanate providing both peritoneal dialysis and blood dialysis. These units have been furnished with well-qualified medical staff and technicians to ensure quality medical services to the patients.
According to the ministry’s policy, the patients start medical treatment at general hospitals until their conditions stabilise and then transferred to dialysis centres where they have three weekly visits after having arterial lines fixed.
Kidney failure patients with HIV or Hepatitis C or B are isolated from other patients in quarantines where they are provided special medical care. Kidney failure patients are vaccinated against Hepatitis B and flu and they also undergo regular check-ups.
There are 17 dialysis centres across the Sultanate with 184 beds. Most of these centres have three shifts so that they can cater to the ever increasing number of patients. The centres undergo periodical maintenance and clean-up operations as well as monthly tests for early detection of bacterial presence in water units. Desalinated water at the dialysis centres is regularly checked to ensure that the average of salt, aluminium and other substances meet international standards. The centres apply strict hygienic measures to keep infectious diseases at bay.
A special clinic was set up in 2005 at the Royal Hospital to conduct medical tests pertaining to kidney transplantation as well as conducting diagnostic and clinical check-ups to the donors to decide on their medical fitness and compatibility with the receivers. Kidney transplantation operations are free at the Royal Hospital by specialised and highly-qualified surgeons. A special team follows up the condition of the patients after the surgery for up to 15 days after which the patients visit the clinic for periodical check-ups.
The Health Ministry continuously strives to increase the number of dialysis machines at all centres in order to keep up with the increasing number of patients. It also endeavours to provide various kinds of medical services rendered at all centres and makes sure that these services are up to the latest developments in the field.
AAKP to Hold Annual Patient Meeting - Renal Business Today
TAMPA, Fla.— The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) will hold its Annual Patient Meeting in Atlanta, Ga., at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta from August 9-11.
The theme of this year’s meeting is Kidney Care — Innovations for a Changing Environment. The meeting agenda is divided into three educational tracks—chronic kidney disease (CKD) track, dialysis/end-stage renal disease (ESRD) track and a transplant track.
The educational sessions are informative and timely, including: Living Donor Program: How to Ask and Understanding Risks to the Donor; Kidney Disease and Technology: Education, Information and Resources; Food for Thought: Maintaining a Healthy Life through Diet and Nutrition; and What to Expect Post-Transplant: Physically, Mentally and Emotionally.
Additional highlights from the AAKP Annual Patient Meeting agenda include such built-in networking opportunities as the lunch with the experts, and health screenings at the AAKP Wellness Center, both of which are included in the price of a full annual meeting registration.
AAKP is kicking off its Annual Patient Meeting with the 2nd Annual AAKP Public Policy Forum on August 10 from 9 a.m. to noon The event is taking place at The Carter Center, part of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta.
Invited guest speakers will discuss and debate health care reform, the intricacies of overhauling a nationwide health care system and the impact on individuals. The Forum is FREE and open to the public. Meeting attendees are encouraged to participate.
The official registration brochure for the AAKP Annual Patient Meeting is available and will be mailed to AAKP members and past meeting attendees. To receive a copy of the registration brochure, please visit www.aakp.org/events/convention/2012-convention, or call 1-800-749-2257 to have a brochure mailed to you.
Shift Seen in Renal Anemia Practice Patterns - Renal Business Today
EXTON, Pa.—In the U.S. the market for erythropoietic stimulating agents (ESAs) has undergone significant shifting over the past several years as new clinical data, updated product labeling and a new reimbursement system in dialysis have all changed the market landscape.
In the latest annual updates of BioTrends’ ChartTrends: Chronic Kidney Disease and ChartTrends: Dialysis, this impact is measured and compared to prior years in terms of treatment prevalence for ESAs and i.v. iron, mean monthly dosing trends and an analysis of relevant laboratory values including hemoglobin, TSAT, ferritin and eGFR.
In the dialysis market, ESA treatment patterns shifted more considerably in the period immediately following the implementation of the Prospective Payment System (aka Dialysis Bundle) and appear to have stabilized somewhat in early 2012. However, decreases in ESA treatment prevalence, mean monthly Epogen dose and mean hemoglobin levels all declined compared to the prior period. Subcutaneous administration of ESAs among hemodialysis patients was similar to rates in 2011, but up significantly since 2010, although this varies significantly by the type of dialysis unit in which the patient is treated. There were no significant differences in treatment prevalence for i.v. iron and the maintenance dose for Venofer (iron sucrose injection) was stable compared to 2011 rates with most patients on a once weekly dose interval.
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