GW Pharma Plans Epidiolex Launch, Making It Stand Out Among Other Cannabis Products

GW Pharmaceutical’s Epidiolex, the cannabidiol CBD that received a green light from the FDA for management of rare variants of epilepsy, is determined to change physicians’ perspectives about it and make it stand out from the oils available at cannabis stores and hence, recruited around 66 sales executives related to neurology dedicated to persuading 5,000 specialists who treat epilepsy in the U.S.

 “We’re the leader in this area, we’re science-based, and we believe physicians and patients will desire medicines that have gone through the FDA review process. When a drug is prescribed that’s FDA approved, you know it’s exactly the same every time it’s prescribed and every time it’s taken,” said Stephen Schultz, VP of investor relations at GW.

In addition to the approval, GW was also granted with the change of class for Epidiolex from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule V which labels it under drugs that have the minimum addictive property like Robitussin AC and Pfizer's Lyrica. This rescheduling brought in glad tidings for GW.

The company has designed two specific websites specially designated to the marketing of the drug. One targets physicians and the other is intended to target patients. This will give a boost to the launch of the drug, while Schultz described the marketing as a “medically oriented education commercialization effort” towards doctors.

The post GW Pharma Plans Epidiolex Launch, Making It Stand Out Among Other Cannabis Products appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

AliveCor gets FDA breakthrough status for Hyperkalemia diagnosis

Hyperkalemia is defined as the condition where there would be a higher potassium level in blood. The potassium level goes higher due to chronic kidney disease and type 1 diabetes, suffered by millions of people. Irregular heartbeat is the common symptom of hyperkalemia. A blood sample is required to detect the potassium level till date.

But a Silicon Valley start-up company named AliveCor along with the doctors from Mayo Clinic have developed a novel technology, where the blood sample is not required. Just by looking at the electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern which records the electric signals of the heart, the level of potassium can be detected.

Hence, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had given ‘breakthrough device’ designation on 10^th September 2018 for a novel way of potassium level measurement.

Vic Gundotra, the CEO of AliveCor, said "It was a pie-in-the-sky idea that we could use AI to see something like this in the ECG when no one else could; It's a big milestone for us."

This screening tool would prove beneficial for the patients who stay at home and don’t prefer to visit labs and give the blood sample.

AliveCor team expects that this product would reach the market in a year, after the submission of clinical trial results.

The post AliveCor gets FDA breakthrough status for Hyperkalemia diagnosis appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Baxter’s new Actifuse Flow bone graft alternative gets FDA nod.

Actifuse Flow, Baxter International’s new synthetic bone graft surrogate from its osteobiologics surgery series, wins FDA approval for implementation in orthopedic surgeries.

In order to reach tine bony cracks and gaps of the skeletal structure, the new bone graft alternative is designed to reach these exact cranny locations. It is delivered via a syringe already containing it to speed-up bone growth. No preparatory procedure or mixing is needed to use this bone graft substitute and it maintains its fluid consistency during the surgery.

The surgical products manufacturer’s Actifuse Bone Graft Alternative constituting Actifuse Flow implements the silicate-substituted technology for bone formation via raised levels of silicon.

It becomes an ideal candidate for minimally invasive surgical procedures as the syringe facilitates the start and stop of flow to deliver the precise amount of substance. This also enables it to compact small done deformities as well as the intricate disorder of bone structure.

Additionally, when the bone is healing, the natural bone replaces this graft substitute as it gets reabsorbed, making it suitable for orthopedic surgeries on the posterolateral spine, extremities and the pelvis.

Baxter Advanced Surgery business president Wil Boren said, “As part of our growing product portfolio, Actifuse Flow builds on the extensive clinical experience of our Actifuse Bone Graft Substitute. We strive to pioneer products that provide surgeons with innovative and dependable tools to help enhance healing, improve outcomes and reduce the total cost of care.”

The Actifuse Flow will be available in the market in 1.5ml, 3ml and 5ml sizes in the upcoming months.

The post Baxter’s new Actifuse Flow bone graft alternative gets FDA nod. appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Machine Learning Applied to Manage Treatment-Resistant Depression

In an effort to know more about the etiopathogenesis of non-treatment responding to depression and to improve its management, Takeda and ConvergeHEALTH, data science institute by Deloitte collaborate to analyze patient datastores.

Disease datasets of conditions like non- treatment responding migraine from insurance claims data including diagnoses, management protocols and prescribed medicines were used to conduct linear and non-linear models on.

The researchers aimed at spotting the key aspects of the data that brought out the maximum impact on treatment results. A right mix of the correct data and apt questions lead to the enhancement in result estimation of deep learning models. Hence, larger labyrinthine datasets were available for evaluation and a clearer perception of patient response was obtained.

"In severe depression, patients often go through multiple medications before finding one that works," said Dan Housman, chief technology officer at ConvergeHEALTH by Deloitte. "This testing process can be challenging for patients and their psychiatrists."

The method is "prescribed after other medications did not work in what is deemed a treatment-resistant patient,” he added. “We’re interested in looking at depression patients and their journey between treatments to better understand which patients may fall into the treatment-resistant category and when a certain switch will be sustained without further switches."

Machine learning is applied to claims data sets to design prognostic models that identify the resistant patients and the different drugs for depression which the patients can shift to. The successful prognostic models, so designed, enable organizations to alter protocols and offer digital diagnostic devices that evaluate past events of patients to pick which individual would be positively affected by a change in medication or which drug could be started as the primary treatment for that patient.

"The benefit to the patient is a shorter journey to a drug that will keep them well and less time struggling with their depression," Housman described. "The benefit to Takeda is to be able to build tools both with guidelines or decision support systems to help physicians find the patients who can benefit from our products.”

The post Machine Learning Applied to Manage Treatment-Resistant Depression appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Zipnosis Raises $3 Million in Funding for Telemedicine Tools

Zipnosis specializes in offering telemedicine tools to providers in order to launch their own telemedicine services, whereas other telemedicine companies offer services either directly or via health insurers.

Last week, Zipnosis raised $3 million through funding, which led to a total of up to $23 million due to existing investors like Safeguard Scientifics and Ascension Ventures among others.

Jon Pearce, the CEO of Zipnosis said, “As an organization focused on sustainable, organic growth, we were very intentional about the size of our Series B. In this industry, you hear about huge amounts of cash being splashed around. Zipnosis didn’t require a massive infusion of investment to achieve our growth objectives. It was more important for us to take precisely what we needed to move to the next level – no more and no less.”

In January, Zipnosis teamed up with Methodist Family Health Centers, to unveil an online diagnosis and treatment service named Methodist NOW and in February they launched Patient Outreach, which aids hospitals in patient visits.

In April, Zipnosis teamed up with The American Academy of Family Physicians to provide an online diagnosis and treatment system followed by the addition of post-surgical care.

Lastly, in June, they announced the expanded Surescripts certification to add medication history into patients’ data available to telemedicine doctors. 

Jon Pearce further added, “We absolutely believe that healthcare is still local and we believe that it’s the long-term and the right solution not only for the best quality care but also for the most affordable care for patients. The healthcare providers haven’t moved quick enough. The incentives haven’t been there and change is hard in healthcare.”

The post Zipnosis Raises $3 Million in Funding for Telemedicine Tools appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Five Top Medical Device Start-Ups

The demand for novel medical technologies seems to grow continuously. Hence there has been an increasing number of start-ups in order to fill the gaps by providing innovative solutions to persisting health issues. In this article, we will have a brief look at five of the world’s most promising medical device start-ups.

Rubi Life

This US-based medical device start-up is one of the joint winners of the Digital Health Technology Show’s Start-Up of the Year Award 2018. Rubi Life has earned a good name in the pregnancy device market since it has created the world’s first sensor containing a passive fetal wearable monitor named Rubi that can track fetal movement in the third trimester.

Livongo Health

This California-based start-up enables diabetic patients to connect to a virtual care team. This company completed a $105m round of funding, which would be further used to support market growth by developing the consumer platform.

Day Zero Diagnostics

This medical device start-up combines machine learning and genome sequencing to diagnose and treat infectious diseases within five hours rather than spending days using current methods. Their Day Zero device can analyze entire genomic sequences using the microbial resistance database named MicrohmD.

Prellis Biologics

The mission of this company is to address the unmet need for transplant-ready organs. Hence, it is currently developing a laser-based 3D printing technology to create functional human organs.

Clinical Science Systems

This Netherlands based company is another winner of the Digital Health Technology Show’s Start-Up of the Year Award 2018. Their eeg.service platform specializes in developing a electroencephalography (EEG) related technique in order to provide better results, compared to the currently available models.

The post Five Top Medical Device Start-Ups appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Artios Pharma raises $84 Million to take DDR Programs to Next Level

Artios Pharma, a U.K. based company in Cambridge, has raised $84 million to take DNA damage response (DDR) programs to the next level of clinical proof of concept. The series B round reported more big-name investors who plan on investing in the research team, as their earlier work on PARP inhibitor Lynparza set the frame for the DDR programs.

Artios Pharma was founded in 2016 with DDR programs in-licensed from Cancer Research Technology, which had developed Lynparza at KuDOS Pharma. After two years, Artios now has advanced programs and it was in need of $84 million to proceed to the clinic. 

LSP and Andera Partners led the round with the support from Novartis Venture Fund and Pfizer Ventures. Other existing shareholders such as SV Health Investors, Arix Bioscience, M Ventures, AbbVie Ventures and IP Group have also contributed to the series B funding round.

DDR drugs target DNA polymerase theta (Polθ), which plays a significant role in DNA repair pathways. Polθ inhibitors selectively destroy cancer cells by disrupting the DNA repair process. The combination of the inhibitor with chemotherapy or radiotherapy could possibly increase the efficacy of cancer therapy. This validated concept has proven attractive to investors.

Rene Kuijten, the managing partner at LSP, said "Artios represents a unique opportunity to deliver a truly world class biotech company. LSP has worked with Artios' team before at KuDOS which developed olaparib, the first approved PARP inhibitor and used in ovarian and breast cancer, creating a billion dollar market.”

The post Artios Pharma raises $84 Million to take DDR Programs to Next Level appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Novo Nordisk Observes Lower 2019 U.S. Prices as Sales Fall

Declining sales of chief drugs of Novo Nordisk in the second quarter saw its shares falling on Wednesday, causing it to lower its prices in the key U.S. market next year.

The world’s leading diabetes drug maker is enduring a period of slow growth partially on account of pricing pressure on the U.S. market, which is responsible for about half of the company’s total sales.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made reducing the price of prescription drugs an issue for his administration and on Tuesday he said that he would make an announcement next week on the matter.

Various pharma companies like Pfizer Inc and Switzerland’s Novartis have commented that they would not bend on planned increases in drug prices.

Novo Nordisk does not intend to follow suit and overturn list price increases announced in July, chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told reporters, adding: “Neither do we have plans to raise the prices for the rest of the year”.

The company said that “average prices after rebates are expected to be lower compared with the levels in 2018”.

Drug makers also see new U.S. legislation coming year focused on reining in high drug prices. Novo Nordisk comments that the new rules would lower its 2019 sales by 1-2 percent.

Jorgensen annulled media reports that Novo is thinking to lay off as much as 3,000 in reaction to the new legislation.

The post Novo Nordisk Observes Lower 2019 U.S. Prices as Sales Fall appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Janssen, Bayer Plans to Shut South Korean Plants Seeing a Plunging Demand

Janssen Korea becomes yet another drugmaker to shut its Hyangnam plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, by 2021, stranding an uncounted number of employees.
 
According to a Janssen Korea spokesperson cited by The Korea Times, the closing is a calculated decision made over fall in demand for heavy-dosage drugs.

“Our manufacturing network for solid dosage forms was found to have significant excess capacity, and our future pipeline is unlikely to drive significant volume upside for the solids, due to an ongoing shift of production to cancer drugs and immune booster injections,” the spokesperson told the Korean newspaper.

 “This decision was not made lightly, and Johnson & Johnson remains committed to the Korean market, with further investment planned for the company’s Incheon facility and through its local partnership to produce innovative beauty products in Cheongju for the global market,” said a Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman.

Bayer followed Janssen, by announcing that it would seal a contrast media manufacturing plant in Anseong, as said to Business Korea. It plans to end operations at the unit by the ending of the year as it hunts for a buyer.

 “We have no reason to maintain our plants in every country, because of the global tendency of establishing integrated logistics centers,” a Bayer Korea spokeswoman said, citing a waning Korean market and a consequent mounting payroll burden as the reason, as quoted by The Korea Times.

Bayer has now closed the second plant in the country, following the pack up of its Namyangju plant in 1999. Post that, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck & Co. repeated the same, and as many as 16 plants owned by international pharma companies have been closed in South Korea spanning twenty years, according to Business Korea’s tally.

The post Janssen, Bayer Plans to Shut South Korean Plants Seeing a Plunging Demand appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Vitals Consumer Services Division Becomes Second Possession of WebMD in Two Months

WebMD, an Internet Brands company, announced its purchase of Vitals Consumer Services Division from Mdx Medical in a period of two months since its earlier acquisition.

The division, which specializes in giving consumers online tools to contact clinicians, comprises of vitals.com and UCompareHealthCare.com. The acquisition will also embrace the MedHelp tool, which offers a medium for patients to bond with their peers.

“The consumer-first mission of Vitals Consumer Services Division, as evidenced by its strong commitment to transparent information and data, makes it a natural fit within the WebMD network,” Dr. Steve Zatz, WebMD CEO, said in a statement. “We plan to quickly open our combined platform to providers, provider networks, and other health systems that are seeking to drive new patients into their practices.”

WebMD has been persistent in growing its provider directory in the past year, as per the company. This new attainment hopes to help the united platforms create as many as 10 million consumer visits every month. 

“We have long operated the Vitals Enterprise and Vitals Consumer businesses separately. We are delighted that Vitals Consumer Services has found a home with WebMD, and we believe those two platforms together will delight consumers who are shopping for a provider,” Heyward Donigan, president and CEO of Vitals, said in a statement. “Our Vitals Enterprise business continues on independently, delivering a leading digital engagement platform for our health plan and employer customers that creates a competitive healthcare marketplace and helps their members choose the best providers.”

The post Vitals Consumer Services Division Becomes Second Possession of WebMD in Two Months appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Sun Pharma Launches Kapspargo Sprinkle to Treat Chest Pain & High Blood Pressure

Sun Pharma, India’s largest drugmaker, has launched Kapspargo Sprinkle in the US. This drug is used in the treatment of heart failure, chest pain, and high blood pressure.

The US-FDA approved Kapspargo Sprinkle, a patented formulation of metoprolol succinate, which is the only extended-release sprinkle formulation of beta1-selective adrenoreceptor blocking agent called beta-blocker.

These metoprolol succinate extended-release tablets have overall sales of around $600-700 million per annum in the US.

These Kapspargo sprinkle pellets can either be sprinkled over soft food or administered via a nasogastric tube. They were designed for once-daily long-term administration, especially for patients who have difficulty in swallowing tablets.

Abhay Gandhi, the CEO-North America of Sun Pharma said, "Roughly 40 percent of patients requiring long-term care have difficulty swallowing, a problem that may result in patient non-adherence to medications as well as medication errors."

Abhay Gandhi further added, "Kapspargo Sprinkle capsules may make it easier for patients to take their antihypertensive medication. This innovative product is the latest example of Sun Pharma’s use of advanced technology to create novel formulations of proven medications."

These extended-release capsules are available in varied dosage strengths of 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg and 200 mg.

The post Sun Pharma Launches Kapspargo Sprinkle to Treat Chest Pain & High Blood Pressure appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Novartis Extends Donation of Egaten® (triclabendazole) Until 2022

Novartis has renewed its memorandum of understanding with the World Health Organization (WHO) to lengthen its drug donation for Egaten® (triclabendazole) to 2022 and continues its war against liver fluke. WHO lists Egaten as the only medicine for fascioliasis and also includes it in the Model List of Essential Medicines.

Novartis has promised a donation of 600,000 tablets of Egaten annually as part of this new four-year (January 2019 to December 2022) deal, which it hopes to help 300,000 patients per year. As many as 4 million tablets of Egaten, costing USD 41 million, have been donated by Novartis since the commencement of the donation program in 2005, which has helped treat around 2 million patients with fascioliasis in more than 30 countries globally.

Fascioliasis, also called liver fluke, is an ignored tropical disease affecting about 2.4 million people worldwide. Fascioliasis is reported from every continent; more than 70 countries in all. Egaten is administered in a single-dose for treating fascioliasis.

"This donation will help increase access to treatment in many countries, particularly in communities where cases are clustered and among children of school age who have both the highest prevalence and intensity of infection," said Antonio Montresor, M.D., Medical Officer, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases.

"Novartis looks forward to its continued partnership with the WHO to reduce the burden of fascioliasis around the world through access to effective treatment," said Patrice Matchaba, M.D., Group Head of Global Health and Corporate Responsibility. "The extension of our donation through 2022 is a testament to our company's long-term commitment to reimagining the fight against neglected tropical diseases."

The post Novartis Extends Donation of Egaten® (triclabendazole) Until 2022 appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

System C Signs Contract to Offer Pooled Child Health Record in South West England

System C has signed a contract to develop a collective child health information system in the South West of England. 708,000 child health records from South Gloucester, Bristol, Somerset and North Somerset, Devon, Torbay, Plymouth and Cornwall will be put to use by its CarePlus software.

Data will be collected from 10 acute hospitals in the South West, five clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), 376 GP practices and nine local authorities by the system which is slated to be launched this September.

James Bolt, head of public health commissioning, NHS England South West, said: “Health professionals will be able to manage queries about the health status of an individual child and populations much more efficiently and effectively via a single system. The result will be safer and more joined-up care.”

CarePlus stores data with regard to immunizations and vaccinations taken right from birth to when the person is19 years old, enabling care providers to track children along their preschool and school years.

John Grayland, head of child health services at Health Intelligence, said: “We are very excited to have been chosen to provide the Child Health Information Service in the South West of England. We will be responsible for approx. 708,000 children and have chosen CarePlus as the best software to enable us to run an effective service.”

Markus Bolton, joint chief executive of System C, added: “We are very pleased to see multiple small child health systems replaced by these large footprint solutions in this way because they are safer and users can manage children’s records much more efficiently. We are looking forward to working with our partners in the South West.”

The post System C Signs Contract to Offer Pooled Child Health Record in South West England appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Merck Presents 96-Week Doravirine HIV Data Three Months before PDUFA Date

96-week data on doravirine, Merck’s HIV drug, was posted by the drugmaker recently. Merck expects it to outrun drugs like Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Sustiva in combination regimens and antiretroviral drugs from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson in viral suppression.

Merck believes that the present drugs added to Gilead’s Truvada and ViiV Healthcare’s Epzicom possess certain inadequacies. Bristol-Myers’ Sustiva observed an elevated rate of specific side effects compared to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs),  and J&J’s Edurant combats excessive viral loads with difficulty. Boehringer Ingelheim’s Viramune and J&J’s Intelence also come with shortcomings.

Merck attempts to take advantage of this scenario by propagating doravarine. Last year, it presented the efficacy of the NNRTI to be at par with a combination of AbbVie’s Norvir and J&J’s Prezista at containing the HIV virus after 48 weeks, followed by a filing for FDA approval with a PDUFA dated October 23^rd.

The 96-week update shows that doravirine exceeded Gilead or ViiV’s drugs in the rate of viral suppression in HIV patients showing a fall by 10 percentage points over the second 48 weeks of the trial. Moreover, it fared better than the Norvir-Prezista combination in the control division with the rate of viral suppression declining by 14 percentage points. The variance in viral suppression in the doravirine and the control group was equal to7.1%. 

 It did not ring any bells for safety hazards during the 96-weeks. Also, it does not lead to a rise in fasting serum blood lipids as seen with the Norvir-Prezista combination and showed a lesser rate of dropouts due to adverse events than the control section.

Merck presents the update three months before the verdict of the FDA on the approval of doravirine as a single drug and in combination with lamivudine and tenofovir.  

The post Merck Presents 96-Week Doravirine HIV Data Three Months before PDUFA Date appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

LabCorp won’t Confirm if SamSam is the Ransomware it’s Recovering from

LabCorp, the mammoth medical investigations company, is still recuperating from a major ransomware attack and, almost a week later, won’t reveal how the hackers got entry nor the number of servers that were hit.

On witnessing suspicious activity, officials advised LabCorp to shut down its network on Sunday. Repair efforts temporarily hampered test processes and customer access.

LabCorp’s spokesperson did not confirm or deny the involvement of SamSam even after repeated questioning on Friday. The official stuck to the official statement and wouldn’t say anything further when probed about the actual report.

However, a report from CSO, revealed that thousands of LabCorp’s servers were impacted by the attack, and the infamous SamSam variant was the culprit. SamSam is the very virus that forced the Allscripts platform shut for about a week in January and is famed for its recourse to brute force RDP attacks to breach a system and multiply.

Though LabCorp was able to swiftly control the attack, in the 50 minutes between spotting and correcting, the ransomware was able to encrypt 7,000 systems, 1,900 servers, 350 of which were production servers.

The report said officials confirmed that only Windows systems were damaged. The official statement further stresses that patient data remained intact, which the report claimed LabCorp confirmed through its management and traffic monitoring.

The post LabCorp won’t Confirm if SamSam is the Ransomware it’s Recovering from appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

By Ddu

AI Code of Conduct to be Laid Down by NHS Later in 2018

In the latter part of this year, a code of conduct for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare will be introduced by the NHS, England, announced Harpreet Sood, associate CCIO at NHS England, at The King’s Fund’s Digital Health and Care Congress 2018 on 11 July.

Sood said NHS England was hoping to publish a “basic terminology of what AI means” and a code of conduct later in 2018 in response to a question by an audience member about concerns regarding AI use in the NHS, adding that the documents will help provide ‘principles’, ‘guidance’ and ‘transparency’ for the use of AI within the NHS.

The prospective benefits of AI use in the NHS have garnered a lot of interest among the medical community in recent months. Consequently, the Prime Minister announced in May 2018 that the NHS and technology companies should use AI as a “new weapon” in research.

However, AI use brings with it the issue of data protection. For instance, an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) which looked into Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust transporting data to DeepMind to evaluate an acute kidney injury alert app called Streams.

Eric Topol, an expert in cardiology, genetics and digital medicine, is presently leading a report into the need of training NHS staff to use AI and robotics. It signifies that there are no official guidelines from NHS England.

 The post AI Code of Conduct to be Laid Down by NHS Later in 2018 appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Biomedical Blockchain Research Center Opens at Mount Sinai

The opening of a new Biomedical Blockchain Research Center was announced by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Institute for Next Generation Healthcare which aims to solve healthcare and medical science issues with new technologies and data.

The new center is welcomed at a time when lots of health systems are inquisitive about the implementation of blockchain and analyst firms in real cases. Gartner and IDC spoke to IT executives suggesting that strategies should be built around the technology or they could be outrun by rival hospitals that do it first. 

The new center would be led by Joel Dudley, executive vice president of Precision Health at Mount Sinai. His research concerns the application of artificial intelligence to crack problems in biology and hence, this center will go together with that work by making use of EHRs, wearables, and linked digital health data to build analytical healthcare applications.

Mount Sinai is hopeful that the new center’s research will build the foundation for its upcoming business partnership program that would be targeting companies interested in biomedical blockchain, a technology that detects and resolves issues in clinical medicine and biomedical research.

“This experience will allow us to address many of the most promising uses for blockchain in biomedicine with the goal of improving healthcare delivery and reducing costs,” Dudley said in a statement. “Many companies are already exploring the use of blockchain technologies in biology and healthcare.”

The technology can be applied in drug production, clinical research trials, enhancing quality control in the pharmaceutical domain to diminish bogus drugs, and augment consistency of research results.

Dudley added, “Our aim is to understand how blockchain and associated technologies can be applied to unmet needs in healthcare and biomedicine.”

The post Biomedical Blockchain Research Center Opens at Mount Sinai appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk

Synopsys Ranks Medical Records Higher than Credit Card Details

Olli Jarva, Synopsys’s Software Integrity Group managing consultant, opined that hackers find healthcare data of more value than credit card or social security details, referring to the recent ransomware attack on Singapore’s government health database.

As many as 1.5 million individuals’, including Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s private medical information was stolen by the cybercriminals.

 “When we are designing and building the systems to be resilient for cyber-attacks, we have to start building security from within, rather than only relying on perimeter defense. This means that before a single line of code is written, we have already started to map down our potential security problems from the design standpoint,” said Jarva about the measures healthcare providers could be taking to safeguard the data.

He added, “Application security problems can be divided to two parts, flaws and bugs. To catch most of these software security problems, we need to identify them early on so that they would not come back to haunt us later on. We have to stay vigilant when it comes to understanding how and what kind of data we are protecting, where it is located, and what kind of security controls we have in place to protect it.”

Jarva commented that such enormous computer systems pose a challenge to security as there may be numerous third-party software attachments with their innate weak security systems which may be difficult to spot and be rectified early on.

Healthcare industries witness other obstacles in shielding data, such as a dearth of security and financial capital and skills to remedy system flaws, if any, and the massive number of devices that need uniform security.

The post Synopsys Ranks Medical Records Higher than Credit Card Details appeared first on Drugdu.com

from Drugdu  https://goo.gl/QgQoHk