View as Web page , View as PDF
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 Wednesday, April 8, 2009 |
|
What problems? Customers still laud Anthem
Despite computer glitches that made doctors around the state boil with frustration last year, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield still outscored most of its peers in a customer satisfaction rating. Indianapolis-based Anthem placed second among major health insurers in Indiana and Illinois in a J.D. Power & Associates' survey of 1,700 health insurance members. The results were released this month. Topping the list for the second year was BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, which is a not-for-profit organization separate from the for-profit Anthem. BCBS of Illinois scored 712 out of 1,000 on the survey, while Anthem scored 711. 
Q&A
J.K. Wall, jwall@ibj.com
 Timothy Ratliff has been director of the Purdue Center for Cancer Research since July 2007. The center brings together 83 Purdue University scientists from a wide variety of disciplines - molecular biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, pathology - to make discoveries related to cancer. The center receives about $20 million a year from the National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health. |
 | | |
|
|
 |
Q: Describe the work the Purdue center does and how that work is different from other institutions and hospitals focused on cancer.
A: We're really a center for cancer research, really a center that focuses on discovery. There are seven basic science centers funded by the National Cancer Institute. There are only two that are at institutions not affiliated with medical schools: MIT and us. We want our discoveries to help the patients. We work with Indiana University Simon Cancer Center. We are involved with them to get some of our technology moving forward.
Q: Can you give me some examples of the work the center has done?
A: Phil Low discovered the fact that cancer cells over-express the folate receptor. I think his initial discovery was in 1992. A company formed around that, Endocyte. It currently has drugs in Phase 2 clinical trials. It's a very unique technology, one of the leading technologies for truly targeted therapies. The toxicity's much lower. Chemotherapy today, just general chemotherapy, kills the cancer cells but kills a lot of other cells in the process. The folate-targeted therapies are like the laser-guided missiles.
Q: Does the Purdue Center always look to turn its discoveries into companies?
A: Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. That's just part of what we do. Another part of what we do is collaborate with institutions to develop technology that would still be useful in therapeutics (that is, pharmaceuticals). We have some therapeutics going into Phase 1 trials.
Health care keeps growing, but hospitals aren't
The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows hospitals nationwide shed jobs for the first time since June 2004, according to Modern Healthcare.
Still, the loss was only 700 positions in March out of a total hospital work force of 4.7 million. In Indianapolis, Wishard Health Services announced 250 job cuts at its long-term-care facility in March.
In December, two Indianapolis hospital systems, Clarian Health and St. Vincent Health, announced 28 and 50 layoffs, respectively.
The health care sector overall grew in March by 13,500 jobs, a slowdown from the average growth rate of 30,000 jobs per month in 2008. Most of the growth was in ambulatory health care services, including physician offices.
| | |
|
|
Company News
Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter put a number on the kinds of acquisitions he'd like to make in the near future: $5 billion to $15 billion. Lechleiter gave the range in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. In essence, Lechleiter said he'd like to do more deals like Lilly's $6.5 billion acquisition of ImClone Systems Inc. in November. Since then, biotech firms like ImClone have seen their stocks punished, making them ripe for picking. Billy Fisher, in a post on Stock Trader's Daily Web site, said that if Lilly were looking for biotech acquisitions, he sees five leading possibilities: California-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., which already co-developed the diabetes drug Byetta with Lilly; Connecticut-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Massachusetts-based Biogen Idec Inc., Pennsylvania-based Cephalon Inc., and New York-based OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. Lilly also might look to acquire a company in animal health, which accounts for about 10 percent of Lilly's sales. Fisher named Florida-based PetMed Express Inc. and Idaho-based MWI Veterinary Supply Inc. as two candidates.
|
 | | |
|
|
Indianapolis-based Arcadia Resources Inc. restructured $24 million of debt due in October, buying 2-1/2 more years to repay the loans and borrowing an additional $3 million. Arcadia, which provides home health care services, borrowed the money from its two largest shareholders: JANA Partners LLC and Vicis Capital Master Fund, both based in New York. The company is now working with Comerica Bank to renew its existing senior credit facility, which matures in October 2009. Arcadia has sustained continued losses as it tries to shift its focus to its DailyMed service that packages medications for seniors. DailyMed subscriptions are growing faster than expected, the company said, but not fast enough to counter a slowdown in the company's medical staffing business. Arcadia said it expects to report a loss for the three months ended March 31.
The U.S. Department of Justice dismissed criminal charges against Zimmer Holdings Inc. and Biomet Inc., both based in Warsaw, as well as two other orthopedic device makers, Reuters reported. The companies all completed the monitoring terms they agreed to in September 2007. The government had accused the companies of violating anti-kickback statutes by paying fees to orthopedic surgeons. Consulting payments to surgeons by the top five orthopedic companies declined to $105 million last year from $272 million in 2007, the government said.
People
The Government Accountability Office appointed Dr. Charles Kennedy, vice president for health information technology at Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, a new advisory body established by the stimulus bill passed in February.
Compiled by J.K. Wall, jwall@ibj.com
Edited by Andrea Muirragui Davis
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
