Press Releases

BURLINGTON, Mass. – March 26, 2014 – Infraredx, Inc., a medical device company committed to advancing the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease, today announced that its TVC Imaging System™, a first-in-class dual-modality intravascular imaging system, will be featured in eight scientific posters during the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) 63rd Annual Scientific Session. The meeting will be held March 29th-31st at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

March 27, 2014—Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) will present sub-analyses from the global EXAMINE (EXamination of CArdiovascular OutcoMes: AlogliptIN vs. Standard of CarE in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Acute Coronary Syndrome) cardiovascular (CV) safety outcomes trial in a poster session at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 63rd Annual Scientific Session in Washington, DC. These sub-analyses specifically investigated the effects of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i) alogliptin on rates of CV mortality and hospitalization for heart failure (HF).

PRINCETON, N.J., & NEW YORK (March 27, 2014) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced the results of a pre-specified subanalysis of the Phase 3 ARISTOTLE trial that assessed the effect of blood pressure control on outcomes as well as the treatment effect of Eliquis (apixaban) compared to warfarin according to blood pressure control.1 The results showed that poor blood pressure control was associated with a substantially higher risk of stroke or systemic embolism, independent of Eliquis or warfarin treatment. However, this subanalysis found consistent results for Eliquis versus warfarin in reducing the risk of stroke, regardless of blood pressure control. These data will be presented Saturday, March 29, at the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) 63rd Annual Scientific Session in Washington, D.C.

Waltham, MA – March 26, 2014 (Booth # 1343) – Corindus Vascular Robotics, the leader in precision vascular robotics, will showcase its FDA-cleared CorPath System at the upcoming American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting, March 29 – 31 in Washington, D.C. The CorPath is the first medical device to bring robotic precision and accuracy to coronary angioplasty to help optimize clinical outcomes. Corindus representatives will be onsite to conduct demos of the CorPath System and answer questions about the significant advantages in procedure precision and improvements in clinical outcomes made possible by robotics in the cath lab.

LOS ANGELES (March 27, 2014) – Two Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute physician-researchers have been named recipients of prestigious awards from the American College of Cardiology.

Minneapolis Heart Institute Chief Cardiology Fellow Ankur Kalra, MD has been named as a finalist for the 2014 ACCF Young Investigators Awards. Kalra's research, funded by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF), supports the ongoing quest to better identify, with noninvasive tools, which heart attack survivors are at greatest risk for sudden cardiac death, and therefore may benefit from ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) therapy. Kalra will present his research at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting in Washington, DC on March 31, 2014.

Can treating depression in patients with heart failure help them live longer? That's one of the questions that University of Pittsburgh researchers hope to answer with a new five-year, $7.3 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“Today, we’re going to make history,” said 18-year-old Eric Ramos on the day UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors operated on his ailing heart. Eric, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is one of only three patients in the United States with the condition to receive a battery-operated left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to keep his weakening heart pumping blood through his body. He is the first patient in the country to be given a specific, smaller LVAD, which means doctors would not need to manipulate his diaphragm, which could compromise his already limited pulmonary function.

eCardio Diagnostics, a leader in remote arrhythmia monitoring services, will highlight its expertise for integrating its services with customers' existing electronic medical records (EMR) systems at upcoming conferences.

“Today, we’re going to make history,” said 18-year-old Eric Ramos on the day UT Southwestern Medical Center doctors operated on his ailing heart. Eric, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is one of only three patients in the United States with the condition to receive a battery-operated left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to keep his weakening heart pumping blood through his body. He is the first patient in the country to be given a specific, smaller LVAD, which means doctors would not need to manipulate his diaphragm, which could compromise his already limited pulmonary function.

Can treating depression in patients with heart failure help them live longer? That's one of the questions that University of Pittsburgh researchers hope to answer with a new five-year, $7.3 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Christiana Care Health System is one of a handful of institutions in the region to participate in ABSORB III, the first clinical trial in the United States of an absorbable vascular scaffold for patients with coronary artery disease.

Singulex, Inc., the developer and leading provider of Single Molecule Counting (SMC(tm)) technology for clinical diagnostics and scientific discovery, yesterday presented new data at the American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention Council Conference highlighting research results using the Company's proprietary ultrasensitive Erenna® Immunoassay System in the detection of cardiac troponin-I (cTnI). The study utilized the Erenna System to measure previously undetected increases in cTnI to predict development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population, independent of a variety of traditional risk factors.

Annals of Internal Medicine today launched a new interactive medical education tool designed to test physicians' decision-making skills. Annals Virtual Patients uses a unique "if this, then that" format, so each learner goes down his or her own path through a complex clinical simulation. Each simulation covers the examination, diagnosis, and treatment of a virtual patient. Upon completion of each case, physicians may earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credits.

C. R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE: BCR) today announced the enrollment of the first patient into the Lutonix(r) In-Stent Restenosis (ISR) Clinical Trial.  Dr. Carlos Mena, Medical Director, Vascular Medicine at Yale - New Haven Hospital, is the principal investigator of the pivotal multi-center randomized Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) trial which is expected to enroll several hundred patients at 30 sites in the U.S.

Corindus Vascular Robotics, a leading developer of precision vascular robotics and provider of the CorPath Vascular Robotic System, today announced a partnership with Sanford Health and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to launch a feasibility investigation for a remote robotics program.

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced the first enrollments in the company’s LEADLESS Pacemaker Observational Study evaluating the Nanostim™ leadless pacing technology. The Nanostim pacemaker received CE Mark in 2013, and post-approval implants have occurred in the UK, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Prominent proteomic and cardiac scientist Jennifer Van Eyk, PhD, has been named the inaugural director of Cedars-Sinai's Advanced Clinical Biosystems Research Institute.

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced it has completed patient enrollment approximately four months ahead of plan in the Phase III clinical trial EUCLID studying BRILINTA(r) (ticagrelor) tablets. Part of PARTHENON, AstraZeneca's largest clinical trial program, EUCLID has randomized more than 13,500 patients globally with peripheral artery disease (PAD); approximately 20 percent are patients in the United States (US) from more than 300 active clinical trial sites across the country. EUCLID is designed to evaluate the effects of ticagrelor (monotherapy) compared to clopidogrel (monotherapy) on cardiovascular (CV) events and safety in PAD patients. Ticagrelor is currently not approved for the treatment of patients with PAD.

The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has set a new standard for U.S. heart transplantation by completing 117 adult heart transplants and two adult heart-lung transplants, for a total of 119 adult heart transplants in a single year. The previous number set in 2005, was 98 adult heart transplants performed in one year.

Texas Heart Institute doctors at CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, are the first in Texas to have implanted a device designed to seal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), rather than bridging through the aneurysms using a traditional stent.