HepaLife changes name to Alliqua

HepaLife Technologies (New York), an advanced biomedical products company focused on the development and manufacturing of proprietary drug delivery and liver health technologies, said that it has changed its name to “Alliqua.“ effective Dec. 20.

The name change to Alliqua, will be reflected in SEC filings and all future corporate communications with the investor community. The name change will have no effect on voting and other rights accompanying the company's common stock, and the company will retain its current ticker symbol until assigned a new one by FINRA.

“In order to more accurately reflect our focus on emerging solutions in the fields of drug delivery and advanced wound care, we have adopted a corporate name change to Alliqua,“ said Richard Rosenblum, Alliqua's president. “As demonstrated by our recent announcements, such as the 510(k) submission for our silver-based antimicrobial wound care dressing, we are committed to becoming a leading distributer of innovative product solutions in our respective healthcare verticals. With various new products in the pipeline, we look forward to keeping our loyal shareholders and prospective investors apprised of our developments into 2011 and beyond.“

InfraReDx gets tax incentive program

InfraReDx (Burlington, Massachusetts), a device company making cardiovascular diagnostic imaging technologies, said that it has been selected to receive an award of nearly $862,000 as part of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) Tax Incentive Program. In conjunction with the award, InfraReDx has committed to create 32 new jobs during 2011. The Tax Incentive Program was established in 2008 as part of the state's 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative. The program authorizes up to $25 million in tax incentives each year to expand life sciences-related employment opportunities, promote health-related innovations, and stimulate research and development, manufacturing and commercialization in the life sciences. The primary goal of the program is to incentivize life sciences companies to create new long-term jobs in Massachusetts.

“We are very pleased to be a recipient of these incentive funds for the second year in a row,“ said James Muller, MD, founder/CEO of InfraReDx. “There is an excellent fit between the goals of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the stage of development that InfraReDx has reached. The MLSC seeks to expand life sciences-related jobs in Massachusetts; InfraReDx is a medical device company that has thrived because of the life sciences expertise concentrated in Massachusetts. The company has developed the LipiScan IVUS combination coronary catheter that uses both light and sound (near-infrared spectroscopy and intra-coronary ultrasound) to identify the fatty plaques that cause complications during stenting and are associated with heart attacks occurring in the community. We continue to hire life science workers to build additional systems and catheters to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for the product coming from hospitals throughout the world.“

Great River to replace Klein Center in Iowa

Great River Medical Center's (West Burlington, Iowa) board has approved construction of a new long-term-care center on the hospital's West Burlington, Iowa campus. It will replace the existing Klein Center at 2910 Madison Avenue, Burlington, Iowa.

The new center will be built along the lake on the south side of the campus between the main parking lot and Great River Hospice House. Although it will be home to nearly 160 people, living spaces will be divided into about 10 “neighborhoods,“ each with a kitchen, community space and private bedrooms.

There also will be a 16- to 32-bed neighborhood for patients with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

“Now is the right time to build our new Klein Center,“ said hospital president/CEO Mark Richardson. “Construction costs will only continue to rise, and the first of the Baby Boomers are turning 65 now. As the need for long-term care increases, we'll be ready with services people want and expect.“

The existing facility opened nearly 50 years ago, and it would require significant renovations. Planning for the new center began a few years ago, but was delayed when the economic downturn began. Final plans will be completed in the next six months, and groundbreaking is expected in the latter half of 2011. The construction time will be about 18 months.

The Klein Center opened as a rehabilitation hospital in 1963. Twelve years later, it became a long-term care center operated by Great River Medical Center. The new facility also will be called the Klein Center in recognition if its history and continuing contributions from the Klein Trust.

CTTC's Calmare pain device gets media attention

Competitive Technologies (CTTC; Fairfield, Connecticut) said that its Calmare pain therapy medical device has recently garnered positive media attention, including a feature story on Salt Lake City-based KSL-TV, with follow-on coverage picked up by the Associated Press.

“The KSL-TV coverage focused on successful Calmare treatments received by a Utah teenager who was struck by lightening in October and had suffered from debilitating chronic pain ever since,“ said Johnnie Johnson, CTTC's CEO. “We are very pleased to learn how successful Dr. Chalmers has been in treating patients with our Calmare device at his Spero Pain Relief Therapy clinic in St. George, Utah. It is rewarding to play even a small part in returning quality of life to individuals who have suffered from severe pain.“

Competitive Technologies provides distribution, patent and technology transfer, sales and licensing services focused on commercially viable product or technology solutions.