• CompuMed (Los Angeles) reported agreements to continue providing ECG remote interpretation systems and services for state correctional departments in Iowa and Wyoming. Under the terms of the Iowa Department of Corrections agreement, CompuMed will provide remote cardiac screening on an as needed basis for more than 8,700 detainees at the department's nine main correctional facilities. The contract extension with the Wyoming Department of Corrections is through Prison Health Services, for which CompuMed will continue to serve as a value-added partner providing remote cardiac screening for detainees at Wyoming correctional facilities. The company also reported a contract to provide ECG remote interpretation services for state correctional facilities in Arizona through the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). CompuMed will provide remote cardiac screening on an as needed basis for more than 30,000 detainees at the Department's correctional facilities statewide. CompuMed now has 44 CardioGram systems at correctional sites throughout Arizona. The ADC agreement contains options for multiple renewals/extensions. Customers for the company's CardioGram system are typically correctional facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, occupational health clinics and physician offices. The CompuMed system significantly reduces healthcare costs by providing remote cardiac screening at the point of care. Another key advantage is an optional feature that automatically sends ECG results to a trained cardiologist for an over-read when the results are abnormal.

• Gamida Cell (Jerusalem, Israel) reported a collaboration agreement with Biologics Delivery Systems Group (BDSG), a unit of Cordis (both Miami Lakes, Florida). BDSG will supply catheters for the upcoming Phase 1/II clinical trial of Gamida Cell's CardioCure product for the treatment of post-myocardial infarction (heart attack) patients. CardioCure is a proprietary ex vivo expanded autologous (from the patient's body) bone marrow product. The randomized, controlled multi-center phase I/II clinical trial, due to start in 4Q08 in Israel, will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Gamida Cell's CardioCure in 48 post-MI patients. CardioCure will be injected directly into the myocardium using the latest generation of the BDSG NOGA cardiac navigation system and MyoStar injection catheter. "The NOGA XP cardiac navigation system is a highly sophisticated and accurate electro-guided methodology, which creates precise, 3-D images of the heart. This will enable us to identify damaged myocardial tissue and accurately deliver the CardioCure injections into the relevant area in order to assist with functional restoration of the damaged heart," said Professor Ran Kornowski, director of interventional cardiology and cardiac cath labs at the Rabin Medical Center (Petah Tikva, Israel) and a principal investigator in the Gamida Cell CardioCure clinical study. Pre-clinical results demonstrate that CardioCure may offer a better therapeutic alternative to existing treatments. The data indicate that it may prevent or lessen some of the damage caused to the heart muscle as a result of a heart attack. Gamida Cell is involved in stem cell expansion technologies and therapeutic products. The company is developing a pipeline of cell therapeutics to effectively treat debilitating and often fatal illnesses such as cancer, cardiac disease and peripheral vascular disease.

• NorthPoint Domain (Boston) has reported acollaboration with the Cardiovascular Center of Boston Medical Center (BMC) to apply advanced Internet patient engagement instruments to BMC's cardiac robotic surgery program. Also known as medical informatics instruments (MIIs), these tools are used by clinicians as informational and interactive tools that involve patients and their families in the care process. Built upon a web platform, informatics instruments represent a new way for clinicians to deliver medical care, making it feasible to educate and instruct patients and their families, set expectations, share decision-making, and support self-care in ways heretofore not possible, NorthPoint said. The partnership is an extension of the relationship between NorthPoint and the BMC Cardiovascular Center. The organizations have collaborated since 2002 to use web-based MIIs to advance patient-centered care. NorthPoint will work with the Cardiovascular Center to tailor its MII platforms, complementing the advanced robotic surgery technology being used at BMC. "NorthPoint Domain will greatly enhance our ability to inform and engage our patients and make them true partners in their own care," said Robert Poston, MD, chief of cardiac surgery at BMC and associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Boston University School of Medicine. Rony Sellam, president/COO of NorthPoint, said, "While BMC is among a handful of medical centers in the country offering minimally invasive robotic CABG, it will be the only center in the world combining this with our Internet instruments for informatics-powered care delivery."