• eResearchTechnology (Philadelphia) and nSpire Health (Longmont, Colorado) reported an alliance to provide integrated cardiac safety and pulmonary core lab services to clinical researchers worldwide. eResearch provides centralized electrocardiographic (ECG), eClinical technology and other services to the pharma and medical device industries. nSpire is a provider of respiratory trials services, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing, high-definition pulmonary diagnostics systems and spirometry. The companies will deliver a combined solution for cardio/pulmonary safety/efficacy services during clinical trials, ranging from project planning and set-up through study conduct, management and data delivery for cardiac and respiratory trial endpoints. "This alliance addresses a growing need in clinical research ... in these two closely related areas of clinical study," said Michael McKelvey, president/CEO of eRT.

• Advanced Cell Technology (ACT; Los Angeles) reported a clinical trial agreement with Chandler Regional Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center (both Chandler, Arizona), members of Catholic Healthcare West (CHW; San Francisco) to become ACT's first clinical trial sites for the Phase II myoblast study. The myoblast program is an autologous adult stem cell therapy for the treatment of heart disease that has completed four Phase I trials and received FDA clearance to begin Phase II trials. In November 2007, ACT and CHW said that the parties had entered a letter of intent for a proposed exclusive business arrangement to establish a clinical trial research site and a North American regenerative medicine interventional cardiology training center for the Phase II clinical trial. The study will focus on patients not eligible for angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery and have poor quality of life despite receiving optimal medical therapy or cardiac resynchronization therapy with a pacemaker or defibrillator.

• Alliant Healthcare Products (Richland, Michigan) has been awarded a three-year contract with Premier Purchasing Partners (Charlotte) for its Open Heart Disposable Products through Jan. 31, 2011. Alliant's cardiovascular products are primarily used during open heart surgeries. One of the newly contracted products, vein graft cannulas, allows the surgeon to inspect blood vessels prior to being used for coronary by-pass.

• Angiotech Pharmaceuticals (Vancouver) reported a licensing agreement for exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute the Option inferior vena cava (IVC) filter, made by Rex Medical (Conshohocken, Pennsylvania), a device implanted into the body's inferior vena cava to prevent pulmonary embolism (PE). The Option IVC filter is designed for long-term retrieval post-device implantation and is expected to be approved for both permanent and retrievable indications.

• Cardiac Science (Bothell, Washington), a specialist in cardiac diagnosis, resuscitation, rehabilitation, and informatics products, has signed a letter of intent to establish Heartcentrix ECG connectivity with the Misys MyWay electronic medical record (EMR) system from Misys Healthcare (London). The HeartCentrix solution helps to bring a variety of patient information together into a single EMR application.

• Cardinal Health (Dublin, Ohio) reported an agreement with GE Healthcare (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) concerning the availability of GE's Myoview (Tetrofosmin) cardiac imaging agent through Cardinal's network of nuclear pharmacies. The agreement will give Cardinal's customers greater access to Myoview, a myocardial perfusion imaging technetium agent used in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

• Global Research Services (GRS; Rockville, Maryland) reported an alliance with CardioDynamics (San Diego) to use CardioDynamics' impedance cardiography (ICG) technology for processing of noninvasive hemodynamic ICG data. CardioDynamics' ICG products enable GRS to provide expanded biometrics and data management services in support of clinical trials and offering enhanced cardiac safety monitoring in Phase I-IV clinical trials. Investigators and sponsors can view reports and detailed cardiovascular tables and graphs created from real-time trial data through online portals, assisting in faster decisions related to dose selection, safety outcomes, and therapeutic efficacy of cardio-active agents.

• Piedmont Heart Institute (Atlanta) said it has expanded its expertise with the addition of a 20-member cardiovascular physician practice, Cardiology of Georgia (COG), through an agreement with Piedmont Healthcare (Atlanta). With eight locations including Buckhead, Canton, Fayetteville and North Fulton, COG will become a new group practice under the Piedmont Heart Institute and a key addition to Piedmont Heart Institute, it said, as it develops new programs in cardiovascular research and education and cardiac imaging.