A Medical Device Daily
Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) reported that it has signed an agreement with Avesthagen Limited (Bangalore, India) a biotechnology company. Affymetrix' microarray technology will be used for The AVESTAGENOME Project, a genetic study of more than 60,000 Parsi individuals. The project will explore the genetic basis of longevity and create a genetic, genealogic and medical database of the Parsi-Zoroastrian population.
About 31% of the Parsi population lives beyond the age of 60, compared to 7% nationally. A better understanding of the genetic causes of longevity could have a major impact on the Indian Government's healthcare budget and drug companies' marketing efforts.
The use of Affymetrix technology will enable researchers to correlate genes with longevity, as well as neurodegenerative conditions, breast cancer, diabetes and other complex diseases that affect the Parsi community. The Parsi community was selected because of its longevity and its relatively genetically homogeneous population. The AVESTAGENOME Project was designed to lead to discovery of novel biomarkers and drug targets that can result in predictive, preventive and personalized healthcare.
Spinco Biotech (Chennai, India) will supply the Affymetrix microarray technology and provide technical support to Avesthagen. Since being founded in 1981, Spinco Biotech has grown into a leading distributor of instrumentation and reagents for the biotechnology research and industrial markets across India.
Affymetrix develops tools for analyzing genetic information.
In other agreements:
• Telemedicus (Houston) reported that it has secured a supply agreement with Anthro (Tualatin, Oregon).
"We are securing supply agreements and terms to ensure their availability, lead times and exact pricing," said Steve Price, COO of Telemedicus. "Anthro is a manufacturer of medical equipment stands that we can utilize in clinic settings."
TMDI's DREAMS technology turns ambulances, clinics or medical transportation vehicles into mobile trauma centers or tele-healthcare locations. The technology integrates components manufactured by Advantech (Cincinnati), Cisco (San Jose, California) and Panasonic (Secaucus, New Jersey).
Telemedicus develops mobile medical communications technology using bi-directional audio, video and patient data communication between a remote unit such as a rural ambulance service and the physician in a hospital.
• RxElite (Meridian, Idaho) a developer of specialty generic prescription drug products, reported the signing of a multi-source contract award with Premier (Charlotte, North Carolina) for the sale of RxElite's anesthetic gas products, Sevoflurane and Isoflurane.
"This contract has delivered significant value to the Premier members that have already implemented it and we look forward to continuing to drive value for all Premier members," said Jonathan Houssian, CEO of RxElite.
RxElite anesthetic gases are manufactured by Minrad International. RxElite holds the exclusive distribution rights for Minrad produced anesthetic gases for the human market in the U.S.
RxElite develops generic prescription drug products in specialty generic markets. These markets include products in the areas of anesthesia and sterile liquid dose drugs (including respiratory inhalation drugs, ophthalmics, and injectable drugs).
Premier is a healthcare purchasing network.
Minrad International is an interventional pain management company with real-time image guidance and anesthesia and analgesia product lines.