• Amylin Pharmaceuticals (San Diego) reported the availability of the SymlinPen 120 and the SymlinPen 60 pen-injector devices for administering Symlin (pramlintide acetate) injection. These new pre-filled pen-injector devices feature simple, fixed dosing to improve mealtime glucose control. SymlinPen 120 features fixed dosing to deliver 60 or 120 micrograms of Symlin per dose. SymlinPen 60 features fixed dosing to deliver 15, 30, 45, or 60 micrograms of Symlin per dose. Symlin is an injectable medicine used to control blood sugar after meals in adults with Type Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who take mealtime insulin. Symlin is a synthetic analog of human amylin, a naturally occurring hormone that is made in the beta cells of the pancreas, the same cells that make insulin. In patients with Type 2 diabetes who use insulin, and in patients with Type 1 diabetes, those cells in the pancreas are either damaged or destroyed, resulting in reduced secretion of both insulin and amylin after meals.

• EnteroMedics (St. Paul, Minnesota) reported commencement of its EMPOWER clinical study. The FDA has recently granted approval for the study of the company’s investigational VBLOC therapy using the Maestro system, its initial product for the treatment of obesity. VBLOC is delivered via the Maestro system through laparoscopically implanted leads to intermittently block the vagus nerves using high-frequency, low energy electrical impulses. VBLOC is designed to target the multiple digestive functions under control of the vagus nerves and to affect the perception of hunger and fullness. EnteroMedics makes medical devices using neuroblocking technology to treat obesity and other gastrointestinal disorders.

• Haemonetics Software Solutions (Braintree, Massachusetts) reported FDA marketing clearance for another software module in the Symphony blood bank management software suite. The Symphony 2.0 software will include a blood component manufacturing and distribution application, in addition to the blood donor management tools included in the previous software release. Symphony 2.0software is a blood component manufacturing and distribution system which allows blood centers to automate many of the IT processes in their blood supply chain, from the point of blood donation to the point of distribution to the hospital. Haemonetics Software makes blood management solutions.