NAS receives Nasdaq letter

North American Scientific (NAS; Chatsworth, California) said that it received a letter from the Nasdaq providing formal notice that the Nasdaq listing qualifications panel will consider the company’s appeal of Nasdaq’s delisting action announced by the company on Oct. 16 at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 29.

The letter states that the delisting action will be stayed pending the issuance of a written determination by a Nasdaq listing qualifications panel. The company’s common stock will remain quoted on The Nasdaq global market pending the outcome of the appeal under its current symbol NASI.

NAS makes radiation therapy in the fight against cancer.

HHS supports hotline expansion

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Rockville, Maryland) released “Adapting Community Call Centers for Crisis Support: A Model for Home- based Care and Monitoring,” a new report that recommends expanding the capabilities of poison control centers, nurse advice lines, drug information centers and health agency hotlines to assist persons at home or in public shelters in the event of public health emergencies such as biological attacks or pandemic influenza.

The report and its four appendices include strategies for using these types of community call centers in the event of aerosol anthrax attacks or the outbreak of pandemic influenza, plague or food contamination.

“Community call centers have long been a credible source that people can turn to for health care information,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy, MD. “Leveraging these existing resources will allow clinics, outpatient departments and emergency departments to devote their attention to caring for those most in need of help.”

Toshiba reports X-ray installation

Toshiba America Medical (Tustin, California), a maker of medical and diagnostic imaging equipment, said the first U.S. installation of the Infinix CF-i/SP X-ray system was recently completed at Arlington Memorial Hospital (Arlington, Texas), an acute-care medical center.

Toshiba’s Infinix CF-i/SP is a dedicated cardiac cath lab that features a floor mounted C-arm with five-axis positioner that allows head-to-toe and fingertip-to-fingertip coverage and multiple angles, making it possible to obtain images without re-positioning patients. According to the company, the Infinix CF-i/SP offers C-arm mobility and patient access like no other floor mounted system in the industry. This advanced positioning and patient access allows physicians a better ergonomic working environment for optimized patient care, Toshiba said.

MichBio to form new caucus

MichBio (Ann Arbor, Michigan), the statewide trade association for Michigan’s life sciences industry, reported on the formation of a new biotechnology legislative caucus. The caucus is a bipartisan, bicameral body whose membership is open to any interested legislators.

“MichBio very much looks forward to working with the biotechnology legislative caucus to bring the life sciences community closer to the legislative process,” said Stephen Rapundalo, PhD, MichBio executive director. “In so doing we believe that we can ultimately impact policies and programs to benefit the state’s life sciences industry and help make Michigan a leader in this market sector.”

SDI to expand in Maine

Strategic Diagnostics (SDI; Newark, Delaware) reported a 15,000 square foot expansion at its Windham, Maine antibody production facility. The expansion enables the company to meet surging demand for its genomic antibody technology (GAT) platform, particularly following the launch of its oncology-focused, Internet-based catalog of antibody reagents.

SDI will begin operations in the expansion effective Nov. 15th and the facility will increase the company’s capacity for polyclonal antibody production by 44%.

“Top-tier customers, including large pharmaceutical companies and major research organizations continue to respond positively to our GAT technology, which represents one of the few significant advancements in the production of antibodies for life science research in more than 20 years,” said Matthew Knight, president/CEO. “We are excited to expand our manufacturing and production capacity and extend our relationship with the city of Windham and this region of Maine. This added capacity will alleviate production constraints and enable us to further accelerate our growth.”

Sysprosoft to develop Phluid pump

Phluid (Laguna Hills, California) reported that it has retained Syprosoft Engineering, a division of Syprosoft (Irvine, California), to assist in the development of an ambulatory diabetes Pump to be used for continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion.

“Our medical device and its software are critical to its operation, and as a startup we needed to get the right people on the task,” said Paul DiPerna, president of Phluid.“

Phluid, a privately held start-up, is developing the pump to be used for continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion.

Founded in 2002, Syprosoft Inc. is a privately held company. Syprosoft Engineering provides R&D services, including software, electrical and mechanical engineering

Affymetrix University launched

Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) reported the launch of Affymetrix University, a series of hands-on data analysis training courses that will be held in various locations throughout Europe and North America.

Affymetrix University courses provide biologists with a better understanding of how to design their microarray experiments successfully with appropriate quality control, and how to apply statistical methods to interpret biological results more effectively. The courses combine hands-on exercises with theoretical presentations and guest speaker seminars.

Affymetrix GeneChip® microarray technology analyzes complex genetic information.