• LifeScience PLUS (Santa Clara, California) said that its flagship product, BloodSTOP, has won FDA approval. Touted as being a “high-tech” band-aid, BloodSTOP interacts with blood platelets to form a clear gel that instantaneously blocks the flow of blood, stopping bleeding several times faster than traditional cotton gauze and pressure techniques. Made from natural cellulose, this hypoallergenic gauze is water-soluble, easily washing off without causing additional trauma to the wound area. BloodSTOP can also be cut to fit difficult areas such as the mouth, nose and even deep wounds. Also, because the gauze is transparent, medical professionals can easily monitor the wound. LifeScience PLUS makes medical care products.

• Roche Diagnostics’ (Indianapolis, Indiana) CoaguChek XS Plus system offers built-in controls and optional, external liquid controls to help non-waived clinics monitoring anticoagulation ensure accurate PT/INR (clotting time) test results for patients taking blood thinner medication. The handheld, battery-powered CoaguChek XS Plus system has the ability to store up to 500 patient and or liquid quality control results that can be searched by patient, date and time. The meter also is designed for data management connectivity with patient ID, operator lockout and quality control lockouts. The system performs two levels of onboard quality controls as part of every PT/INR test, all in a single test chamber, a feature designed to save time and provide enhanced confidence in the quality of results. The CoaguChek PT test strip also neutralizes therapeutic levels of heparin and low-molecular-weight heparin, enabling physicians to do point-of-care testing on a broad range of anticoagulated patients. Roche’s diagnostics division supplies a wide array of testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories.

• Shire (Boston) said that data from a 12-month study of Daytrana (methylphenidate transdermal system), the ADHD patch, demonstrated that Daytrana A provided significant ADHD tolerability and symptom control improvement in children aged 6 to 12 years. Shire’s Daytrana is the first patch medication approved by the FDA to treat the symptoms of ADHD in children aged 6 to 12 years. The study results demonstrate that adverse events associated with D Daytrana were similar to other methylphenidate products. The most common adverse events reported in this study were decreased appetite, headache, upper respiratory tract infection, cough, fever, and decreased weight. When worn for the recommended nine hours, efficacy has been demonstrated from the first time point measured (two hours) through the 12-hour time point. Because Daytrana is a patch, physicians may recommend shortening wear time if shorter duration of effect is desired or to help manage the potential for late-day side effects.