WHO names first Health-Promoting Hospital
The World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva) has named Memorial Medical Center (Johnstown, Pennsylvania) as the first Health-Promoting Hospital (HPH) in the U.S. The WHO's health-promotion organization is dedicated to improve equity in health, reduce health risks and promote healthy lifestyles and environments.
Dr. Matt Masiello, a vice president of the Conemaugh Health System and the director of Conemaugh Health System's Office of Community Health, recently attended a WHO conference in Denmark, where the news of Memorial Medical Center's designation was announced.
Steris signs lease deal in Mexico
Steris (Mentor, Ohio), which focuses on infection prevention, decontamination and health science technologies, products and services, said the company has selected a facility in the Monterrey area of Mexico as the future site for manufacturing operations that are being transferred from Erie, Pennsylvania, as previously reported.
The company has entered into an agreement to lease a facility owned by the Avante Group, a Monterrey-based real estate development company, located in the City of Guadalupe, just east of Monterrey in the state of Nuevo Leon and approximately two and a half hours south of Laredo, Texas.
The facility comprises approximately 13 acres in the Guadalupe Industrial Park. Terms of the lease agreement were not disclosed. After some initial build-out and construction at the site, the company plans to transfer the operations in phases, which are expected to continue through the summer of 2007. When fully operational, the new facility will manufacture sterilization equipment for use in healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical production facilities and research laboratories.
NeuroInsights releases report on neurotech
NeuroInsights (San Francisco) reported the release of the industry's second annual comprehensive investment and business analysis of the global neurotechnology marketplace.
NeuroInsights said it provides a unified, market-based framework to help investors, companies and governments quantify opportunities, determine risks and understand the dynamics of this rapidly changing market.
“The Neurotechnology Industry 2006 Report: Market Analysis and Strategic Investment Guide of the Global Neurological Disease and Psychiatric Illness Markets,“ is a 330-page report tracking developments at more than 450 public and private companies involved in neurotech.
The report includes competitive analysis and clinical trials by market segment for more than a dozen disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, addiction, anxiety, attention disorders, depression, epilepsy, hearing loss, insomnia, obesity, pain, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, stroke and other brain-related illnesses.
The Neurotechnology Industry 2006 Report's findings include:
• Neurotech products generated revenues of $110 billion in 2005, with 10% growth. The three sectors contributed as follows: neuropharmaceuticals, with revenues of $93 billion and 7% growth; neurodevices, with revenues of $3.4 billion and 21% growth; and neurodiagnostics, with revenues of $13.5 billion and 11% growth.
• Venture capital investment in neurotech companies climbed 230% from 1999 to 2005, representing nearly $7.5 billion. Today, one-in-four VC dollars invested in life sciences goes to neurotechnology companies.