Gen-ID name change okayed
Pacific Sunset Investments (Huntington Beach, California) reported that a name change to Gen-ID Lab Services has been approved. Hector Veron, president, said, “We knew there was a confusion in the market as to what business model the company had chosen and that only changing the name would directly tie the company’s business to its name.”
He added: “Changing the name was only the first step in helping to provide the market and shareholders with a positive confirmation of this company’s commitment to the healthcare industry. Our SNP [single-nucleotide polymorphism] test will eventually become a standard .... that provides a major advantage to hospitals, physicians and others working in the industry.
“The board members have discussed other positive changes to help bring a stronger shareholder value to this company and as soon as our name change and new symbol are activated, our marketing plan will get fully under way,” Veron said.
b>ViroLogic now Monogram Biosciences
ViroLogic (South San Francisco, California) reported that it has changed its name to Monogram Biosciences. The company’s common stock has begun trading under the Nasdaq ticker symbol MGRM. The contingent value rights will trade under the symbol: MGRMR.OB.
The company develops products to guide the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer and other serious diseases.
Monogram has been focused on the development individualized medicine since 1999, saying that its name change reflects its “broader technology base and capabilities in the field of molecular diagnostics” for cancer, derived from its merger with Aclara Biosciences (Moun-tain View, California) in December 2004.
Hopkinton location for Boston Life
Boston Life Sciences (Hopkinton, Massachusetts) reported that it has relocated to new headquarters in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and subleased its former headquarters on Newbury Street in Boston.
The company said it anticipates that the relocation will afford it several benefits, including reducing overhead expenses for facility operation, which will allow a greater share of financial resources to be devoted to program and business development.
Subleases for the Newbury Street facility were finalized and delivered on Sept. 9 with tenants that have agreed to lease the facility for the remainder of the existing lease terms. The lease for the Hopkinton headquarters expires in June 2008.
E.K. Guard begins patient enrollment
E.K.Guard (New York), a company that combines medical technologies and services to bring doctors and healthcare closer to patients wherever they are located, reported the beginning of patient enrollment for its new cardiac emergency service.
The E.K.Guard service, designed by cardiologists, combines a remote cardiac assessment with an emergency response mechanism. E.K.Guard member patients have access to a team of cardiologists and nurses, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also are equipped with an easy-to-use, handheld personal electrocardiogram (EKG) device, approved by the FDA, that records the same 12-lead electrocardiogram doctors use in their offices and in hospitals.
The device is designed to transmit EKG results by telephone to the E.K.Guard Cardiologist Call Center. Call Center cardiologists will use this information to help determine if the patient is having a heart attack or if their cause for concern is really nothing to worry about. The whole process takes only five minutes, the company said.