Analogic in Nasdaq compliance

Analogic (Peabody, Massachusetts) reported that it has received a determination from Nasdaq that it is now in compliance with requirements for continued listing on the exchange. Analogic said that the Nasdaq informed it that its common stock would again trade upon the opening of the market, effective Feb. 8, with the symbol ALOG.

John Millerick, senior vice president and CFO, said, “We are glad to have this matter behind us. We look forward to again focusing our efforts on the day-to-day operations of the business.“

Analogic makes health and security systems and subsystems sold to original equipment manufacturers in the areas of computed tomography, digital radiography, MRI, patient monitoring, cardiovascular information management and embedded multiprocessing.

2006 budget plan provides 4.5% increase to the FDA

The FDA's share of President George Bush's proposed budget for fiscal 2006 is $1.9 billion, including $1.5 billion in budget authority and $382 million in congressionally authorized industry user fees. This request is 50% higher than the appropriations in FY01 and represents a 4.5% increase compared to 2005.

“The administration is under great pressure from Congress and the public to maintain fiscal discipline and reduce the federal deficit,“ said Lester Crawford, FDA acting commissioner. “However, the White House recognizes the critical nature of the FDA's work and our agency's need for adequate resources.“

Crawford said that his agency clearly understands that the current budget situation requires “innovation and creativity.“

“FDA must leverage its resources through increased cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders, and this we are pledged to do,“ he added.

A total of $5,996,000 is budgeted for FDA's medical device review process. Appropriated funds will supplement FDA's collection of user fees from the medical device industry, and the joint funding mechanism is expected to advance safe and timely review of premarket device applications, certain application supplements and premarket notifications of devices entering the marketplace.

The budget increase will be augmented by $6,362,000 in additional user fees authorized for the Devices and Biologics programs.

The budget includes $5 million in budget authority and $1.5 million in user fees for the Center for Drug Evaluation's Office of Drug Safety to increase the agency's ability to more rapidly survey, identify, and respond to potential safety concerns regarding marketed drugs, Crawford said.

The agency's major request, an increase of $30.1 million for food defense, is part of a collaborative effort by the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety & Inspection Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the White House Homeland Security Council to defend the U.S. food supply from terrorist attacks. This brings the total budget authority for food defense-related items to $180 million from $150 million.

—Christopher Delporte, Washington Editor