Jefferies analyst Brian Tanquilut expects Mednax shares “to see upward bias” in the near term as management executes on its $500M share repurchase authorization. The analyst, however, keeps a Hold rating on Mednax and raised his price target for the shares to $50 from $48. The company is currently a “show-me” story, specifically as it relates to management’s cost-cutting targets, Tanquilut tells investors in a research note. He views the stock’s current valuation as fair.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Gilead, Galapagos say Filgotinib met primary, secondary endpoints in study
Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Galapagos NV (GLPG) announced that FINCH 2, a global, randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 study of filgotinib, an investigational, selective JAK1 inhibitor, in adults with moderately-to-severely active rheumatoid arthritis and prior inadequate response/intolerance to biologic agents, achieved its primary endpoint in the proportion of patients achieving an American College of Rheumatology 20 percent response at Week 12. Also at Weeks 12 and 24, the proportion of patients achieving ACR50 and ACR70, low disease activity, and clinical remission were significantly higher for patients receiving once-daily filgotinib 100 mg or 200 mg compared to patients receiving placebo. Filgotinib was generally well-tolerated in the FINCH 2 trial, with no new safety signals compared to those reported in previous trials of filgotinib. Treatment-emergent adverse events and serious adverse events were mostly mild or moderate in severity. Serious adverse events occurred in 3.4, 5.2 and 4.1 percent of the patients in the placebo, 100mg and 200mg groups, respectively. The proportion of patients who discontinued study drug due to treatment-emergent adverse events was also similar across groups. Two cases of uncomplicated herpes zoster were reported in each filgotinib group. Two major adverse cardiovascular events were identified, one subarachnoid hemorrhage in the placebo group and one myocardial ischemia in the filgotinib 100 mg group. There was one case of non-serious retinal vein occlusion in the filgotinib 200 mg group and no reports of deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. There were no deaths, malignancies, gastrointestinal perforations, or opportunistic infections, including active tuberculosis.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2788839
Bayer rating change at Exane BNP Paribas
Bayer downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Exane Paribas
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2788323
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2788323
Melinta Therapeutics initiated at Jefferies
Melinta Therapeutics initiated with a Buy at Jefferies. Jefferies analyst David Hoang started Melinta Therapeutics with a Buy rating and $15 price target. The analyst is a differentiated pure play in antibiotics as it has four marketed products and a fully trained, recently expanded sales force, Hoang tells investors in a research note. He believes Melinta has the scale to achieve commercial success in a “challenging” therapeutic space.
https://thefly.com/landingPageNews.php?id=2788311
Monday, September 10, 2018
Due to the patent decision Orexo invites to a teleconference
Due to the patent decision where the US appeal court found Zubsolv´s patent ´330 valid Orexo invites to a teleconference tomorrow September 11 at 3 pm CET. Analysts, investors and media are welcome to attend and listen to president and CEO, Nikolaj Sørensen, commenting the outcome and to hold a Q&A. Questions can also be sent in advance to ir@orexo.com, no later than 2.00 pm CET.
Please view the instructions below on how to participate.
Internet: https://tv.streamfabriken.com/pressconference-orexo. Telephone: (SE) +46 8 5059 6306, (UK) +44 20 313 948 30 or (US) +1 866 928 7517. Pin code: 90656232#
Brookdale Senior Living Updates Hurricane Evacuation Plan
Please review the latest updates noted below in response to Hurricane Florence.
Storm Preparedness Plan
The safety and well-being of our residents is our highest priority. Our coastal communities have a storm preparedness plan in place and are equipped with water, food, permanent or ready-to-deploy temporary generators and supplies to care for residents. We are taking appropriate actions to keep them safe throughout the storm, watching the storm closely and we will follow the directions of authorities.
Evacuation Plan
As Hurricane Florence approaches, the South Carolina governor has ordered mandatory evacuations starting at noon on Tuesday in parts of almost every city and town in eight coastal counties.
Officials in North Carolina issued mandatory evacuation orders for Hatteras Island, on the southern end of the Outer Banks, beginning at noon Monday. The northern part of the Outer Banks, including the popular tourist destinations of Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and Nags Head, must be evacuated beginning Tuesday morning.
We are actively monitoring the zones that the Brookdale communities are in. While there may be an evacuation order within the county of your loved one’s community, that does necessarily not mean the location of your loved one’s community is within that specific zone. The safest option is for residents to be sheltering in place in locations out of the higher risk zones unless otherwise directed by authorities.
The following communities have been evacuated at this time. If your loved one’s community is not listed, that means they are sheltering in place at this time. Calls can be directed to their community.
South Carolina Communities
We have detailed plans in place that include moving residents to a safer area with accompanying care associates, providing temporary accommodations as well as food, beverages and personal belongings.
Brookdale Charleston
We are evacuating Brookdale Charleston Tuesday morning, Sept. 11.
- Assisted living residents will be relocated to the Lexington Hotel & Conference Center – Jacksonville Riverwalk in downtown Jacksonville, Fla. hotel.
- Memory care residents will be relocated to the Brookdale Atrium Way community in Jacksonville, Fla.
We will provide contact information once we know the residents have arrived safely.
Brookdale Hilton Head
We are evacuating residents from Brookdale Hilton Head on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11.
- Assisted living residents will relocate to Brookdale Greenville in Greenville, S.C.
- Independent living residents will relocate to Lexington Hotel & Conference Center – Jacksonville Riverwalk in downtown Jacksonville, Fla. hotel.
We will provide contact information once we know the residents have arrived safely.
Brookdale Hilton Head Village
We are evacuating residents from Brookdale Hilton Head Village on Tuesday morning, , Sept. 11, to Brookdale Cleveland Park in Greenville, S.C.
Brookdale Hilton Head Court
We are evacuating residents from Brookdale Hilton Head Court to Brookdale Atrium Way in Jacksonville, Fla. on Tuesday morning, Sept. 11.
We will continue to follow the direction of authorities as the storm moves closer. If you have a specific question about a loved one, we encourage you to contact the community directly.
We are monitoring the storm and will follow the directions of authorities should additional Brookdale evacuations be needed.
We will update this website and community Facebook pages with updated information as we receive it.
Improving diagnosis of dizziness in seniors
The vibrating device is small and compact in size, and optimised to provide an adequate sound level for triggering the reflex at frequencies as low as 250 Hz.
Credit: Johan Bodell/Chalmers University of Technology
Half of over-65s suffer from dizziness and problems with balance. But some tests to identify the causes of such problems are painful and can risk hearing damage. Now, researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new testing device using bone conduction technology, that offers significant advantages over the current tests.
Hearing and balance have something in common. For patients with dizziness, this relationship is used to diagnose issues with balance. Commonly, a ‘VEMP’ test (Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials) needs to be performed. A VEMP test uses loud sounds to evoke a muscle reflex contraction in the neck and eye muscles, triggered by the vestibular system — the system responsible for our balance. The Chalmers researchers have now used bone conducted sounds to achieve better results.
“We have developed a new type of vibrating device that is placed behind the ear of the patient during the test,” says Bo Håkansson, a professor in the research group ‘Biomedical signals and systems’ at Chalmers. The vibrating device is small and compact in size, and optimised to provide an adequate sound level for triggering the reflex at frequencies as low as 250 Hz. Previously, no vibrating device has been available that was directly adapted for this type of test of the balance system.
In bone conduction transmission, sound waves are transformed into vibrations through the skull, stimulating the cochlea within the ear, in the same way as when sound waves normally go through the ear canal, the eardrum and the middle ear. Bo Håkansson has over 40 years of experience in this field and has previously developed hearing aids using this technology.
Half of over-65s suffer from dizziness, but the causes can be difficult to diagnose for several reasons. In 50% of those cases, dizziness is due to problems in the vestibular system. But today’s VEMP methods have major shortcomings, and can cause hearing loss and discomfort for patients.
For example, the VEMP test uses very high sound levels, and may in fact cause permanent hearing damage itself. And, if the patient already suffers from certain types of hearing loss, it may be impossible to draw any conclusions from the test. The Chalmers researchers’ new method offers significant advantages.
“Thanks to this bone conduction technology, the sound levels which patients are exposed to can be minimised. The previous test was like a machine gun going off next to the ear — with this method it will be much more comfortable. The new vibrating device provides a maximum sound level of 75 decibels. The test can be performed at 40 decibels lower than today’s method using air conducted sounds through headphones. This eliminates any risk that the test itself could cause hearing damage,” says postdoctoral researcher Karl-Johan Fredén Jansson, who made all the measurements in the project.
The benefits also include safer testing for children, and that patients with impaired hearing function due to chronic ear infections or congenital malformations in the ear canal and middle ear can be diagnosed for the origin of their dizziness.
The vibrating device is compatible with standardised equipment for balance diagnostics in healthcare, making it easy to start using. The cost of the new technology is also estimated to be lower than the corresponding equipment used today.
A pilot study has been conducted and recently published. The next step is to conduct a larger patient study, under a recently received ethical approval, in collaboration with Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, where 30 participants with normal hearing will also be included.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Chalmers University of Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Bo Håkansson, Karl-Johan Fredén Jansson, Tomas Tengstrand, Leif Johannsen, Måns Eeg-Olofsson, Cristina Rigato, Elisabeth Dahlström, Sabine Reinfeldt. VEMP using a new low-frequency bone conduction transducer. Medical Devices: Evidence and Research, 2018; Volume 11: 301 DOI: 10.2147/MDER.S171369
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