Aerocrine AB has filed a patent infringement suit against Medisoft P.A.E. associated with the marketing and sale of Nitric Oxide (NO) analyser in Germany. Aerocrine AB is seeking an injunction and damages against the Belgian company. Medisoft P.A.E. has recently begun the marketing and sale of the Hypair exhaled NO analyzer in the country.

B. Braun has launched its drug eluting balloon (DEB) catheter in Kuala Lumpur. The DEB catheter, SeQuent™ Please, has the potential of becoming an alternative to the use of drug eluting stents (DES) for selected heart patients, which has been the first line treatment for coronary artery disease (CAD). A DES is a small wire mesh that is coated with a drug and implanted to widen the arteries to allow blood to flow more freely.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has received FDA approval for the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Pfizer’s chemotherapy agent, Camptosar(R) (Irinotecan Hydrochloride) Injection. Camptosar’s patent expired last month and the drug had annual sales of about $556 million in the U.S. in the twelve months ended December 31, 2007. The other companies that have received approval to launch the generic version of Pfizer’s chemotherapy agent are Actavis and APP Pharmaceuticals.

Perrigo Co. has received final FDA approval for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for over-the-counter Famotidine chewable tablets. The drug is comparable to Pepcid Complete, produced by Johnson & Johnson and Merck Consumer Pharmaceutical and used to provide relief from heartburn associated with sour stomach and acidity. The company expects to commence shipping the product in the third quarter of 2008.

The annual retail sales for Pepcid Complete chewable tablets are estimated at about $95 million.

Stress at work raises the risk of heart disease, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal. The study, which examined more than 10,000 British civil servants, found that among persons under the age of 50, those working in a stressful environment had a 70% higher chance of developing a heart problem than those working in a stress-free environment. Those experiencing job-related stress usually had poor diet and improper or no exercise regimen. The researchers said, however, that stress and heart risk were correlated, irrespective of lifestyle.

Abviva Inc. (formerly known as Genesis Bioventures) has been issued a pivotal patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the core technology used in the company’s breast cancer diagnostic test. The Mammastatin Serum Assay (MSA) is a blood test used for the early detection of breast cancer through the identification and measurement of the amount of Mammastatin in women.

Urodynamix Technologies Ltd. has begun the evaluation of its second generation prototype near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) DRE system. Digital rectal examination (DRE) is the most common screening test for prostate cancer and Urodynamix’s NIRS sensor measures blood flow in the prostate gland during the examination. The device improves physicians’ ability to detect prostate cancer as well as other prostate-related diseases.

Veridex LLC has received FDA clearance to market the CellSearch(TM) Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Kit as an aid to monitoring patients suffering from metastatic prostate cancer. The CellSearch System had already been cleared for metastatic breast and metastatic colorectal cancer and counts CTCs in a patient’s blood sample to predict progression-free and overall survival. The CellSearch CTC Kit was developed by Immunicon Corporation and is exclusively marketed by Veridex.