Genetically modified salmon from Indiana head to U.S. dinner plates
Several tons of salmon, engineered by biotech company AquaBounty Technologies Inc. and raised in Indiana, are heading to restaurants and dining services for the first time.
Life Science & Biotech
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Beckman Coulter Life Sciences in the midst of a hiring spree as researchers demand vaccine tools
The company, with headquarters and a massive factory on the northwest side, has hired about 100 people in the past year, bringing its workforce to about 550. And it’s looking to hire another 100 people this year.
In a lockdown, Roche pushes ahead with new, different diagnostic tests
Matthew Sause took the helm of the 4,500-person Roche Diagnostics’ North American operations in Indianapolis in November 2019—just four months before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic and much of the planet went into lockdown.
IBJ Life Sciences Panel: The ‘virtual world has made us faster’
This is a partial transcript of IBJ’s annual Life Sciences Power Panel, which took place virtually on April 30 with four of Indy’s biosciences leaders: 16 Tech CEO Bob Coy, GenePace Laboratories founder Sanjay Malkani, Elanco Animal Health CEO Jeff Simmons and Indiana University School of Medicine geneticist Tatiana Foroud.
Indiana life science players have adapted to pandemic, panelists say
Speakers at the IBJ Life Sciences Power Panel on Friday said their organizations have largely weathered the lockdown—raising records funds, taking on huge expansions, hiring new employees and reporting higher productivity.
Local senior-living complex more than doubles assisted-living units in $5M expansion
The expansion will consist of 32 new one-bedroom apartments and five two-bedroom residences, bringing to 67 the number of assisted-living apartments at the complex.
Bill would require nursing homes to allow ‘compassionate care’ visits during pandemic
The legislation, Senate Bill 202, would allow designated family members to visit residents under end-of-life and other serious circumstances.
In midst of pandemic, drugmakers raise prices on hundreds of prescription drugs
So far this month, drugmakers have hiked prices on 636 drugs, according to research by GoodRx, which tracks prescription drug prices and offer a mobile app to help consumers find the lowest prices on hundreds of drugs.
Genezen Labs pumps up plan for Fishers facility after private-equity investment
Genezen Laboratories Inc. says new funding from a Massachusetts-based private equity firm will allow it to expand its plans for a new production facility in Fishers Crosspoint Business Park.
How you can keep a close eye on vaccinations in Indiana
The state’s new dashboard on COVID-19 vaccines provides interesting breakdowns on who is getting vaccinated, by county, by gender, by race, by age and a host of other statistics sure to please any proud data geek.
Indiana’s life sciences sector racks up annual record $257M in venture funding
The 39 companies that won venture funding represent a wide range of therapeutics, devices and health information technology.
The shrinking Pfizer vaccine allotment: An Indiana mystery wrapped in a riddle
Last week, state health officials said they expected to initially receive 55,575 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, and had already begun vaccinating front-line health care workers. But just five days later, state officials and hospitals are keeping mum about how many doses they actually received, except to say it was fewer than expected.
Lilly acquiring gene therapy startup for up to $1 billion
Eli Lilly and Co. on Tuesday announced that it is buying New York-based Prevail Therapeutics Inc., an emerging player in the sizzling-hot area of gene therapies, which targets Parkinson’s disease and other brain-related maladies.
Lilly starting new trial for COVID-19 antibody, potentially widening already red-hot market
Lilly said it will enroll up to 500,000 people in its latest study, with at least 5,000 people expected to receive bamlanivimab therapy. The drugmaker is partnering with health insurer UnitedHealth Group to see if the drug will help high-risk people.
No longer sleepy and small, Elanco marks transformation with new HQ
CEO Jeff Simmons said the company’s high-profile downtown Indianapolis headquarters will signal a cultural transformation at the company, which for most of its six decades of existence operated as a little-noticed subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co.
Statewide pandemic numbers hit new heights in November
In every significant statistical category, November has been a record-setter for the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana, with cases, deaths and hospitalizations far exceeding even the early months of the coronavirus outbreak.
Amid pandemic, Ascension St. Vincent parent shows dramatic swing from red ink to black
Despite the change in fortunes, Ascension signaled that it is not yet out of the woods, noting that “consumer confidence and healthcare hesitation as a result of COVID-19 continue to affect Ascension markets, to varying degrees.”
After sputtering start, biosciences institute eager to innovate
The not-for-profit launched in 2013 as a way to bridge the gap between research universities and industry in life sciences. But its report card so far is decidedly mixed, and it just hired its third CEO.
The check is in the mail from health insurers, but Hoosiers won’t get big payday
Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers are required to spend 80% to 85% of the revenue they get from premiums on medical care. If they don’t, they have to issue rebates or credits to make up the difference.
Amid pandemic, 66 Indiana hospitals facing fines for excessive readmissions
The federal government says readmissions are often unnecessary and cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year for treatments that should have been caught the first time around, or were not followed up adequately.