Hologic: Company expects to launch its new radiation therapy system by the end of the year, having secured FDA clearance Aug. 27, Hologic announced Sept. 1. MammoSite ML is a multi-lumen version of the firm's original, single-lumen MammoSite system, cleared in 2002. The accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) devices provide targeted breast cancer radiation therapy directly to the area where cancer is most likely to recur by inflating a balloon catheter containing radioactive material into the surgical cavity after the tumor is removed. The multi-lumen model allows oncologists to shift the radiation dose to the areas within the cavity that need it most, the firm explains. Hologic obtained the MammoSite technology when it bought Cytyc for $6.2 billion in 2007 (1"The Gray Sheet" May 28, 2007)

Hologic: Company expects to launch its new radiation therapy system by the end of the year, having secured FDA clearance Aug. 27, Hologic announced Sept. 1. MammoSite ML is a multi-lumen version of the firm's original, single-lumen MammoSite system, cleared in 2002. The accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) devices provide targeted breast cancer radiation therapy directly to the area where cancer is most likely to recur by inflating a balloon catheter containing radioactive material into the surgical cavity after the tumor is removed. The multi-lumen model allows oncologists to shift the radiation dose to the areas within the cavity that need it most, the firm explains. Hologic obtained the MammoSite technology when it bought Cytyc for $6.2 billion in 2007 (1"The Gray Sheet" May 28, 2007)

G.I. Liner: GI Dynamics' EndoBarrier gastrointestinal liner significantly reduces average blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to results of a three-month, 18-patient, sham-controlled pilot study presented at the First World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes in New York Sept. 16. The data, presented by Lee Kaplan, M.D./Ph.D, Harvard Medical School, show that the 12 patients treated with EndoBarrier in the trial experienced a mean reduction in average blood glucose of 2.9% from a baseline of 8.9%, compared to a reduction of 0.76% from a baseline of 9% in the six patients in the sham control group. EndoBarrier is an endoscopically implantable barrier that creates a duodenal-jejunal bypass to prevent food from contacting the intestinal wall. Investigators believe the bypass reduces a patient's uptake of both nutrients and calories and creates a similar metabolic effect as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which has been shown to promote weight loss and resolution of type 2 diabetes. The firm plans to launch a major trial of an enhanced version of EndoBarrier in 2009