Difference between revisions of "User:RahalMccall69"

Revision as of 01:06, 26 September 2014

@@@ St. Louis鈥?long wait for a life sciences success story may be almost over.The region has made a concerted effort to develop new medical technology companies for at least 15 years, but those companies鈥?backers have had few chances to chalk up investment gains. Patience is necessary for life sciences investors, but it鈥檚 not infinite.Members of the St. Louis Arch Angels, for instance, have nearly two dozen health care companies since 2005. Only one has been sold, and the group has $14.6 million tied up in medical investments.The Arch Angels 鈥?along with Prolog Ventures of Clayton <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php>gucci outlet</a> and venture capitalist Raul Perez 鈥?may soon have a reason to break out the party hats. They鈥檙e investors in EndoStim, a medical device maker that for a $40.3 million initial public stock offering.鈥淚t鈥檚 very positive,鈥?said Robert Calcaterra, president of the Arch Angels. 鈥淚f you have one of our local companies do an IPO and be successful, that will be a huge story. We鈥檝e been searching for some liquidity from our investments.鈥滻nvestors in EndoStim can鈥檛 cash out immediately. No date has been set for the offering, and after it is completed the early investors must wait 180 days before selling any shares.Still, an IPO filing feels like cause for celebration.鈥淭his is another signal to investors across the country that St. Louis is home to high-quality science and quality teams of talented individuals who understand how to commercialize innovation,鈥?said Donn Rubin, president and chief executive of the BioSTL coalition.St. Louis hasn鈥檛 had a life sciences IPO since 2004, when medical-device firm Stereotaxis went public. Stereotaxis tantalized the market for a while, but it hasn鈥檛 traded above its IPO price since early 2008.The chief executive who led Stereotaxis through its IPO, Bevil Hogg, is now CEO of EndoStim. <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php>gucci outlet</a> He鈥檚 raising local investors鈥?hopes with a device that鈥檚 manufactured in Uruguay and sold largely in Europe but is very much a product of St. Louis.The device when Perez, who is a physician as well as a venture capitalist, was seeing Arizona surgeon Virender Sharma about his acid reflux problem.Sharma mentioned an idea for an implantable device to electrically stimulate the abdominal muscle that causes acid reflux.Both as a patient and as an investor, Perez saw great potential in the idea. Drugs are ineffective for more than one-third of acid reflux sufferers; surgery is the only other treatment option.Perez raised some money, recruited Hogg and others, and launched EndoStim in 2009. The company, based at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis, now has 13 full-time and two part-time employees.The device has been implanted in more than 130 patients in Europe, South America and Asia, creating revenue of more than $600,000. The company has received approval to start a clinical trial in the U.S., which will take at least a year.The results of that trial will be critical to the stock鈥檚 performance after it is public. For now, the company鈥檚 St. Louis investors are waiting to see how the IPO is priced.A successful offering 鈥渃an have a ripple effect in building the <a href=http://www.alportico.net/gosoc.php> true religion sale</a> startup culture in a region,鈥?Rubin says. It would free up capital that can be reinvested in other new companies and should tempt more medical researchers to start businesses.IPOs have become common events in such medical research centers as Minneapolis, San Diego and San Francisco. St. Louis is long overdue to join the party.

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-WASHINGTON Tests of pilots killed in plane crashes over more than two decades show an increasing use of both legal and illegal drugs, including some that could impair flying, according to a study released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.The study examined toxicology reports for almost 6,700 pilots killed in crashes from 1990 to 2012. Not only did the share of pilots testing positive for a drug increase over that period, but the share of pilots who tested positive for multiple drugs increased as well. Pilots testing positive for at least one drug increased from 9.6 percent to 39 percent, while positive tests for two drugs rose from 2 percent to 20 percent and three drugs from zero to 8.3 percent.Over the same period, new drugs were coming into use and the U.S. population was aging, creating greater demand for drugs. The toxicology tests "reflect tends in the general population and likely indicate a significant increase in drug use" by pilots as well, the study said.However, the share of accidents the board has investigated in which impairment from a drug was found to be a factor hasn't increased appreciably, the report said. Since 1990, the <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/michaelkorssonline.php>Michael Kors uk</a>  NTSB has cited pilot impairment due to drugs as a cause or a contributing factor in about 3 percent of fatal civil aviation accidents.Acting NTSB Chairman Chris Hart said the board "is concerned about possible safety implications of increased drug use in all modes of transportation." He called the report "an important first step toward understanding those implications."Dr. Mary Pat McKay, the board's chief medical officer, said the study was limited to aviation because similarly comprehensive drug test data doesn't exist for fatal highway, rail and maritime accidents. But it's likely there are similar trends in those modes as well, she said.The board also voted to issue a safety alert to pilots, warning of the risk of impairment from many over-the-counter drugs. The board issued several recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration and state governments aimed at better communication of drug risks to pilots and operators in all transportation modes.More than 9 out of 10 of the pilots tested were private rather than commercial pilots, and 98 percent were male. The <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/clreplicashoes.php> Christian Louboutin Outlet Online</a>  average age of pilots killed also increased markedly, from 46 years old in 1990 to 57 in 2012. The average age of pilots killed was 5 to 15 years older than the general population of active pilots.The tests also revealed increased pilot use of all kinds of drugs, including drugs that could impair a pilot's functioning as well as drugs used to treat potentially impairing conditions such as seizure disorders and psychiatric illness.The most common drug found in the tests was an antihistamine that causes drowsiness and is a key ingredient in many over-the-counter medications for allergies, colds and sleep. Sedating antihistamines in general were found in 9.9 percent of pilots tested during the last five years studied, up from 2.1 percent of the cases during the early years examined.The share of pilots testing positive for illegal drugs was small, but increased from 2.3 percent to 3.8 percent. The <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/michaelkorssonline.php> michael kors outlet</a>  study attributed the increase mostly to greater marijuana use in the last 10 years.A statement by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which represents private pilots, called the NTSB study incomplete and said its results "should be regarded with caution.""There are just far too many gaps and unknowns in the study for us to be able to draw any meaningful conclusions about aviation safety," said Mark Baker, the association's president.
+St. Louis鈥?long wait for a life sciences success story may be almost over.The region has made a concerted effort to develop new medical technology companies for at least 15 years, but those companies鈥?backers have had few chances to chalk up investment gains. Patience is necessary for life sciences investors, but it鈥檚 not infinite.Members of the St. Louis Arch Angels, for instance, have  nearly two dozen health care companies since 2005. Only one has been sold, and the group has $14.6 million tied up in medical investments.The Arch Angels 鈥?along with Prolog Ventures of Clayton <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php>gucci outlet</a>  and venture capitalist Raul Perez 鈥?may soon have a reason to break out the party hats. They鈥檙e investors in EndoStim, a medical device maker that  for a $40.3 million initial public stock offering.鈥淚t鈥檚 very positive,鈥?said Robert Calcaterra, president of the Arch Angels. 鈥淚f you have one of our local companies do an IPO and be successful, that will be a huge story. We鈥檝e been searching for some liquidity from our investments.鈥滻nvestors in EndoStim can鈥檛 cash out immediately. No date has been set for the offering, and after it is completed the early investors must wait 180 days before selling any shares.Still, an IPO filing feels like cause for celebration.鈥淭his is another signal to investors across the country that St. Louis is home to high-quality science and quality teams of talented individuals who understand how to commercialize innovation,鈥?said Donn Rubin, president and chief executive of the BioSTL coalition.St. Louis hasn鈥檛 had a life sciences IPO since 2004, when medical-device firm Stereotaxis went public. Stereotaxis tantalized the market for a while, but it hasn鈥檛 traded above its IPO price since early 2008.The chief executive who led Stereotaxis through its IPO, Bevil Hogg, is now CEO of EndoStim. <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/gucciusaonlineoutlet.php>gucci outlet</a>  He鈥檚 raising local investors鈥?hopes with a device that鈥檚 manufactured in Uruguay and sold largely in Europe but is very much a product of St. Louis.The device  when Perez, who is a physician as well as a venture capitalist, was seeing Arizona surgeon Virender Sharma about his acid reflux problem.Sharma mentioned an idea for an implantable device to electrically stimulate the abdominal muscle that causes acid reflux.Both as a patient and as an investor, Perez saw great potential in the idea. Drugs are ineffective for more than one-third of acid reflux sufferers; surgery is the only other treatment option.Perez raised some money, recruited Hogg and others, and launched EndoStim in 2009. The company, based at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis, now has 13 full-time and two part-time employees.The device has been implanted in more than 130 patients in Europe, South America and Asia, creating revenue of more than $600,000. The company has received approval to start a clinical trial in the U.S., which will take at least a year.The results of that trial will be critical to the stock鈥檚 performance after it is public. For now, the company鈥檚 St. Louis investors are waiting to see how the IPO is priced.A successful offering 鈥渃an have a ripple effect in building the <a href=http://www.alportico.net/gosoc.php> true religion sale</a>  startup culture in a region,鈥?Rubin says. It would free up capital that can be reinvested in other new companies and should tempt more medical researchers to start businesses.IPOs have become common events in such medical research centers as Minneapolis, San Diego and San Francisco. St. Louis is long overdue to join the party.
- Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/AP-Joan-Lowy

Difference between revisions of "User:RahalMccall69"

Revision as of 01:06, 26 September 2014

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