The University of California, Irvine, plans to look at “Health Politics of Health Care Reform Under a New Congress” at its annual Health Care Forecast Conference.
The event runs Feb. 24 and 25 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science and Engineering at UC Irvine.
The university’s Paul Merage School of Business’ Center for Health Care Management and Policy is putting on the conference. UCI’s School of Medicine is a co-sponsor.
Norman Ornstein—political pundit, TV commentator and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank—comes back for his 14th year as keynote speaker.
The conference has a roster of other notable healthcare names in addition to Ornstein.
The lineup includes Richard Afable, chief executive of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian; Terry Belmont, chief executive of UCI Medical Center; and Jay Cohen, president of Irvine doctors’ group Monarch HealthCare Inc.
Other scheduled speakers include UCI Chancellor Michael Drake; James Glassman, a managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and James Baumgardner, deputy assistant director of health policy with the Congressional Budget Office.
One of the sessions will feature representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties discussing the debate on healthcare reform legislation, offering views of its likely impact and the outlook for any changes that might be forthcoming.
Other sessions include an economic forecast, a talk on how healthcare reform is expected to affect state Medicaid budgets and discussion of the future of accountable care organizations, which are designed to encourage doctors, hospitals and insurers to work together to cut healthcare costs and provide financial rewards for doing so.
Monarch HealthCare is one of several Southern California doctors’ groups that are participating in a federal pilot project on such groups, which were created as part of last year’s healthcare reform law.
Allergan Eye Allergy Drug
Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. (see related story, page 1), has released Lastacaft, a drug for treating eye allergies.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Lastacaft in July.
Lastacaft, which is used once daily, was found to relieve itchy eyes in 97% of study participants within three minutes of application. One drop was found to be effective for up to 16 hours in 87% of study participants, according to Allergan.
Reports had indicated that Vistakon Pharmaceuticals LLC, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based unit of Johnson & Johnson, was going to launch Lastacaft.
Allergan later bought the global license to make and market Lastacaft from a consortium that included Vistakon, Beerse, Belgium’s Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
Eye drugs, including glaucoma treatment Lumigan and dry-eye drop Restasis, historically account for about 50% of Allergan’s annual sales of more than $4 billion.
Cortex to Offer Stock
Irvine drug maker Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc., which trades on the low-profile Bulletin Board exchange, said in late January in a Securities and Exchange filing that it would sell an unspecified number of its shares.
Cortex didn’t give a specific number of shares it would sell, but said it seeks to raise $3 million.
Cortex had a recent market value of about $13 million.
The company’s filing gave information about a deal it struck for developing some of its Ampakine compounds with Biovail Corp., a Canadian drug maker that bought Aliso Viejo-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in September.
Biovail now goes by Valeant.
As a result of the deal, Cortex now plans to exit several drug development programs, including one to develop therapeutics for respiratory depression.
Cortex sold that program to Biovail prior to its purchase of Valeant and is in talks about future development.
Nursing Program
California State University, Fullerton, is planning to put in a doctor of nursing practice program that could start as early as fall 2012.
The California State University Board of Trustees recently approved three pilot programs at Cal State Fullerton, California State University, Long Beach, and California State University, Los Angeles.
Cindy Smith-Greenberg, who directs CSUF’s School of Nursing, said the doctor of nursing practice is a professional-practice degree, similar to that obtained by doctors, pharmacists and other practitioners. School officials also said that they anticipate demand because advanced practice nurses—including nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives—would have to obtain doctorate degrees in order to get licensed as early as 2015 under recently passed regulations.
Bits and Pieces
Quality Systems Inc., an Irvine maker of software that doctors and dentists use to manage their practices, said it has a deal to sell its electronic health records software to Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals & Clinics … The Orange County Medical Device Network, an Aliso Viejo-based professional group, has changed its name to DeviceAlliance. As part of its rebranding, it had a panel discussion late last month where members reviewed current and new trends and discussed issues that device industry leaders would be facing in the future, including the challenges of operating among ongoing changes under healthcare reform.
