July 16, 2010 – Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. this week announced the launch of its ultrasound contrast imaging agent, Definity Vial For (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere) Injectable Suspension, in India.

July 16, 2010 – Use of anatomically designed catheters reduces lab time by more than one-third compared to traditional point-by-point focal ablation procedures for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), according to data from the FAST-PVI study, supported by Medtronic Inc. The data were released recently at Cardiostim 2010, the 17th World Congress in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques.

July 16, 2010 – A new extracellular matrix (ECM) biomaterial device recently received a CE mark, meaning it can now be marketed in European Union countries. The CorMatrix ECM for Cardiac Tissue Repair from CorMatrix Cardiovascular harnesses the body’s innate ability to repair damaged cardiovascular tissue.

July 15, 2010 -- W. L. Gore and Associates recently announced that it has received the European CE mark approval for the 25 cm Gore Viabahn Endoprosthesis with Propaten Bioactive Surface. The Gore device is the longest length stent-graft available, designed to cover more of the lesion in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) potentially reducing the need for multiple devices.

July 14, 2010 – The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has been awarded a $1.66 million, four-year grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a measurement system that could help doctors predict which patients could be struck by sudden cardiac arrest, a heart rhythm disturbance that causes instant death in more than 95 percent of cases

July 14, 2010 – A Belgian biotechnology company recently announced positive safety data and preliminary efficacy results from a clinical trial of its new stem cell therapy for heart failure.

July 13, 2010 – AstraZeneca recently announced that the U.S. District Court has found that the substance patent protecting Crestor is valid and enforceable. In its ruling, the court found that no inequitable conduct was committed by any Shionogi employee. The court also held the '314 patent to be non-obvious and properly reissued.