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CSC Offers Medicare Secondary Payer Reporting To Health Plans
CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced that it has expanded its FirstPortfolio solution"s business process outsourcing (BPO) capabilities to include fully integrated Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) reporting for healthcare payers. FirstPortfolio provides users with a collection of applications hosted and maintained by CSC.

What Is Diverticulitis? What Is Diverticular Disease?
When pouches begin to protrude outwards from the colon wall the person has diverticular disease or diverticulosis. When one of these pouches becomes infected and inflamed, that infection is called diverticulitis. People may have lots of protruding pouches and feel fine. However, when one of them becomes infected it can be very painful.
News of the day
Baptist Conference Addresses HIV/AIDS In Black Community
Fear, religious beliefs and cultural differences are among the reasons why blacks do not get tested for HIV, participants of the National Baptist Convention USA"s annual Congress of Christian Education conference being held in Detroit, said on Monday, the Detroit Free Press reports. As part of the five-day conference, religious leaders discussed ways to address the high rates of HIV and AIDS among the black community. Participants also said that concerns of racism by medical professionals may be a reason why blacks do not get tested. Simone Phillips of the St. Louis chapter of the American Red Cross said, "A lot of people are leery" in the black community and "we [need] to get rid of the stigma" surrounding HIV/AIDS (Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 6/23).
Sexual Health

Alkermes Initiates Two New Clinical Trials Of ALKS 33

Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) announced the initiation of two new clinical trials of ALKS 33, an oral opioid modulator for the potential treatment of addiction and other nervous system disorders. Study ALK33-004 is a phase 1 clinical trial designed to examine the ability of ALKS 33 to block the effects of an opioid following a single oral dose of ALKS 33 in healthy, non-dependent, opioid-experienced subjects. Study ALK33-003 is a phase 1 clinical trial designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of multiple doses of ALKS 33 in healthy volunteers. The initiation of these studies follows the successful completion of a phase 1 dose escalation study of ALKS 33 in healthy volunteers. Alkermes expects to report data from both ALK33-004 and ALK33-003 in the second half of calendar 2009. "ALKS 33 is an excellent example of how Alkermes is leveraging its new insights about opioid receptor pathways to develop medications with unique advantages over currently available therapies," stated Elliot Ehrich, M.D., chief medical officer at Alkermes. "We expect to use the data from these additional phase 1 studies to shape our plans for phase 2 clinical development." ALKS 33 Study Designs ALK33-004 is a phase 1, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose study designed to test the ability of ALKS 33 to block the effects of an opioid agonist, remifentanil, a commercially available analgesic. Approximately 24 healthy, non-dependent, opioid-experienced subjects will be randomized to receive a placebo dose as well as one of two dose levels of ALKS 33. The ability of ALKS 33 to block the effects of remifentanil will be measured by pupillometry assessments and subjective measures of opioid effects. The pharmacokinetics and safety of ALKS 33 will also be evaluated. ALK33-003 is a phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-dose study designed to assess the steady-state pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of ALKS 33. Approximately 30 healthy subjects will be randomized to receive seven consecutive, daily oral doses of one of two dose levels of ALKS 33 or placebo. About ALKS 33 ALKS 33 is an oral opioid modulator that builds on Alkermes" scientific expertise in brain reward pathways as well as the company"s clinical and commercial knowledge in the field of addiction. In April 2009, Alkermes presented topline data from a phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of ALKS 33 in 16 healthy volunteers. Data from the study showed that ALKS 33 was generally well tolerated and demonstrated rapid oral absorption, high plasma concentrations and duration of action that supports once daily dosing. The study results are consistent with previous findings that ALKS 33 is not metabolized by the liver, a unique advantage over existing oral therapies for addiction. About Opioid Receptor Pathways Opioid receptor pathways have biological activity throughout the body including the brain, gastrointestinal system, immune system and cardiovascular system. Consequently, opioid receptor pathways play a key role in a broad range of nervous system disorders such as pain, addiction, psychiatric disorders, gastrointestinal disorders and immune disorders. Opioid modulators can act as agonists, antagonists or partial agonists at opioid receptors throughout the body. Emerging biological research and new medicinal chemistry insights now allow for the development of novel opioid modulators with the potential to show enhanced activity at opioid receptor sites and could ultimately lead to improved therapeutic options. Alkermes


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