Interview: ValveXchange's Larry Blankenship and Dr. Ivan Vesely

w3w3's Larry Nelson:

"We're talking with Larry Blankenship, Chairman of the Board and CEO of ValveXchange and Ivan Vesely, Founder and Chief Science Officer. Dr. Vesely is a PhD. Bio Physicist who founded the company and invented this heart valve technology." Link to the w3w3.com interview

ValveXchange recently announced its successful First in Man procedures. Link to the related Business Wire release.

Lakewood/Edgewater Featured Event: Oct 29th Cajun's Closet Halloween Book Sale Benefiting Cat Care Society

Quoting from this morning's Lakewood/Edgewater print edition:

"Halloween Book Sale. Cajun's Closet Thrift Shop's annual Halloween Book Sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the store, 5707 W. Sixth Ave., Lakewood. All proceeds benefit the Cat Care Society. For more information, call 303-202-0455."

Link to the related online Denver Post YourHub story

Link for more information about the Cat Care Society's fundraising stores

Award-Winning Fashion Photograher Rick Guidotti To Keynote 2011 Colorado BioScience Awards Celebration

The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) Annual Awards Dinner is slated for Thursday, December 8, at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Denver. The event, celebrating the success of the bioscience industry in Colorado and its 2011 standout companies and individuals, will feature a keynote presentation by Rick Guidotti of Positive Exposure in New York. The announcement is made by Holli Riebel, CBSA President and CEO, who says: “CBSA is honored to partner with Positive Exposure in sharing Rick’s important message about genetic difference and dynamic images with our industry community.”

“CBSA is honored to partner with Positive Exposure in sharing Rick’s important message about genetic difference and dynamic images with our industry community.”

While in Denver on December 7th, Guidotti will photograph a select group of children in partnership with the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, Mile High Down Syndrome Association, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, and Colorado Children’s Hospital. An exhibit reception will also be held at VSA Colorado/Access Gallery, an inclusive nonprofit organization that engages people with disabilities to access and experience the arts, located at 909 Santa Fe Drive, in the Santa Fe Arts District. The Exhibition will be on display from November 18 – December 16, 2011.

Link to the Business Wire Release

Link to the Pitch Engine Social Media Release

Things to do in Denver - 'Cajuns Closet Halloween book sale: a Cat Care Society fundraiser'

Quoting from today's Denver Bucket List posting by Chrissy Morin:

"Cajun’s Closet Thrift Shop - 5707 W. 6th Avenue (on the Frontage Road west of Sheridan).

There will be 'creepy' but safe refreshments and special discounts for those who come in costume. Cajun’s was named Denver Westword’s Best Thrift Store for 2011."

Link to the Denver Bucket List

Coming Sat Oct 29: the Cat Care Society Cajun's Closet Halloween "Monster" Book Sale! Be there!

The Cat Care Society 'Cajun's Closet' Thrift Shop is holding its annual Halloween Book Sale on Saturday, October 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be special deals on Cajun's wide selection of books, including mass market books, six for $1; hard back books, $1 each; trade paperback books, two for $1; and children's books: 10 cents each. Plus, Cajun's is offering additional discounts for those brave enough to come in costume to help raise funds for the CCS shelter cats and Cat Care Clinic.

Cajun's Closet, located at 5707 W. 6th Avenue (on the Frontage Road west of Sheridan), is Denver Westword's Best Thrift Store for 2011 and was recently renovated at the end of August by a dedicated team of Cat Care Society volunteers, customers and donors. Cajun's Closet Manager Dawn Risner recounts, "We pulled up carpet, painted floors and walls, took down window treatments, built new displays, rearranged the library, and last but not least, updated the front room just in time for fall shopping and our annual Halloween Book Sale."

Link to the PRWeb newswire

Link to the Pitch Engine Social Media Release

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: 'Can the FDA Be a Catalyst for Innovation?'

Quoting Colorado's Dr. Tim Rodell (GlobeImmune) and Holli Riebel (CBSA) from the October 15 GEN:

"The products the FDA regulates represent 20% to 25% of every consumer dollar spent in the U.S., Dr. Hamburg pointed out. 'That’s a gigantic percent of the country’s gross domestic product,' Tim Rodell, M.D., CEO of GlobeImmune (www.globeimmune.com) and a member of the BIO board of directors, said. 'Given the FDA’s importance, it warrants being a cabinet-level agency.'

...Although FDA reviewers typically are trained in scientific research, applying that experience to the regulatory environment is learned on the job. 'That’s a significant deficit for the agency,' Dr. Rodell said. 'There’s no process to train the kinds of people the FDA needs.' Consequently, 'it takes one to two years for new reviewers to get up and running.'

Meanwhile, the FDA, in its determination to do no harm, risks being so cautious that it withholds live-saving therapies. Admittedly, it’s a delicate balance. 'Innovation occurs so quickly that FDA staff can’t keep up with new technology,' observed Holli Riebel, president and CEO of Colorado BioScience.

'Patients are waiting and—sometimes—dying, while amazing drugs aren’t released because of fears about potentially adverse reactions. Science isn’t perfect. We can’t push forward without some risks.'

...BIO also supports a progressive approval pathway so that even before final trials are completed, promising therapeutics could be released and monitored. Dr. Rodell suggested that could be accomplished safely and effectively by designing electronic medical records systems to accommodate retrospective, anonymous analysis of drug safety in real time. Therefore, drug developers could track adverse events associated with the commercial release of particular therapies more accurately than under the current system, which depends upon harried physicians taking the time to voluntarily report adverse events. Dr. Rodell added that the FDA is exploring this already with its pilot Sentinel initiative.

Link to the article at the GEN website

Bell Aquaculture Receives $467K Conserving Hoosier Industrial Power (CHIP) Grant

Quoting from InsideINdianaBusiness.com:

"Seven Hoosier companies will divide nearly $2.5 million in federal grants to make energy efficiency and alternative fuel improvements. The recipients were awarded funding from the Conserving Hoosier Industrial Power grant program and the Alternative Fuel Vehicles retrofit program...

The Conserving Hoosier Industrial Power (CHIP) grant program is making funding available for large energy efficiency projects in Indiana commercial/industrial sector. The first four recipients of CHIP funding in 2011 are Bell Aquaculture of Albany ($467,494.00), Brightpoint North America, L.P. of Plainfield ($500,000.00), MD Logistics of Plainfield ($212,374.00) and Ryobi Die Casting USA in Shelbyville ($500,000.00). These awardees will use the funding for lighting retrofits, HVAC, controls, motor, pump and insulation upgrades."

Link to InsideINdianaBusiness.com