The Tubac Golf Resort & Spa announced its new Wellness Program describing it as both novel and exhilarating. Novel, because it includes a variety of summer events, activities and programs, emphasizing complete wellness. Exhilarating, because the programs are designed to stimulate your endorphins, the pathway to better yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. "Wellness is not just the absence of illness," Kristi Gall, wellness director emphasized. "It is about engaging the whole network of mind, body, spirit and creativity. Our extensive Wellness Programs are designed to encourage creativity, movement, and fun." A sample of the numerous summer programs offered include; Laughter Yoga Workshop, Healthy Grilling Techniques, Junior Golf Camp, Your Camera-Translating Emotions into Images, Your Health & Aromatherapy and Wine Tasting Socials featuring wines from Southern Arizona's wine country.

The Spa at Tubac was just voted one of Top 50 Spa's in the Southwest by Premier Spas of the Southwest -- A Collection of the Finest Spas by Sonoran Spotlight. "We have an integrative health-based philosophy that will now include seasonal Wellness Programs which will complement our extensive alternative health care services provided at the spa," Linda Cormier director of sales and marketing said. "In addition to our indulgent spa offerings we feature yoga, meditation, Qigong, acupuncture, herbal remedies, exercise programs, nutritional counseling and longevity programs," Cormier continued. "We are working toward our next exciting program, which will feature the opportunity to experience a Native American Sweat Lodge. We expect this will be a life-changing experience for many of our guests."

Coligne AG, a leading innovator in the design and manufacture of spinal implants, presents clinical follow up results of its unique Erriva ELIF treatment of the lumbar spine at this year's Spineweek, Eurospine in Geneva, May 24th - May 31st 2008. The Erriva ELIF product line made of the proprietary biomaterial Ostapek, a high density long fiber carbon composite, is designed for lateral decompression, pedicle fixation and Ostapek interbody fusions. Erriva ELIF lumbar spine technology enables surgeons to reach the posterior elements, the interbody space and perform a complete spinal surgery that preserves more structures, minimizes blood loss and reduces muscle trauma

Lumbar Interbody Fusion is the classical treatment for disc disease or lumbar instability and could be performed by posterior (PLIF), anterior (ALIF) or transforaminal (TLIF) approach.

MyCareTeam, Inc., a leading vendor of Internet-based diabetes management software, has announced an integrated service on the Google Health platform. Google launched Google Health today at a media event at its headquarters in Mountain View, CA. The new product allows users to store, organize, and manage their medical records online. MyCareTeam's diabetes management software, MCT-Diabetes, integrated with Google Health, will allow consumers to securely transfer diabetes related information to and from their Google Health accounts.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to integrate our diabetes product with Google Health." said Jim Mingle, CEO of MyCareTeam. "Our users can now safely transfer their glucose readings, lab values, medication, and other information from our software into their Google Health accounts."

MCT-Diabetes is a behavior modification tool that allows individuals with diabetes and their care providers to collaborate and monitor glucose levels across the Internet. The product facilitates collaboration, which improves the long-term management of diabetes. The intuitive, easy-to-use software application provides an opportunity for the patient to decide who (care providers, family members, and friends) can have access to the patient's data and communicate with each other. Patients who do not wish to share access with care providers can print reports and graphs and take them to appointments for review.

Aviva USA, part of Aviva plc, the world’s fifth largest insurance group, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. patent number 7,376,609, for “Maximization of a Hedged Investment Budget for an Index-Linked Insurance Product,” on May 20, 2008. The patent involves Aviva’s unique risk management processes related to the minimum guarantees on its indexed universal life insurance products. These innovative and proprietary risk management processes allow Aviva to offer customers indexed universal life insurance products with minimum interest rate guarantees that have greater benefits at lower costs.

“The granting of this patent underscores Aviva’s commitment to innovation in the area of product development,” said Thomas C. Godlasky, CEO Aviva North America. “It is truly a testament to the outstanding work being done by Aviva’s product development team. As a company, our primary focus is on providing the best products and services to our customers, and the innovation behind this patent exemplifies that commitment.”

“We are very excited that the US Patent and Trademark Office has recognized the innovative and proprietary methodologies we developed,” said Brian J. Clark, chief strategy officer of Aviva USA. “We discovered that there was a better way to manage risk and lower the cost related to the minimum interest rate guarantees on indexed universal life products. By evaluating the minimum guarantee on a multi-year basis, we can offer our customers a very attractive indexed universal life insurance product.”

Fixed indexed life insurance is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. life insurance market, having grown by 39% in 2007 and at a compound rate of 57% since 2004. This emerging segment, of which Aviva has been the market leader for the past six years, now represents 4% of the U.S. market for individual life insurance according to industry reports.

Academics and industry leaders will showcase their innovative ideas on the next groundbreaking technologies in the life sciences at the 2008 BIO International Convention’s Innovation Corridor poster sessions. Hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the global event for biotechnology will take place June 17-20 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif.

The Innovation Corridor will play host to presentations representing many different aspects of biotechnology and the life sciences including bioengineering, biologics, cancer, diagnostics, genomics, infectious disease, reproductive health, and stem cells.

“Participants in the Innovation Corridor represent the future of our industry,” said BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood. “The ideas and concepts represented in their presentations will play an important role in the next generation of biotech therapies and applications.”

For the first time ever, Innovation Corridor Poster Session winners will present their findings over the course of the convention. Winning presentations include:

Device to Prevent Contrast-Induced Kidney Failure presented by Paul Petrovich, University of Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 17, 10:15am
Expanding Organ Donor Pool by "Ex Vivo Repair" with a Novel siRNA-Containing Organ Storage Solution presented by Wei-Ping Min, Lawson Health Research Institute, Tuesday, June 17, 10:45am
Click Chemistry: The Reach of a Few Good Reactions, presented by Valery Fokin, The Scripps Research Institute, Wednesday, June 18, 10:15am
Bacteriophage Amplification Technology: a platform for development of rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests, presented by Drew Smith, MicroPhage, Inc, Wednesday, June 18, 10:45am
Rapid Diagnostic for CNS Ischemia due to Stroke, TIA, and TBI, presented by Allan Goldberg, Lesanne Life Sciences, LLC, Thursday, June 19, at 10:15am
Hydrous Ethanol-Reducing Cost and Energy Use, presented by Tom Donald, HE Blends, Thursday, June 19, 10:45am.
To view the full abstracts from each winning presentation, as well as those from all of the Innovation Corridor participants, please visit http://www.bio2008.org/content/corridor/Default.aspx.

This June 6-7 in Washington, D.C., Mental Health America will convene an extraordinary group of mental health experts, advocates, organizations and researchers committed to advancing a promotion and prevention agenda to drive down the tragically high rates and profound impact of mental health and substance use conditions in the United States.

The two-day event, entitled the "Inaugural Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Summit," will take place during Mental Health America's 2008 Conference, and bring together the foremost leaders in the field to explore the latest in promotion and prevention science and set a course for promoting wellness in individuals, communities and the nation at large.

Piper Jaffray has hired Matt Miksic to broaden the investment research team’s coverage of the medical technology sector. As a senior research analyst, Miksic will provide coverage of ophthalmology, orthopedics and diversified medical technology companies. He will be based in the firm’s New York office.

Miksic joins Piper Jaffray from Morgan Stanley where he was a senior research analyst covering the medical technology and hospital supply sectors. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he gained experience as a senior manager in the business consulting division at Arthur Andersen and also spent five years with a software start-up company. Miksic earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Rutgers University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

eFoodSafety.com, Inc. (www.efoodsafety.com) applauds the European Commission’s marketing authorization in the European Union of GlaxoSmithKline’s (“GSK”) H5N1 pre-pandemic bird flu vaccine Prepandrix™. eFoodSafety, which is also dedicated to developing solutions aimed at combating the virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, commends the European Commission for raising global awareness of the influenza pandemic and allowing for the advancement of technologies designed to address potential human threats relating to this deadly virus. The company’s proprietary product, Citroxin™, an environmentally safe sporicidal product formulated entirely of food-grade components, has shown 68% efficacy in eradicating the H5N1 strain of bird flu in chick embryos.

“The European Commission’s marketing approval of GlaxoSmithKline’s Prepandrix signifies tremendous progress in global efforts to fight bird flu in humans,” says Patricia Gruden, CEO of eFoodSafety. “eFoodSafety has been committed to eradicating the avian flu through its development of Citroxin and we have long believed that H5N1 should be addressed in order to prevent a potential pandemic. This week’s news further supports our contention that bird flu is a global social health concern, and that, given the proper solutions, we can mitigate potential risks to humans.”

A World Health Organization (WHO) action plan notes that over the past decade H5N1 has successfully “crossed the species barrier” from animals to humans, a shift that it considers “[poses] an imminent pandemic threat.” The several hundred human cases of H5N1 since 2003 have often resulted in fatality; as the number of cases continues to increase, countries around the world are spending more money to help avoid a global pandemic. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Switzerland and Finland have already placed orders for GSK’s vaccine, and other countries are considering the same, in order to amass a cautionary supply in the event of an outbreak or pandemic. The World Bank projects that costs associated with fighting avian flu will range between $1.2 and $1.5 billion by 2009.

Pfizer Inc invites investors and the general public to view and listen to a webcast of a meeting with investment analysts and institutional investors to be held on Monday, June 2, at 6:00 p.m. Central Daylight Saving Time, in connection with the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The analyst and investor meeting will include presentations by Pfizer’s oncology leadership team.

To view and listen to the webcast, visit our web site homepage at www.pfizer.com and click on the “Pfizer Analyst and Investor Meeting at ASCO” link in the Investor Presentations tab. Information on accessing and pre-registering for the webcast will be available at www.pfizer.com beginning today.

CIGNA is introducing a radical new way for people to get the most from their health care. Using an online, personalized, intuitive, interactive and fully integrated approach CIGNA HealthCare is helping the 10 million people it serves make informed health decisions for themselves and their families.

Available to individuals enrolled in CIGNA HealthCare plans via their personal myCIGNA.com Website, Care Connections delivers a self-contained and interactive step-by-step logical progression of information and decision support tools designed to lead to effective and efficient health care. This approach enables people to:

-- Recognize potential care needs - the individual enters a brief description of his/her health symptoms using common terms such as "ear ache" or "knee pain" in order to receive information regarding: possible causes; questions to ask a clinician; and available resources to help


-- Identify, learn about and evaluate treatment options - people can search for and select doctors, health facilities and medications according to both quality measures that have been reviewed and approved by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and cost efficiency information based on their specific CIGNA health plan. For example, Care Connections provides information that helps identify hospitals with 29 percent fewer deaths and 26 percent fewer complications than facilities


-- Understand available benefits - individuals receive information on coverage eligibility and cost ranges based on claim data that reflect CIGNA's negotiated rates. Through Care Connections people can:

-- Find specialists that treat heart conditions, diabetes, and other common illnesses at up to 33 percent lower cost per episode
-- Identify pharmacy cost savings such as generic equivalents for Lipitor that save over $900 annually
-- Select MRI providers that deliver services for lower costs and greater convenience, potentially saving in excess of $500 per image

For those in need of additional person-to-person help, Care Connections information is integrated into CIGNA's service organization so individuals can easily consult with a nurse using the CIGNA HealthCare 24-Hour Health Information LineSM or a CIGNA Health Advisor® personal health coach.