New Pens Arena One Step Closer to Opening

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one step closer to having a new home. Today marked the last structural steel beam to be set in place, when less than one year ago was the groundbreaking. Penguins Chief Executive Officer Ken Sawyer says the new area is the last piece of the big plan that was put in place several years ago.

"That was to fix the economics in the league, which we did. Rebuild the team, which we've done, win the Stanley Cup, which we did ahead of schedule," Sawyer says. "And now, the next big thing is to open this, and now we know we have a home for the Penguins."

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also made remarks to the tremendous effort made, particularly the workers, which have placed approximately 8,000 beams since December.

Pittsburgh Penguins Owner Mario Lemieux says it is a tremendous day for the team, knowing it took nearly a decade to get to this point.

"This is special for all of us. For the organization, the workers here," he says. "It's very exciting to be here today and to see the progress that has been made."

Pens Parade Brings Out the Fans

Thousands of Penguins fans lined the streets to watch their team bring home the Stanley Cup Monday. Faces could bee seen peering from office windows and one parking garage along the Blvd of the Allies was filled with towel waving fans looking to get a birds eye view. Marc-Andre Fleury respond to the fans chanting his name by thanking them for staying behind him even after he “let by a few soft ones” and 38-year-old Bill Guerin thanked his team for keeping him young. Capitan Sidney Crosby told the crowed this was going to just be the first cup. See more Pictures of the event at our Facebook page.

Parade for Penguins

For the second time in four months, downtown Pittsburgh will be the scene of a victory parade. In February, the celebration was for the Steelers' Super Bowl win. Tomorrow, beginning at noon, the parade will be for the Stanley Cup-winning Penguins. Team captain Sidney Crosby says the Penguin fans have been so loyal including during the rough times, so it's great to bring the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh and the fans...."they're really deserving of this...we're really happy to be able to do this. After last year (loss in the Stanely Cup finals), it was pretty devastating to everybody, them (the fans) included, we found a way to claw our way back and finish it off."
Tomorrow's parade will follow the same route as the Super Bowl celebration: start at Seventh Avenue and Grant Street, proceed along Grant, turn on to Boulevard of the Allies, then onto Stanwix where there will be a stage celebration.
City officials urge fans to take public transportation, and if you must drive, park on the periphery of downtown Pittsburgh.

Business Hopes to Commemorate Pens' Victory

Some Penguins fans have more on the line than the Stanley Cup tonight.

A Johnstown-area screen printing company has accepted a commission that would have them print up to 50,000 celebratory t-shirts if the Pittsburgh Penguins win the NHL Final tonight.

Craig Hollern is owner of American Eagle Screen Printing and Embroidery, the possible producer of four designs of the Penguins’ championship shirts. Hollern, a Penguins fan, says his company will start 36 straight hours of printing should the Pens win the Final tonight.

“My home is across the street from my business, and we’ve invited all the employees to come to my house for pizza and soda and so on, and from there we can walk across the street and start printing,” says Hollern.

The owner says he’s not expecting to make a killing off of this venture -- just a small percentage for each shirt printed. He does, however, expect re-orders.

Hollern wouldn’t say who exactly commissioned the order. With so much depending on the skates and sticks of the men in black and gold, though, he would say one thing.

“Go Pens.”

While You Were Getting Your Guthrie On

Welcome to the Inauguration Edition of your (long) weekend roundup here at the IN VIVO Blog, and remember: this blog was made for you and me. On to the news!

So, while you were bird-watching ...

• Is Lundbeck considering a takeout of up-for-sale Elan? According to The Independent it is, but the paper doesn't name any sources. (h/t Reuters) But after the Flurizan debacle it seems like a strange move to us, despite the therapeutic area tie up in CNS. Lundbeck is 70% privately owned, however, and so mightn't have difficulty moving forward with a deal if its investors are on-side.
  
• Swiss biotech Arpida received an FDA 'complete response' letter for its NDA on the intravenous version of its antibiotic iclaprim. FDA, says Arpida, is requesting new clinical studies. The drug was dinged by FDA's advisory committee back in November.
  
• Galapagos and GSK expanded their alliance in anti-infectives to cover three additional targets, triggering a payment of €2 million to the Belgian biotech.
• Put down the knife, and STEP AWAY FROM THE PEANUT BUTTER.
• What? Football? Well that didn't go very well, did it? Congratulations to the Steelers and the Cardinals and their fans.
  

Steelers Shop Sees Super Sales

Following the Steelers 23-14 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in last night’s AFC Championship game, some local sportswear stores have really picked up. Marcia Feinberg, of the Mike Feinberg Company located in the Strip district says sales have been steady throughout the playoffs, but have really jumped today. Party items and Steelers clothing have been the top sellers. Feinberg says she expects sales to increase over the next two weeks. The Steelers are set to take on the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals February 1st in Tampa Bay.

Public Art Projects Planned for New Hockey Arena

The public art master plan calls for three projects. The first, "Construction as Canvas" will be temporary, in place only until construction fences come down prior to the arena opening in the summer of 2010. Three organizations that serve Uptown or Hill District youth will be selected by application to team up with three local artists to create art on the three sides of construction fence. Work will most likely start in June. Information is available on the website: publicartpittsburgh.org.

While details are not yet complete for the other two projects, Renee Piechocki, director of the Office of Public Art, says another project will be a high-tech piece(possibly robotic, video, or LED-driven), perhaps on the uptown side of the arena.

The third calls for a partnership between an artist and a landscape architect to design a passageway from one side of the arena to the other that is pedestrian- and community-friendly.

Penguins Give Name to New Arena

Mario Lemieux, co-owner and chairman of the Pittsburgh Penguins, today announced the "Consol Energy Center" will be the team's new home starting in 2010 until at least 2030. The franchise struck a deal with the major energy conglomerate for naming rights to the arena for the next 21 years. President of the Penguins David Morehouse says there are a lot of similarities between the energy company and the energetic young hockey team. The name will be featured on the outer facade of the arena as well as various places inside. The details of the deal for the naming rights are undisclosed.

Penguins and SEA to Update Community on Arena Project

The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Sports & Exhibition Authority will conduct a community update meeting on the new arena project Tuesday, December 9th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the main hall of the Epiphany Church.

Penguin senior consultant Ron Porter says anyone with an interest in the project is welcome to attend this quarterly progress report, held in accordance with the Community Benefits Agreement. Information will be presented about minority participation and what will be happening in the next few months.

The community will be asked to present any concerns they might have--a prior issue was trucks tracking mud through the community, which Porter says residents are pleased is being mitigated as much as possible.

Light snacks will be served--those planning to attend are asked to call 412-642-1969 or email rporter@pittsburghpenguins.com.

While You Were Advancing

Despite Saturday's game three hiccup the Fightin' Phils advanced to the NLCS this weekend with a 6-2 win over Milwaukee to cap a 3-1 NLDS victory, taking the sting out of another Iggles loss at the Linc. (Celebrate while you can, Ramsey, St. Louis is tough coming off the bye week ... OK maybe not.)

It's nearly enough to take one's mind off the economic crisis--now spreading even further--and the potential impact that broader financial malady might have on the health care world. For those of you keeping score at home more than two out of three of our respondents agree that the industry universe is shrinking.

While you were dusting off your Beat L.A. signs from 1983 ...

• We get a lot of crazy ideas (support of Philadelphia sports teams can do that to blogger) so we're not normally ones to throw too many stones. But we simply can't get our heads around this 'fast track IPO' proposal described in this Guardian article from last week. Please, anyone, explain it to us. Does this make any sense whatsoever?
• OSI and Genentech report that Tarceva plus Avastin didn't improve survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients better than Tarceva alone, though there was a clear improvement in progression-free survival.
• Genome sequencing is getting cheaper. Harvard's George Church, an adviser to Complete Genomics, the company that this morning announced it could lower the cost of sequencing your As, Ts, Gs and Cs to a cool $5k, called the price "shockingly low." In this economy, George? Call us when we can buy a kit at the Dollar Store.
  
• Biolex this morning bought OctoPlus's 50% commercial rights to the companies' Locteron interferon alfa, which is in Phase II in HCV. Octoplus gets $11mm upfront and up to $138mm in milestones. Meanwhile Biolex also said it raised $60 million in Series D funds in a round led by Clarus Ventures.
  
• Oh yeah. It seems Lilly is buying Imclone. You may have heard about this one. But why do we feel like there's going to be a some sort of Scooby-Doo-esque plot twist at the end of this too-long drama? As of 5a ET still no official word from the companies nor any last minute rubber mask reveals or muttering about getting away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids. Yet. [UPDATE: 7am, and it's official. the deal values Imclone at $6.5bb, or $70/share.]
  

game 2 photo from flickr user nickhall used under a creative commons license.

Counterfeit Penguins Jerseys

U-S Postal inspectors in Pittsburgh say they've seen a dramatic increase in the number of counterfeit products that are being shipped to the area related to the Penguins. In one day alone this past month, inspectors confiscated 78 boxes of counterfeit jerseys with the Penguins logo estimated to be worth $250,000 on the retail market. Andrew Richards, Postal Inspector in Pittsburgh, says the unlicensed clothing is coming primarily out of China. He says the individuals who did the ordering have been confronted and a determination will be made later by prosecutors about whether any criminal action will take place.

Investigators want to warn consumers that the counterfeit items are in the area. Richards says it's difficult to identify knock-off products because the manufacturers are more sophisticated. He says before you could look for NFL or NHL holograms to denote genuine articles. But Richards says on the fake jerseys they are producing counterfeit holograms. He says a tip off is when an item is being sold for considerably less than what can be found in normal retail outlets. He also says if you buy from someone on the street, chances are they are not a licensed vendor. The counterfeit sports items show up throughout the year, but Richards says it's when a team is doing well, such as now with the Penguins in the Stanley Cup championship, that they see an influx of the fake goods being shipped into the area. Postal inspectors are helped in their efforts to track down the fake items through the help of the NHL and and sports teams.

Atlantic 10 Conference gets new Commissioner

The Atlantic 10 Conference has a new commissioner, Bernadette McGlade has replaced Linda Bruno who served in the capacity for the last 13 years. McGlade has spent the past 11 years working in the ACC Conference spending 9 years as the associate commissioner. McGlade says she is humbled by the position and not worried about any perceptions people may have about the conference. She has also worked in NCAA and ACC oversight committee's including sportsmanship, officiating, equity, and television. She is also the current president of the national association of collegiate women athletic administrators.

Pittsburgh Marathon Returns

The mayor along with the county chief executive and sponsors announced that there will in fact be a marathon in the streets of Pittsburgh once again. The last marathon was 6 years ago, because of a lack of sponsorship. Now, the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon is on track for May 3rd, 2009. Other sponsors include Respironics, a medical supply company, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dick's has made a 3-year commitment to the race, but wouldn't disclose any further details on exact figures. They sponsor more than 1,000 races nation-wide, and will promote the Pittsburgh race nationally.
Pittsburgh's marathon was once nationally renowned, even used as an Olympic trial. Race officials say they don't expect to recapture that next year, but hope it will grow in coming years. Officials hope to begin the race on Grant Street in front of the City/County building and end it in the newly renovated Point State Park. The rest will wind through Pittsburgh's neighborhoods, causing what County Chief Executive Dan Onorato called a "trickle down effect" benefiting communities and businesses along the race. The route and the winner's purse have not been finalized.

Pittsburgh Penguins Team up with Pittsburgh Technology Council

The Pittsburgh Penguins have recruited the help of the Pittsburgh Technology Council in their search for new technologies to be designed into the new arena. To achieve this goal the Penguins, with the help of the council used a live web cast to tell the members of the Pittsburgh Technology Council what they wanted. The new technology is supposed to increase the fan experience at the new arena. The intentions are to have the technology be for more than just hockey games because the arena will have many other shows such as concerts, circus', etc...The deadline for proposals was may 1st and the Penguins received 60 submissions.

One Hill Coalition to vote on CBA

The One Hill Coalition will be holding a vote on Saturday May 10Th, to decide if they will accept the proposed Community Benefits Agreement. The Preliminary agreement says the Penguins will contribute $500,000 a year for six years, with a six year option. The residents of the Hill will have a chance at hiring for development jobs a week before anyone else, the Penguins and the city will contribute $2 million towards a new grocery store, and Don Barden will donate $3 million dollars.
The 100+ members will vote between 10 am and 1 pm on the 10Th.

While You Were Almost Upsetting

We've been told by certain football (soccer) fans that there are not enough allusions to the beautiful game in our weekend roundups. So as equal opportunity sports enthusiasts we thought Saturday's FA Cup fourth round near-upset of Premier League giants Liverpool by the part-timers from the curiously named Havant and Waterlooville away at Anfield warranted a mention. (And hey it's the NFL's ridiculous weekend off anyway.)

Even though they lost 5-2, this team of teachers, builders and trash collectors (not sure if there are any pharma bloggers on the team, but who knows maybe the mysterious Insider from Pharmagossip plays for them) led twice and gave one of the top teams in Europe quite a scare, at least in the first half.

What else was going on this weekend?

• Vytorin snafu: New York State AG Andrew Cuomo piles on. More at Pharmalot.
  
• Ben Goldacre highlights a few recent studies about publication bias (including one concerning SSRIs from last week's New England Journal of Medicine). Your indispensible Bad Science is here.
  
• Our Vytorin poll is closing today. Vote here.

Forsight Scores Big

With the Red Sox and Indians facing off in the American League Championship Series, IN VIVO Blog would like nothing more than to toss in an old baseball metaphor to describe how well investors in Forsight Labs second company did with their investment, but even the ever popular grand salami falls a bit short.

So with the shameless favorite sports team plug firmly inserted, we can go on to tell you that Forsight Newco II, founded just 10 months ago, raised approximately $5 million from investors to cover costs of product development and some early clinical testing of the company’s drug-eluting ocular punctual plug, a technology that can deliver drugs through the eyes’ own tears. For a video showing the product go here.

Now, just 10 months after the company’s inception, QLT stepped forward to pay $42 million upfront for the company. But the potential returns don't stop there. QLT also agreed to pay $5 million payment upon the initiation of phase III clinical trial for the first product; $20 million for the first commercialization of a product; $20 million for the commercialization of a second product; and $15 million on first commercialization of each subsequent product.

For those keeping score at home, that’s $67 million if QLT succeeds in getting one of these products on the market; $87 million if it gets two; $102 million for three and so on. To be sure, all of these potential payments are years off. QLT will need a few years to run the plugs through clinical study and isn't likely to get a product to market until 2011 or 2012.

QLT management is being criticized for overpaying, but Bob Butchofsky, president and chief executive officer of QLT, says the company’s punctual plug, which is inserted in one of the two ducts that drains tears from the eye, will put QLT in position to challenge the $6 billion eye drop market.

Unlike standard punctual plugs, which only slow the drainage of tears from the eye as a means of treating dry eye, QLT’s new plug contains a drug core. As the tear film flows against the plug, the drug is released delivering a steady stream of drug. The Newco identified glaucoma as a first application for the device, but the plug could be used to deliver any drugs currently delivered as eye drops. “I believe this is a start of a major change on how we treat ocular disease,” Butchofsky told analysts in a conference call this morning.

Others aren’t as impressed. QLT shares hit a 52-week low today after the deal was announced. An item on the Globe and Mail web site reported:

National Bank Financial analyst Prakash Gowd calls the deal pricey, citing “very limited data supporting the theoretical benefits of [ForSight’s] punctal plug technology. Moreover, he figures the technology is likely to be a “very competitive area and patents have not yet been clarified.”

QLT must be high on the technology as it made the only real bid for the company. Forsight CEO K. Angela Macfarlane says while Forsight had talks with other companies about its various programs, Newco II wasn’t being shopped around. (Curious about Forsight's first product? Go here.)

Robin Bellas, general partner at Morgenthaler Ventures, one of the investors, called the acquisition, "quite a surprise. We always expected to raise another round. It was unusual that QLT came to us and expressed strong interest in the program. We had no plans to sell it.”

For more about Forsight Labs go here.

While You Were Winning the NL East!

M-V-P

How 'bout them Phillies! Could we be heading for an intrablog standoff between IN VIVO's Philly and Boston contingents? Only time will tell...

Sorry for the late and skinny weekend roundup; our flight was delayed several hours returning to the UK after the PSA conference and we were too excited about the Phillies victory (and frankly, without an easy internet connection) to post yesterday.

So we'll keep it short:

• Vernalis' and Endo's Frova hits the wall. The migraine drug's second time around at FDA--its supplemental NDA for expansion of its label into menstrually associated migraine--turned ugly over the weekend when the agency sent the companies a surprise "Not Approvable" letter. As one analyst told IN VIVO Blog today, "there's a lot of egg on a lot of faces" at Vernalis and Endo. The companies had been extremely optimistic about the drug's label expansion prospects.

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Going, Going.....Google

Two bits of follow up on previous posts about the health care IT space.

AthenaHealth absolutely hit one out of the park with its IPO.

Shares opened at $18 and nearly doubled, hitting $35.50. This could be a big win for its VC investors including Oak Investment Partners, Venrock Associates, Draper, Fisher Jurvetson and Cardinal Partners. All together the four owned 65% of the company prior to the opening. IN VIVO Blog talked about the importance of this IPO back in June.

Meanwhile, speculation abounds that Google, in a bid to bolster its presence on the Web, is eyeing an acquisition of health care Web site leader WebMD. Last month, IN VIVO Blog admitted to being slightly underwhelmed by the early glimpses of Google's health offerings.

Apparently, we're not the only ones. Dan Penny, director and lead analyst for publishing Outsell Inc., a market research firm focused on the publishing industry, writes:

Implications: The discovery in 2005 that 12% of individuals would consult Google before seeing a doctor has sent a message to the search giant that it should be doing something with health information, but it doesn't seem to know how to add value to an area where others have stolen a march. Google Health, as it stands, is a confusing experiment that offers little more than an old-fashioned portal for health information. Google now realises that it needs to do more than aggregate, because the boom in online health information has sent users flocking to WebMD and similar sites, such as AOL Health and RevolutionHealth. A year ago, the idea of Google acquiring WebMD would have seemed rather bizarre, but since the purchase of YouTube, Google has proven its willingness to spend, and to spend on content as well as technology. Moreover, its rival, Microsoft, bought Medstory earlier this year in a clear attempt to secure some of the healthcare vertical for itself.

Oh yeah, and Google's health care push probably wasn't helped by the fact the fellow in charge of the effort is leaving.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

While You Were Finally Watching Some Football

Autumn's here, and the NFL is back. IN VIVO Blog's contingent of Philadelphia Eagles fans is predictably feeling a little uneasy about the season ahead. Meanwhile, here are a few odds and ends from the weekend.

• More GSK hand-wringing in the UK papers, this time it's the Financial Times. (Hat Tip: Pharmagossip.)
  
• Hey look, free access to medical journals. (via the NYT)
• The SF Chronicle looks at personalized medicine, and how the FDA is encouraging drug developers to find genetic patterns in responses to treatment.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)