Longmont Clinic shuts its research department

Longmont Clinic has closed its research department, but much of the research paper trail still lives on.

The former Longmont Medical Research Network gathered information for pharmaceutical trials starting in 1986, before the days of computer “cloud” storage where most data seems to exist these days.

Much of the research information that wasn’t scanned into a computer system over the years still is kept in boxes stored in warehouses, said Jack Campbell, Longmont Clinic’s administrator. The clinic has an obligation to keep the records in case potential issues come up that have to do with the drug trials, Campbell said.

Separately, doctors at the clinic plan to join Longmont United Hospital by Jan. 1. More than 50 doctor-owners who work at Longmont Clinic intend to stay put in the existing location at 1925 W. Mountain View Ave.

If it boggles your mind to think about paper records associated with drug trials in 1986, think about this: Longmont Clinic was founded in 1907. Luckily, relevant clinic records all are stored in computers.

New role for Parascript

You may have heard of Parascript LLC, which also is in Longmont.

Parascript is known for its pattern recognition handwriting software, which is used by banks, Fortune 500 companies and others around the globe.

About a year ago, Parascript workers decided to apply the company expertise to something a little offbeat for pattern recognition: breast cancer.

The AccuDetect software is used in digital mammography that helps radiologists differentiate between cancerous and non-cancerous lesions in breasts.

Now, AccuDetect has received a key U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval that validates its safety and effectiveness.

The FDA must approve all medical-device technology used in the United States before it’s sold on the commercial market. The technology already is used commercially in Spain, France, Germany and Austria in products made by GE Healthcare (a division of General Electric Co. publicly traded at NYSE: GE) and Philips Healthcare, (a division of the Dutch electronics multinational.)

Parascript plans to beef up its marketing with mammography equipment manufacturers and radiologists to get more AccuDetect software into doctor’s offices and hospitals, now that the FDA approval has come through, Alexander Filatov, the company’s president, said in a press statement.

Since breast cancer continues to be a significant cause of death, that’s definitely something to cheer about.

Research marches on

In Boulder, three life-science companies are moving forward with research and recognition.

Boulder drug research company Clovis Oncology Inc. said recently that it has given out its first hydropbromide salt tablet research drug for lung cancer to a human patient enrolled in a drug trial.

Clovis currently has five drug trial sites in the United States and Europe for the lung cancer research drug, named CO-1686.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires all drug candidates to go through years of rigorous testing before approving them for commercial sale. An estimated 1.35 million new lung cancer patients are reported every year, making it the most common form of cancer.

If you want details about Clovis, you can chat with Patrick Mahaffy, founder of the company, at a breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Rocky Mountain Life Science Investor and Partnering Conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 1881 Curtis St. in Denver.

Mahaffy and Ron Squarer, chief executive of Boulder’s Array BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY), another drug candidate research company, are the keynote speakers at the breakfast. They’ll be joined by Kyle Lefkoff, founder and general partner of Boulder Ventures in Boulder.

The conference is being put on by the Colorado BioScience Association, a membership group with several other strong ties in the Boulder Valley, but offices in Denver.

Countdown to the ACA

Finally, let us leave you with a thought about how a hospital in our neck of the woods is getting ready for the federal Affordable Care Act to go into effect on Jan. 1. The new law requires every U.S. resident to have health insurance, but it’s also creating sweeping changes in general health-care practices across the nation.

Hospitals want to find ways to reduce costs and improve quality for patients as the law goes into effect, said Dennis Barts, new head of Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, which is part of the Centura Health system. Hospitals also are looking for ways to keep more people well, or, as Barts said “nurturing the health of people.”

Those sound like noble goals.    

Beth Potter can be reached at 303-630-1944 or bpotter@bcbr.com.

on Facebook on LinkedIn