The artificial pancreas represents a dramatic improvement over existing approaches to management of diabetes, but Sernova Corp. of London, Ontario, is intent on going one better on conventional device technology. The company recently presented the results from an early phase study of its Cell Pouch device with pancreatic islet cells to a major medical conference, and the results suggest that the Cell Pouch with islets will pass the safety bar and may prove efficacious for several measures, including glycemic control.

At a family wedding earlier this month, an uncle was salivating over the prospect that the Vivus Inc. drug Qnexa could soon become the first in a new generation of obesity drugs to gain FDA approval. He needed to lose 50 pounds, he confided, and the drug seemed the answer to his prayers. Since we’ve written extensively about obesity and these drugs in BioWorld Today, he wanted my opinion. I politely inquired whether he had considered dieting and exercise, which could produce similar results without the potential side effects of a prescribed drug – especially one in a category that’s...