Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced an agreement to develop a nanopore-based technology that will directly read and sequence human DNA quickly and efficiently.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research releases Taking the Pulse® Nurses v10.0, the latest iteration of its study focused on how nurses use digital resources, handheld devices, and other technologies in the professional setting.

The increased cost of drug development has impelled pharmaceutical companies to seek better opportunities in emerging markets to successfully expand and sell their products.

Scientists have devised a way to automate and accelerate a manual, complex process that enables researchers to more easily discover the structure of cancer-related proteins, and, eventually, formulate cancer cures. This new, automated approach may also help the exploration of other diseases and food-related research.

The IT @ Networking Awards 2010 (IT @ 2010) is an open competition for fully implemented, operable healthcare IT solutions. The goal is to raise awareness of some of the world's finest and most innovative local, regional and national healthcare IT projects.

Council of Europe condemns "unjustified scare" over swine flu
Adrian O'Dowd
The Council of Europe has heavily criticised the World Health Organization, national governments, and EU agencies for their handling of the swine flu pandemic. The parliamentary assembly of the council - the international organisation that protects human rights and the rule of law in Europe - published a draft of a report that reviewed how the H1N1 pandemic was handled.

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) and RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq: RXII), a US-based biopharmaceutical company, have entered into a joint research agreement to explore the benefits of combining proprietary technologies from both companies for the targeted delivery of experimental therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi).