IS LAB SPACE BOOM TOO SCATTERED? Locally born life sciences companies no longer have to worry about a lack of high-quality lab space forcing them to leave town as they grow, thanks to developers racing to build it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Where those companies decide to go in the Chicago area is a separate issue, and one that is shaping the next chapter of the city's evolution into a biotech and pharmaceutical research hub.

While more mature life sciences markets like Boston, Raleigh-Durham and San Diego feature centralized clusters of startups, well-established companies and lab buildings all close to academic institutions that churn out research, Chicago's growing biotech landscape thus far has been anything but concentrated. New lab space in the area has been scattered by geographically separated universities and where real estate developers want to build, fragmenting the momentum among city and suburban nodes that all show promise, but have little connective tissue.

The research that seeds many of the life sciences companies grown in Chicago, meanwhile, has historically been done closer to Northwestern in Evanston, University of Chicago in Hyde Park and the hospital systems in the Illinois Medical District on the city's Near West Side. But instead of building more lab space on or near those campuses, developers have been jockeying to create what they hope will emerge as the nucleus for local life sciences startups in places like Fulton Market or Lincoln Yards. READ MORE.

MILLS CLAN'S POTENTIAL $29 BILLION WINDFALL, AND THE FATE OF MEDLINE:As the Mills family weighs what to do with an enormous pile of cash from selling a 79% stake in Northfield-based Medline, managers are charged with steering a suddenly debt-laden medical-supply firm through an industry besieged by supply issues.

Investors dont seem too concerned. Septembers offering of more than $14 billion in junk bonds and leveraged loans to finance the deal was met withenthusiasm.The company also raised an additional $2.1 billion of commercial mortgage bonds.

In Medlines favor, the family executivesCEO Charlie, his cousin Andy Mills and their in-law, Jim Abramswill remain in their roles and the family will keep a significant stake. The Mills family is rolling $3.5 billion of their equity into the business, allowing them to retain 21% of Medline, according to bond documents seen by Bloomberg. READ MORE.

TITLE FIGHT PITS 'PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS' AGAINST DOCTORS:Seeking greater respect for their profession, physician assistants are pushing to rebrand themselves as physician associates. Their national group, formally replaced assistant with associate in its name in May, transforming into the American Academy of Physician Associates. The group wants state legislatures and regulatory bodies to legally enshrine the name change in statutes and rules.

Rechristening the P.A. name has spiked the blood pressures of physicians, Kaiser Health News reports.

They complain that some patients will wrongly assume a physician associate is a junior doctor, much as an attorney who has not yet made partner is an associate. The head of the Chicago-based American Medical Associationwarnedthat the change will undoubtedly confuse patients and is clearly an attempt to advance their pursuit toward independent practice. The American Osteopathic Association, also based in Chicago,accusedthe P.A.s and other nonphysician clinicians of trying to obfuscate their credentials through title misappropriation.

But the P.A. group says theres no ulterior motive in altering their name.

Changing the title is really just to address that misperception that we only assist, said Jennifer Orozco, president of the Alexandria Virginia-based P.A. association and an administrator at Rush University Medical Center. It wont change what we do.

ALS THERAPY SHOULD TARGET BRAIN, NORTHWESTERN STUDY SAYS: Flipping the notion that ALS starts in the spine, Northwestern Medicine scientists said in a study published Thursday that the brain is indeed a target for treating ALS, Northwestern said in a statement.

The study in the Nature journal, Gene Therapy, shows the degeneration of brain motor neurons is not merely a byproduct of the spinal motor neuron degeneration, as had been previously thought, the statement said.

We have discovered that the brain degenerates early in diseases like ALS, sends us warning signals and shows defects very early in the disease, lead study author Hande Ozdinler, an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said in the statement. Therefore, we need to repair the brain motor neurons if we want long-term and effective treatment strategies. The brain is important in ALS.

HEALTH CARE EQUITY FIRM FORMS VETERINARY REIT: Chicago-based Thurston Group, a private-equity firm focused on investments in health care service companies, said in a statement its formed a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, dedicated to serving veterinary property owners. For the National Veterinary REIT, Thurston is partnering with real estate investors, AMO Partners, which is experienced in the veterinary business, the statement said.

"Partnering with AMO is the perfect fit for National Veterinary REIT because it lets us replicate our health care REIT success in a very similar, yet underserved space: the veterinary market. We have a proven track record of bringing wealth creation tools to clinicians. AMO's experience and depth of understanding will bring the same opportunities to an entirely new group of caring yet underserved providers," Thurston Group Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Haynes III said in the statement.

Thurston has a similar REIT strategy in the dental arena, where it has over 70 properties in 12 states, the statement said.

GTCR'S CORZA MEDICAL BUYS KATENA PRODUCTS: Chicago-based private-equity firm GTCR said in a statement that its medical device portfolio company Corza Medical has acquired Katena Products, Inc., a medical device company focused on ophthalmic surgery products. The acquisition of Katena expands Corza's portfolio of surgical products and adds significant scale, product breadth and infrastructure to Corza's ophthalmic surgery segment, the statement said. Terms were not disclosed.

CLARUS SELLING SECURITIES IN PRIVATE PLACEMENT: Northbrook-based Clarus Therapeutics Holdings, which develops androgen and metabolic therapies for men and women, said in a statement that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell securities in a private placement with a leading health care investor.

Clarus said it intends to use the net proceeds from gross proceeds of about $15 million, "to support growth initiatives for its near-term commercial objectives for its oral testosterone replacement product, Jatenzo," the statement said.

Pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement, Clarus said it will issue to the investor 3,024,194 units at a price of $4.96 per unit. The securities are being sold in a private placement and have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Clarus said in the statement.

VILLAGEMD ADDS ANOTHER MICHIGAN PRACTICE: Chicago-based VillageMD said in a statement that Envision Medical Group, with 12 locations across three Michigan counties, will begin practicing as Village Medical starting Nov. 17. The practices are located in Metro Detroit. Village Medical also has two practices in Westland, Mich.

JOIN US FOR CRAIN'S HOSPITAL CEO BREAKFAST:Hear how Chicago-area hospitals have been weathering the storm and what's on the horizon at Crain's Hospital CEO Breakfast on Dec. 14.Register now for the in-person event.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Mike Ferson and Michelle Werr have been promoted to the roles of managing director at HealthScape Advisors.

Ferson has extensive experience supporting health plans, systems and physician groups in solving complex strategic and operational challenges. Werr serves as a key advisor to health plans, providers and private-equity firms as they navigate the health care market, particularly in government programs.

Kimberly Bors, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Dover Corporation has been appointed to the American Heart Associations Midwest Board of Directors for a two-year term.

Read the original here:
Crain's Health Pulse is your source for actionable, exclusive and inside news on the health care industry. - Crain's Chicago Business