Sequencing and Analysis of the Hydra Genome
Chapman, Kirkness et al., Nature
An international research collaboration reports their sequencing and analysis of the Hydra magnipapillata genome, and compare it to the genomes of several other organisms. "The Hydra genome has been shaped by bursts of transposable element expansion, horizontal gene transfer, trans-splicing, and simplification of gene structure and gene content that parallel simplification of the Hydra life cycle," the authors write. They team suggests that comparisons of the Hydra genome to the reported sequences of other animals have helped them to elucidate the evolution of several of the organism's characteristics.
Health Reform May Force LabCorp, Quest to Make Big Acquisitions in 2010, Analyst Says
September 16, 2009
An investment bank analyst who this morning downgraded LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics’ stock said the national health-care reform ripening on Capitol Hill could force the labs to cut prices and shed profits beginning next year.
Credit Suisse analyst Ralph Giacobe also said impending cuts in Medicare payment rates — a widely expected component of the reform — and “potentially weaker prices from health insurers” will contribute to the pressure the labs will face to cut their fees, according to the Associated Press.
He also said slowing profit growth could push the labs to make a “large international acquisition in the next year or 18 months.”
As I reported this morning, Giacobe downgraded the companies’ shares to Neutral from Outperform. In late-afternoon trading, shares in LabCorp were down 3.67 percent at $65.91 and Quest was off 1.37 percent at $52.51.
Giacobe’s prediction grew longer legs this afternoon after a revised, or marked-up, version of the Senate’s health-care bill retained the myopic proposal to force clinical labs to pay $750 million in cumulative new annual taxes.
The proposal, by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, can be seen here. A description of the new clinical lab fees begins on page 221.
