> The FDA has conditionally approved the addition of a second treatment group to Edwards Lifesciences' ($EW) PARTNER II trial, which is studying the company's next-generation Edwards SAPIEN XT transcatheter heart valve. Edwards release
> Medtronic ($MDT) has received the CE Mark for its CoreValve system to be delivered using direct aortic access. CoreValve is the only transcatheter aortic valve implantation system approved for direct aortic and subclavian implantation, according to the company. It is not yet available for sale in the U.S. Medtronic statement
> The FDA has given its ok to Mela Sciences' ($MELA) PMA for MelaFind, a non-invasive tool used for early melanoma detection. The company's shares shot up 13% to $6.10 in premarket trade as its chief executive said the clearance as "the most important achievement" in the firm's history. News
> Hologic ($HOLX) has tapped Vertex Pharmaceuticals' senior VP of corporate strategy and business development to its expanded board of directors. Story
> The National Acquisition Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a Federal Supply Schedule contract to Oxford Diagnostic Laboratories for T-SPOT.TB testing. This contract will be effective from Nov. 1, 2011 through Oct. 31, 2016. Oxford release
And Finally... Roughly 200,000 dogs in the U.S. blow out their ACL's each year. Now, a Benkelman, NE, prosthetist has expanded his company that he developed to fit and fabricate custom prostheses and orthotics for humans to offer braces for dogs. Item