NewsWatch

Chindex said it plans to spend the proceeds on developing new hospitals in China.

Also this week, the company reported revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 23.3 percent to $32.7 million from $26.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Profits were $1.6 million, up 86.3 percent from $879,000 a year ago.

Johnson & Johnson gives $350K to help companies

Health care products giant Johnson & Johnson is awarding $350,000 to help develop emerging technologies by three Maryland companies through a partnership with the Maryland Technology Development Corp.

*Neuronascent Inc. of Clarksville received $100,000 to support its goal of producing neuron-repairing molecules for Alzheimer‘s disease, depression and other nerve degenerative conditions, in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

*20⁄20 Gene Systems Inc. of Rockville received $150,000 to help develop, with the National Institutes of Health, new protein-based diagnostics for early disease detection.

*Biomedica Management Corp. of Baltimore received $100,000 for its research and development of products to treat inflammation, coagulation and tissue regeneration in cooperation with the Army Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Detrick in Frederick.

Seegene to marketmulti-STD test

Seegene Inc. of Rockville is introducing a single test for most common causes of some sexually transmitted diseases for the cost of a single pathogen test. The test is available from Seegene in South Korea and could be available in this country as early as next month, said Jong-Yoon Chun, founder and CEO.

From one sample, the test simultaneously detects strains of chlamydia and gonorrhea, plus 14 types of human papillomaviruses that are considered a high risk to lead to cervical cancer.

The U.S. market potential for the test is about $1.5 billion, Chun said.

Report shows economic indicators mixed

The latest report by the Center for American Progress of Washington, D.C., shows that a number of indicators suggest the economy is performing better than expected, but is still relatively weak.

For example, the report cites that wage growth is low, but that factoring in inflation, hourly wages were 3.1 percent higher and weekly wages were 2.2 percent higher in September than in March 2001.

The report also said, however, that worker benefits are disappearing. The share of private-sector workers with a pension dropped from 50.3 percent in 2000 to 43.2 percent in 2006, the last year for which data are available, and the share of people with employer-provided health insurance dropped from 64.2 to 59.7 percent.

In addition, weak job growth continues, with the report showing that from October 2006 to last month, the average monthly job growth was 139,700, compared with 199,500 in the preceding 12 months.