Fresenius Kabi and Kit Check entered into an agreement under which Fresenius Kabi +RFID™ medications will be read by the Kit Check inventory management solution. The collaboration signals both companies’ commitment to medication safety and quality patient care across the health care continuum.

“Our partnership with Kit Check will allow hospital pharmacists to have increased visibility into how +RFID medications are being used within their institutions, which will enable them to create a safer, more efficient environment for patients and providers,” said John Ducker, president and CEO of Fresenius Kabi USA. “Fresenius Kabi is committed to supporting such care environments and we are excited to work with another company that shares these values and is working toward a streamlined pharmaceutical supply chain.”

Kit Check’s medication management solutions enable hospital pharmacists to easily track drugs throughout their facilities and removes the workload associated with expired drugs and recalls. The company is a leader in the radio-frequency identification (RFID) space and currently holds 90 percent of the unit-dose RFID market in U.S. hospitals. By increasing medication visibility across the drug supply chain and providing downstream visibility for hospital pharmacies, Kit Check’s solutions help ensure that the right drug is in the right place at the right time. To read the entire press release, click here.

The 142-room Homewood Suites by Hilton is planned for the northeast corner of Oakton Street and Niles Avenue. The hotel is set to include 30,000 square feet of retail space on its ground floor and rooftop and about 10,000 square feet of banquet and event space.

Corporation Counsel Michael Lorge said the project will be a positive addition to the under-construction 8000 North development about 1,000 feet to the west on Oakton Avenue.

“The addition of a hotel to the downtown area is an important and a commanding addition to the economic development already going on in downtown Skokie, and it provides great resources for the surrounding corridor,” Lorge said ahead of the project’s approval at the Dec. 7 village board meeting. “It is also an important addition to the Illinois Science and Technology Park, which needs hotel accommodations for its tenants.” For more information, click here.

In the five years since the Paris Climate agreement, there is an increased sense of urgency in how we treat carbon and how quickly we can begin to move the needle on climate change. During a year when good news stories were hard to come by, LanzaTech is sharing some notable milestones from the first commercial plant in China. In November, the Shougang commercial carbon recycling facility reached 150 days of full capacity continuous operation, a significant achievement for a first of a kind technology at scale.

The Skokie, Illinois based team at LanzaTech have been tracking the plant’s progress with an onsite and virtual carbon clock, where on Dec 2, they watched as the carbon counter ticked over 100,000 tons of CO2 abated.

As part of the celebrations, LanzaTech reached out to local Skokie brewery, Sketchbook Brewing to see if the gas fermentation milestones could be translated into more traditional fermentation and used as the inspiration for a celebration beer. For more on LanzaTech and Sketchbook, click here.

This year, look for more partnering between academic labs and CROs, and how the life sciences field can promote vaccines.

Thinking more strategically about preserving translational research. this is the time for universities engaged in drug discovery and translational research to reset their thinking and look to establish strategic partnerships with contract research organizations, which do have well-established business continuity plans, can pick up repetitive jobs and rote tasks, and preserve precious models. In fact, this new partnering paradigm is taking hold a bit. Look this year and beyond for academic centers to begin pursuing these kinds of outside partnerships as they think more strategically about how to preserve their translational research.  To read this entire posting, click here.