Shares of BioMimetic Therapeutics (Ticker: BMTI) are up more than 3 percent in Thursday morning trading after the Franklin-based company said it has launched a clinical trial to test its treatment for lateral epicondylitis, better know as tennis elbow. BioMimetic is now up about 6 percent since Wright Medical said it would buy the company in mid-November.

The team at Sarah Cannon Research Institute are among those launching clinical trials for a promising new treatment that targets cells that start cancer tumors. The product is being developed by California-based OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, which is partnering with GlaxoSmithKline.

Investors really like what they saw and heard from BioMimetic Therapeutics Thursday, when the company reported that its Augment Injectable Bone Graft treatment performed well in recent trials. After popping more than 11 percent yesterday, the stock (Ticker: BMTI) is up another 15 percent this morning. Volume already is almost 10 times the daily average.

Biotechnology company BioMimetic Therapeutics (Ticker: BMTI) got a big bump in its stock price Thursday just before the release of positive results of a successful Canadian clinical trial of its Augment Injectable Bone Graft treatment. Dr. Timothy Daniels, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Toronto and St. Michael's Hospital, presented the results of the trial at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society annual meeting.

"I have been impressed with the improved handling and delivery characteristics of Augment Injectable compared to other available bone graft alternatives currently being used. Should Augment Injectable receive Health Canada approval, I believe it will be widely used by surgeons who are interested in sparing patients the additional pain and potential risks associated with traditional autograft bone harvest. Further, given the injectable nature of the material and improved handling characteristics, Augment Injectable may expand the indications for bone grafting."

Shares jumped more than 16 percent in yesterday's regular trading session to close at $3.15 and climbed another 5 percent after hours. That has the stock at its highest level since October.

Vanderbilt Heart announced today that it will participate in the U.S. clinical trial for Medtronic's CoreValve System, a new non-surgical alternative to open-heart surgery for patients with severe aortic stenosis.

The system is designed for patients with symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis — a heart problem caused by an abnormal narrowing of the heart's aortic valve — who are at high risk or ineligible for open-heart surgery. From today's announcement:

The new valve replacement procedure channels a catheter (thin tube) with an artificial valve through the femoral artery in the groin to reach the heart. The CoreValve System is designed with self-expandable technology, deploying the new valve inside the diseased aortic valve without open-heart surgery or surgical removal of the patient’s original valve.

“While traditional open aortic valve replacement will still have a major role in most low- and moderate-risk patients, trans-catheter valve therapy will probably be preferable in high-risk patients,” said David Zhao, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Catheterization Lab and Interventional Cardiology.

The Medtronic CoreValve U.S. Clinical Trial will enroll more than 1,200 patients at 40 U.S. clinical sites, including Vanderbilt. Zhao and John G. Byrne, M.D., the William S. Stoney Professor and chairman of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, are the co-principal investigators.

"Shorter infusion time of injectable analgesics and antipyretics could hasten onset of action," said Leo Pavliv, Cumberland's Senior Vice President of Operations and lead author of the study. "Speeding delivery of IV ibuprofen prior to and following a surgical procedure provides more convenient dosing to accomplish preemptive analgesia and post-operative, opioid-sparing pain control as well as anti-inflammatory effects – all of which help treat pain at its source."

“This is a key development milestone for BioMimetic, as this trial represents the first use of our rhPDGF-BB platform technology directed at improving the healing of tendons and ligaments in humans,” said Dr. Samuel Lynch, president and CEO of BioMimetic Therapeutics. “Over 450,000 people have rotator cuff tears surgically repaired in the U.S. every year, and it has been reported that up to half of these patients could experience retears or incomplete healing. Currently, there are no approved recombinant therapies for facilitating the repair of tendons after injury. Based on our preclinical studies, we believe Augment Rotator Cuff has the potential to speed healing, thus shortening recovery and facilitating faster return to sport and other activity and making reinjury less likely.”