Along with the investment, HTC will form a strategic partnership with Beats to begin integrating Beats technology into its entire line of products.

The partnership is likely part of HTC’s effort to boost its brand awareness in the U.S. While it has a strong manufacturing business, HTC isn’t as well-known as a consumer brand compared to competitors like Samsung and Motorola.

Consumers can expect to see the first HTC product with Beats integrated technology before the end of 2011, according to the company.

The HTC partnership with Beats is exclusive on all smartphones, according to the company. Beats already has a deal with Hewlett Packard to integrate its technology within HP PCs and the HP TouchPad tablet.

The Skype service will be delivered through HDTVs through a Comcast adapter box (meaning anyone without an HD set is out of luck) and will require a high-quality video camera as well as custom remote control that enables texting capabilities, according to Comcast.

Subscribers will be able to use full screen video calling and instant messaging from Skype. However, voice calls to and from outside phone numbers won’t be included in the integration, since those options would compete against Comcast’s telephone services.

While Comcast didn’t mention how much the Skype integration services would cost customers, the company is likely to see a boost in revenue through additional subscription costs.

For Skype, which was recently acquired by Microsoft, the partnership with Comcast gives it an advantage over other video calling services, including Apple’s Facetime.

Comcast said it expects to begin testing the integrated Skype services for some of its 23 million internet subscribers in the next few months.

• Amira Pharma strikes GSK partnership on lung, heart drugs worth up to $425M (release)
• Wolters Kluwer Health takes stake in Logical Images (release)
• Gentiva Health acquires Home Health Care Affiliates for $55M (release)
• Compuware buys Hilgraeve to upgrade healthcare IT (release)
• Touchstone Health appoints Michael Muchnicki CEO (release)
• Australia’s Xenome names Ian Nesbit as CEO (release)

Amira Pharma strikes GSK partnership on lung, heart drugs worth up to $425M – Amira Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego biotech focused on drugs for lung and heart problems, struck a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline potentially worth $425 million in upfront and milestone payments.

Amira is developing anti-inflammatory drugs based on its understanding of immune-system elements called eicosanoids. These fatty molecules are produced by white blood cells when foreign threats are perceived, triggering several different types of inflammation, which can damage healthy tissue when it’s prolonged by allergies or autoimmune disease.

Diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atherosclerosis, arthritis and psoriasis are often the result. Amira aims to defuse the underlying inflammation caused by eicosanoids by inhibiting “upstream” molecules that are necessary for their production.

The company’s two lead candidates have entered early stage, phase I human tests. One compound targets asthma; Amira hasn’t identified which diseases the second drug is being tested in.

Under the partnership, GSK will have rights to develop and commercialize all of Amira’s compounds in its current development program, which are technically known as FLAP inhibitors (FLAP standing for 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein). In return, Amira will receive an undisclosed upfront payment, milestones related to development and potential tiered royalty payments.

Wolters Kluwer Health takes stake in Logical Images – Logical Images, a Rochester, N.Y., developer of medical image-analysis tools, sold a minority equity stake to Wolters Kluwer Health, a healthcare-information company in Conshohocken, Pa. The companies didn’t announce terms of the deal.

Logical Images makes visual healthcare tools for physicians and patients. Its products include VisualDx, a diagnostic tool designed to help physicians identify some 900 visually identifiable diseases, and VisualDxHealth, which does roughly the same thing for interested consumers. The companies said they intend to integrate VisualDx with Wolters’ product Clin-eguide, a “decision support” tool for physicians.