Therapeutics News and Research

RSS

Specialists work to overcome Huntington's disease

The Huntington's Disease Society of America (HDSA) recognizes the Huntington's Disease Clinic and Research Group at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as one of only 17 national Huntington's Disease Centers of Excellence.

25 May 2004

Speakers will predict the future of where the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment is going in the next ten years

Nexxus, the West of Scotland Bioscience Network will hold the second event of the Horizons in Biomedicine Series today at 6.30pm at the Glasgow Science Centre.

25 May 2004

Combination drug therapies targeting brain region that controls addiction significantly reduces cocaine use in primates

Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University are the first to demonstrate a combination of drug therapies targeting the region of the brain that controls drug abuse and addiction significantly reduces cocaine use in nonhuman primates.

24 May 2004

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics awards $21 million to Vertex

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has announced that it has expanded its drug discovery and development collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

24 May 2004

An antibiotic, Tigecycline produces 74 percent cure rate in cSSSI patients

An antibiotic, currently being tested in clinical trials, produced a 74 percent cure rate for hospitalized patients with possibly life-threatening, complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI).

23 May 2004

Protein that appears to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease

A protein that allows human cancer to resist multiple anticancer drugs also appears to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease, according to research conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Center. The protein, active in brain tissue, could be a target for new drugs to treat patients with Alzheimer's.

20 May 2004

Cell division can be halted in multiple ways, with implications for cancer

Brown University researchers have found that there are multiple independent ways to stop cell division, a phenomenon that prevents the spread of genetic mutation, which can make cells cancerous. Results of this research, along with an accompanying editorial, were published in the current issue of the journal Molecular Cell.

20 May 2004

Benitec acquires Avocel to focus on rapid development of hepatitis C therapeutics

Benitec Ltd. today announced the acquisition of Avocel, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA, a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the establishment of its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Benitec, Inc. Through the acquisition, Benitec gains its first in-house advanced therapeutic development program using DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) to target the Hepatitis C virus.

18 May 2004

Genetically engineered viruses may create new class of cancer therapies

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

15 May 2004

FDA approves software that determines drug dosages of insulin

The FDA has approved a software suite developed by Dimensional Dosing Systems, Inc. for determining optimum drug dosages of insulin and many other drugs as well as combinations of drugs.

14 May 2004

Biochip technology to revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry

Advancements in biotechnology have culminated in its integration with semiconductor technologies such as micro-electromechanical systems, resulting in the evolution of biochips. Biochips provide pharma companies with sophisticated tools for speedy development of drugs and accurate diagnosis and understanding of biological mechanisms.

13 May 2004

Ingenium's acquisition of US patents may lead to drug discovery and development

Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG has acquired outright US patents no. 5,994,075 and no. 6,015,670 from Incyte Corporation, the company announced today.

12 May 2004

System Biosciences launches siRNA expression libraries to target 8,500 human genes

The siRNA libraries contain 7,500 and 43,800 siRNA template sequences that target 1,500 and 8,500 well-characterized human genes, respectively.

6 May 2004

New hope for advances in treatment methods for AIDS, Alzheimer's and age-related blindness

Pharmaceutical science leaders from the FDA, research institutions and top pharmaceutical companies will gather at the 2004 AAPS National Biotechnology Conference, AAPS' spring annual meeting.

4 May 2004

Australian company receives FDA orphan drug designation for product to treat malignant melanomas

Progen Industries Limited, an Australian anti-cancer drug development company, announced today that it has received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their lead anti-angiogenesis product PI-88 for treatment of malignant melanoma.

3 May 2004

Immunization back on agenda as whooping cough increases

Immunization for pertussis, also known as whooping cough, began in the mid-1940s and resulted in a sharp decline of this serious illness over the next 25 years. Over the last two decades, however, as immunity has waned, pertussis has re-emerged in the United States, with the greatest increase seen in adolescents, adults and young infants.

1 May 2004

Carbohydrate-binding proteins are becoming extremely useful in curing various illnesses

Researchers are beginning to see the potential for breakthrough in healthcare through glycomics, which studies carbohydrates, proteins and their interactions. In fact, these carbohydrates are moving beyond their regular roles as sugar storage bins.

28 Apr 2004

AGT Biosciences Limited and ChemGenex Therapeutics today announced merger agreement

AGT Biosciences Limited of Melbourne, Australia and privately held ChemGenex Therapeutics, Inc. of Menlo Park, California, today announced that they have signed a merger agreement. The cross-border merger creates a new, genomics-driven pharmaceutical company with leading edge capabilities for drug discovery and development, as well as two drug candidates in Phase II human trials for cancer.

28 Apr 2004

Inspire announces positive results in cystic fibrosis study

Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced top-line results in a Phase II study of INS37217 Respiratory in patients with mild cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease.

27 Apr 2004

Spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids) and Yale University School of Medicine have found that a compound in the spice turmeric corrects the cystic fibrosis defect in mice. This research is reported in the April 23, 2004 issue of the journal Science.

24 Apr 2004