Autoimmune Disease News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

USPTO grants four key patents for Alvine's proteases to detect celiac disease

Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of autoimmune and gastrointestinal diseases, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued four key patents: 7,943,312; 7,928,056; 7,923,532; and 7,910,541, protecting various aspects of Alvine's core technology.

19 May 2011

Amylin, JDRF collaborate to investigate combination therapy for type 1 diabetes treatment

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration agreement to provide financial support for a series of clinical studies to investigate the feasibility of mixing pramlintide, an analog of the human hormone amylin, with insulin to treat type 1 diabetes.

11 May 2011

Journal of Rheumatology publishes positive results from Cimzia Phase III trial in RA

UCB announced today results from a post hoc analysis of the RAPID 1 study published in the Journal of Rheumatology. The results suggest moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with Cimzia, the only approved PEGylated anti-TNF, together with methotrexate, achieved a rapid response associated with improved long-term outcomes one year after treatment began.

11 May 2011

Nexvax2- coeliac disease vaccine shows promising results in Phase I clinical trial

The world's first potential vaccine for coeliac disease has shown promising results for treating coeliac disease in a Phase I clinical trial and is expected to move to Phase II trials within the next year.

10 May 2011

Season-of-birth factors can cause celiac disease in Massachusetts children

Celiac disease is more common among Massachusetts children born in the spring or summer, and this higher incidence could be related to the intersection of key seasonal and environmental factors, according to researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.

9 May 2011

Lupus Foundation of America introduces new Web site

To coincide with Lupus Awareness Month this May, the Lupus Foundation of America is launching a new Web site, Lupus Voices Across America™, that will allow people with lupus and their supporters to share their lupus stories.

3 May 2011

FDA accepts SGEN's brentuximab vedotin BLAs for Hodgkin lymphoma, ALCL treatment

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing two Biologics License Applications for brentuximab vedotin, including one for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and one for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

2 May 2011

Journal Blood publishes MacroGenics' DART antibody technology preclinical data

MacroGenics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company that develops immunotherapeutics to treat autoimmune disorders, cancer and infectious diseases, today announced the publication in the journal Blood of preclinical data demonstrating potent inhibition of B-cell lymphoma through redirected T lymphocyte-mediated killing, using its bispecific DART antibody technology.

29 Apr 2011

Study explores link between alexithymia and auto-immune disease

This paper, which explores the link between the inability to express emotions and an auto-immune disease, failed to find any statistical significant associations.

29 Apr 2011

Top-line results from Pfizer's tofacitinib Phase 3 studies in RA

Pfizer Inc. announced today top-line results from the ORAL Standard and ORAL Step Phase 3 studies of tofacitinib, an investigational, novel, oral JAK inhibitor.

29 Apr 2011

Study finds gender difference in immune responses to PTSD

Men and women had starkly different immune system responses to chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, with men showing no response and women showing a strong response, in two studies by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

27 Apr 2011

Researchers discover molecular mechanisms behind autoimmunity

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine have discovered that human proteins with an affinity for Dermatan Sulfate have the propensity to become autoantigens. In a companion article, the researchers also found that DS physically interacts with dead cells and that the resulting DS-autoantigen complexes drive autoreactive B-1a cell responses and autoantibody production both in-vitro and in mouse models.

26 Apr 2011

Signaling pathway reveals mechanism for B cell differentiation in immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells. The finding establishes a role for the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in B cell differentiation, a key step toward the development of B cell-targeted drugs for treatment of autoimmune diseases and allergies.

25 Apr 2011

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals and Nano Terra announce worldwide licensing agreement

Kadmon Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Nano Terra, Inc., today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Kadmon has been granted a perpetual, worldwide exclusive license to three novel, clinical-stage product candidates owned by Nano Terra as well as rights to Nano Terra’s drug discovery platform, Pharmacomer™ Technology. The product candidates and technology platform will be transferred to a newly formed joint venture, NT Life Sciences (“NT Life”), co-owned by Kadmon and Nano Terra, which will act as the licensor and recipient of any licensing or royalty fees subject to the agreement. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

25 Apr 2011

Valuable insight into immune response

An article in Science Signaling by researchers at the RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology has clarified for the first time the mechanism governing differentiation of B cells into antibody-producing plasma cells.

22 Apr 2011

Research sheds new light on pathogenesis of diabetes

New research identifies a distinctive population of immune cells that may play a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetes.

22 Apr 2011

LMP1 viral protein needs TRAF6 cellular protein to promote B cell activation signaling pathways: Study

By identifying a surprising association of two intracellular proteins, University of Iowa researchers have laid the groundwork for the development of new therapies to treat B cell lymphomas and autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2011

Chronic inflammation due to infection may lead to cancer

A new study shows how inflammation can help cause cancer. Chronic inflammation due to infection or to conditions such as chronic inflammatory bowel disease is associated with up to 25 percent of all cancers.

20 Apr 2011

Breakdown products of thalidomide cause birth defects: New study

Thalidomide may have been withdrawn in the early 1960s for use by pregnant women, but its dramatic effects remain memorable half a century later. Now, researchers have taken a major step toward understanding exactly how thalidomide causes the birth defects.

20 Apr 2011

FDA approves Rituxan-corticosteroid combination for Wegener's Granulomatosis and Microscopic Polyangiitis

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group and Biogen Idec announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rituxan® (rituximab), in combination with corticosteroids, as a new medicine for adults with Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG) and Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA).

20 Apr 2011