Hepatology News and Research

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Hepatology is the branch of medicine that incorporates study of liver, gallbladder, biliary tree and pancreas as well as management of their disorders.

Combination therapies inhibiting P7 could prevent spread of HCV

British researchers have identified specific resistance mutations for two classes of p7 inhibitor, which may explain their lack of effectiveness in clinical trials combined with current standard of care.

29 Jun 2011

Flamel, Digna Biotech enter joint development agreement for multiple products

Flamel Technologies SA and Digna Biotech SL today announced that the two companies have entered into a joint development agreement for the pre-clinical and clinical development of multiple products.

27 Jun 2011

Telaprevir drug shows promise in curing hepatitis C infection

The drug telaprevir (Incivek) provides a dramatic improvement in the treatment of the most common form of hepatitis C infection, says an international team of investigators led by Dr. Ira M. Jacobson of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

23 Jun 2011

Alios, Vertex sign worldwide license agreement to develop new hepatitis C combination medicines

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Alios BioPharma, Inc. today announced an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement that will add two distinct nucleotide analogues to Vertex's hepatitis C portfolio.

13 Jun 2011

AGA honors outstanding high school students with 2011 research fellowship awards

The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Research Foundation has announced the 2011 Student Research Fellowship Award recipients. Funded by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the awards are intended to stimulate interest in research careers in digestive diseases.

10 Jun 2011

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated liver disease after liver transplantation

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated liver disease continues to be the most common indication for liver transplantation (LT) in the United States accounting for nearly 50% of all liver transplants. Recurrence is universal in patients viremic at the time of transplantation with histological hepatitis developing in the majority of patients. Although the natural history of recurrent HCV is difficult to predict, it is widely accepted that cirrhosis from recurrent HCV occurs in up to 30% of patients within five years of transplantation.

8 Jun 2011

GW researchers demonstrate Mta1 gene's role in survival of schistosomes

By using mice lacking a crucial gene that controls the process of chromatin remodeling of cytokines including those responsible for inflammation and comparing them to normal wild type mice with the gene, researchers at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences have shown that the gene, Mta1, is essential for the parasite Schistosoma haematobium to establish a productive infection and survival in the host.

4 Jun 2011

Elastography and serum markers show promise in patients with liver disease

Patients who are evaluated for liver diseases such as hepatitis C (HCV) are typically recommended for liver biopsy to determine the extent of disease progression.

3 Jun 2011

Noninvasive diagnostics may offer alternative to liver biopsy for assessing liver fibrosis

Patients who are evaluated for liver diseases such as hepatitis C (HCV) are typically recommended for liver biopsy to determine the extent of disease progression. For patients who question whether less invasive testing is available, clinicians now have alternatives options to consider. Elastography and serum markers are two such diagnostic options reviewed in an editorial published in the June issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

2 Jun 2011

Two new hepatitis C drugs effectively improve cure rates of African Americans

Two new drugs just approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat hepatitis C genotype 1 significantly improved the cure rates of patients. One of the drugs was extremely effective in treating African Americans.

27 May 2011

Scarcity of resources calls for equitable distribution system for novel HCV treatment

For many patients with the hepatitis C virus, direct antiviral agents (DAA) offer a potential cure for the disease. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved two new DAAs, telaprevir and boceprevir, and with that clinicians must now decide who should be the first to receive this treatment.

25 May 2011

Probiotic bacterial protein could offer new oral therapeutic option for inflammatory bowel disorders

A protein isolated from beneficial bacteria found in yogurt and dairy products could offer a new, oral therapeutic option for inflammatory bowel disorders, suggests a study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researcher Fang Yan, M.D., Ph.D.

24 May 2011

Vertex receives FDA approval for INCIVEK to treat hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved INCIVEK™ (telaprevir) tablets for a broad group of people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C with compensated liver disease (some level of damage to the liver but the liver still functions), including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver).

23 May 2011

Positive pirfenidone data in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis to be presented at ATS conference

InterMune, Inc. today announced that an oral presentation and a poster presentation related to the company's development program for pirfenidone in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis will be presented at the 2011 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society, being held in Denver May 13-18, 2011.

16 May 2011

The Lancet publishes two pirfenidone Phase 3 trial results in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

InterMune, Inc. today announced the publication of results from two Phase 3 trials demonstrating that treatment with pirfenidone, a novel antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory drug, was associated with favorable effects on lung function, 6-minute walk test distance and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

16 May 2011

Doctors miss blood clots costing millions to the NHS: Report

According to to figures from the NHS Litigation Authority, the NHS has paid out over £112m since 2005 in compensation because doctors have failed to spot or prevent fatal blood clots.

12 May 2011

Irritable Bowel Syndrome linked to bacterial overgrowth, food poisoning

Cedars-Sinai researchers have reported two advances in the understanding of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the most common gastrointestinal disorder in the United States, affecting an estimated 30 million people.

12 May 2011

Majority of urban NYC women with hepatitis B do not receive education, subsequent care

According to new research at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, high rates of chronic hepatitis B infection are found in pregnant minority and immigrant women in the New York City area, and most of them do not receive education, appropriate follow-up testing or referral, which is considered the standard of care for all persons newly identified as HBV carriers.

11 May 2011

UNC researchers present latest advances in GI, medicine and technology at DDW 2011

Digestive Disease Week is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

10 May 2011

Boston Scientific launches Expect Endoscopic Ultrasound Aspiration Needle

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the U.S. and international launch of its Expect™ Endoscopic Ultrasound Aspiration Needle, used for acquiring tissue samples for diagnosing and staging malignancies in organs adjacent to the gastrointestinal tract. The Expect Needle received FDA clearance and CE Mark approval earlier this year and is being marketed in the U.S., Europe and other international markets.

9 May 2011