Research News and Research

RSS

New findings reveal POPG lipid can prevent RSV infection in lungs

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered that a naturally occurring lipid in the lung can prevent RSV infection and inhibit spread of the virus after an infection is established. RSV is the major cause of hospitalization for children in the first two years of life, and is increasingly recognized as a dangerous pathogen in adults with chronic lung diseases, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Currently, there is no effective vaccine for the virus.

22 Dec 2009

LEO Pharma announces positive results for two Phase III AK clinical trials

LEO Pharma today announced positive results for the company’s two Phase III actinic (solar) keratosis (AK) clinical trials using PEP005 (ingenol mebutate) Gel for the treatment of lesions on head treatment areas, which include the face and scalp.

22 Dec 2009

CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System brings new hope to patients with inoperable tumors

The CyberKnife Institute at Mercy Hospital, Miami’s first hospital-based CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System, will bring new hope to patients with inoperable or surgically complex tumors when it opens its doors January of 2010.

22 Dec 2009

Findings may help develop new antiviral drugs for influenza

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), Mount Sinai School of Medicine (Mount Sinai), the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (Salk) and the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) have identified 295 human cell factors that influenza A strains must harness to infect a cell, including the currently circulating swine-origin H1N1.

22 Dec 2009

Women using DMPA experience high BMD loss, researchers say

Nearly half of women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), commonly known as the birth control shot, will experience high bone mineral density (BMD) loss in the hip or lower spine within two years of beginning the contraceptive, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

22 Dec 2009

Task force's role in reform bills draws scrutiny in the wake of mammography guidelines

The Washington Post reports that the "once-obscure federal panel that triggered a firestorm with its new mammography guidelines would get far greater authority under the health-care reform proposals pending in Congress, sparking more debate about its power and independence. Critics of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say that the panel would become a stealth tool for government bureaucrats bent on rationing health care.

21 Dec 2009

KHN column: The Senate bill saves families money

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Jonathan Cohen writes about costs under the Senate health bill. "It's certainly true that, under the terms of the Senate bill, insurance would cost more and cover less than many of us would prefer. But would it really produce little social progress?

21 Dec 2009

Winners, losers examined in Senate health bill tax treatment, insurer regulations

The Associated Press reports on some winners and losers in the Senate health reform bill including cosmetic surgeons who helped defeat a proposed 5 percent tax on their services and a handful of states getting more federal aid to help them afford a proposed Medicaid expansion.

21 Dec 2009

Effectiveness of VSEL stem cells in regenerative medicine demonstrated at the ASH meeting

NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: NBS), which is a leading provider of pre-disease adult stem cell collection, processing and long-term storage services, and holds the exclusive, worldwide license to VSEL(TM) technology that uses very small embryonic-like stem cells isolated from peripheral blood, announced today that five posters and two oral presentations at the prestigious American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans in early December demonstrated the basic cellular mechanisms of very small embryonic-like stem cells.

21 Dec 2009

Senate Democrats win overnight procedural vote; move one step closer to approving health bill by Christmas

The New York Times: "After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Senate Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation's health care system."

21 Dec 2009

CSC completes a Series B financing round

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC), a leading stem cell company, announced that it has completed a Series B financing round with private investors. The financing will enable the company to support the advancement of its therapeutic products to human clinical trials, as well as the generation and distribution of its tools to aid in stem cell research and drug discovery.

21 Dec 2009

Requirement for Americans to get insurance is central to health overhaul

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in partnership with USA Today, writes about the mandate included in pending health reform proposals. "Both the House and Senate health care overhaul bills require most Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty.

21 Dec 2009

Reid's fight to get 60 votes dims Liberals' hopes of compromises in conference committee

Although the liberals and union leaders once hoped that a House-Senate conference committee could undo some of the compromises and move the health overhaul bill more to their liking, the "titanic struggle to lock in Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) as the 60th senator for the first key test vote early Monday morning has changed all that," Politico reports.

21 Dec 2009

Democrats seek to regulate how insurers spend their customers' money

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby explores the following concept advanced in current health overhaul plans. "Both the House measure and the newly recast Senate bill would force insurers to spend the vast majority of premium revenue on medical care for their customers, reducing the amount available for profits, executive salaries, sales and administration.

21 Dec 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

We usually associate presidential leadership with the pursuit of goals that, though initially unpopular, serve America's long-term interests. Obama has reversed this (Robert Samuelson, 12/21).

21 Dec 2009

Response Biomedical receives USPTO Notice of Allowance for its “Sensitive Immunochromatographic Assay”

Response Biomedical Corporation announced that the Company has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a continuation of the patent entitled “Sensitive Immunochromatographic Assay”. This patent covers key aspects of Response Biomedical’s lateral flow immunoassays with the proprietary RAMP® testing platform.

21 Dec 2009

Investigation of IDH1 gene mutations in brain cancer receives new funds

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the emerging field of cancer metabolism, announced today that it has received funding from Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), a non-profit organization that supports brain cancer research. ABC2’s funding will enable new research investigating IDH1 gene mutations in brain cancer, with the goal of supplementing Agios’s ongoing research into the development of new IDH1 therapeutics and diagnostics.

21 Dec 2009

Organogenesis files a PMA with the FDA for its CelTx living cell-based technology

Organogenesis, Inc. announced today that it has filed a Premarket Approval Application (PMA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its CelTx(TM), a living cellular construct for oral soft tissue regeneration. If approved, CelTx will be the first, living cell-based technology that is FDA-approved for use in the dental market.

21 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 21, 2009

From today's headlines, the biggest overnight news is the Senate's vote to move its sweeping health reform bill one step closer to the finish line.

21 Dec 2009

Seattle Genetics and GSK sign ADC collaboration agreement

Seattle Genetics, Inc., announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) under which GSK will pay an upfront fee of $12 million for rights to utilize Seattle Genetics’ antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology with multiple antigens to be named by GSK.

21 Dec 2009

Research News and Research

New findings reveal POPG lipid can prevent RSV infection in lungs

LEO Pharma announces positive results for two Phase III AK clinical trials

CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System brings new hope to patients with inoperable tumors

Findings may help develop new antiviral drugs for influenza

Women using DMPA experience high BMD loss, researchers say

Task force's role in reform bills draws scrutiny in the wake of mammography guidelines

KHN column: The Senate bill saves families money

Winners, losers examined in Senate health bill tax treatment, insurer regulations

Effectiveness of VSEL stem cells in regenerative medicine demonstrated at the ASH meeting

Senate Democrats win overnight procedural vote; move one step closer to approving health bill by Christmas

CSC completes a Series B financing round

Requirement for Americans to get insurance is central to health overhaul

Reid's fight to get 60 votes dims Liberals' hopes of compromises in conference committee

Democrats seek to regulate how insurers spend their customers' money

Today's opinions and editorials

Response Biomedical receives USPTO Notice of Allowance for its “Sensitive Immunochromatographic Assay”

Investigation of IDH1 gene mutations in brain cancer receives new funds

Organogenesis files a PMA with the FDA for its CelTx living cell-based technology

First Edition: December 21, 2009

Seattle Genetics and GSK sign ADC collaboration agreement

A guide to advancing biotherapeutic research eBook

Latest eBooks

Editorial Focus eBook - Spatial and single-cell omics (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Analytical Chemistry (3rd edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Microbiome (1st edition)

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition)

Improving healthcare sustainability through carbon data

A New Approach to Preventing Bladder Cancer Recurrence

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring