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Gilead enters agreement for Pharmasset acquisition

Gilead Sciences, Inc. and Pharmasset, Inc. announced today that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Gilead will acquire Pharmasset for $137 per share in cash.

21 Nov 2011

Study examines how mice with genetic bone defects respond to infusions of BMMSC

A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration.

21 Nov 2011

Severity of smoke-inhalation injury may play a role in overall pulmonary inflammatory response

A study of burn patients has found that those who suffered the most severe smoke inhalation also had more inflammation and spent more time on ventilators and in intensive care.

17 Nov 2011

EPO-secreting engineered vessels could reverse anemia

Patients who rely on recombinant, protein-based drugs must often endure frequent injections, often several times a week, or intravenous therapy. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrate the possibility that blood vessels, made from genetically engineered cells, could secrete the drug on demand directly into the bloodstream.

15 Nov 2011

Genzyme's alemtuzumab Phase lll trial on MS meets co-primary endpoints

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, reports today that the Phase lll CARE-MS ll trial met both of its co-primary endpoints. Relapse rate and sustained accumulation (worsening) of disability (SAD) were significantly reduced in multiple sclerosis patients receiving alemtuzumab as compared with Rebif.

14 Nov 2011

Viagra may improve antitumor immunity in people with melanoma

At first it sounds like good news: The body's own immune system gets active in almost every cancer - however, not necessarily for the benefit of the patient. "We distinguish between two different types of immune response," says Professor Dr. Viktor Umansky, immunologist at DKFZ and University Medical Center Mannheim. "On the one hand, cells of the immune system specifically attack tumor cells.

9 Nov 2011

Tibotec to present results of TMC435 phase 2b study on HCV at AASLD 2011

Tibotec Pharmaceuticals (Tibotec), one of the Janssen (Janssen) Pharmaceutical Companies, today will present results of the final analysis of PILLAR, a phase 2b study of the investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor TMC435 in treatment-naïve patients with chronic genotype 1 HCV, as part of a late-breaker oral presentation at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco, CA, USA.

7 Nov 2011

Vertex announces positive interim data from INCIVEK Phase 2 combination trial on HIV, HCV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced positive interim results from an ongoing Phase 2 study designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of INCIVEK (telaprevir) tablets in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin in people who are co-infected with chronic genotype 1 hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus.

7 Nov 2011

IFNa-kinoid shows promise against lupus

The first study to show results using active immunotherapy against the signaling protein interferon alpha in the treatment of lupus will be presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

New data from Santaris Pharma miravirsen Phase 2a trial on HCV

Santaris Pharma A/S, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies, presents new data from the Phase 2a trial showing that miravirsen given as a four-week monotherapy treatment provided robust dose-dependent anti-viral activity with a mean reduction of 2 to 3 logs from baseline in HCV RNA (log10 IU/mL) that was maintained for more than four weeks beyond the end of therapy.

6 Nov 2011

Study: Birth cohort screening for HCV is cost effective in primary care setting

According to a new study being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, birth cohort screening for hepatitis C is cost effective in the primary care setting.

5 Nov 2011

Inhibitex third quarter revenue increases to $1.3 million

Inhibitex, Inc. today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011 and provided an update on several recent corporate developments, including top-line safety and antiviral data from the first cohort in its ongoing clinical trial designed to evaluate higher doses of INX-189, an oral nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, being developed to treat chronic infections caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), administered as monotherapy or in combination with ribavirin for seven days.

4 Nov 2011

Final results from Medivir's TMC435 phase IIb study on genotype-1 hepatitis C

Medivir AB, a research-based speciality pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases, today announces final results from the ASPIRE study.

3 Nov 2011

Ocrelizumab drug holds promise for multiple sclerosis

An experimental drug called Ocrelizumab has shown promise in a Phase 2 clinical trial involving 220 people with multiple sclerosis (MS), an often debilitating, chronic autoimmune disease that affects an increasing number of people in North America.

2 Nov 2011

Scientists identify genetic mutation that causes rare childhood disease

An international collaboration of scientists, including researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, has identified a genetic mutation that causes a rare childhood disease characterized predominantly by inflammation and fat loss.

1 Nov 2011

Pharmasset initiates PSI-7977 Phase 3 program for HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. today announced the initiation of a Phase 3 program with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) nucleotide analog, PSI-7977. This pivotal program will evaluate a 12-week, all-oral, interferon-free regimen of PSI-7977 and ribavirin in patients with HCV, independent of viral genotype or their ability to take interferon therapy.

1 Nov 2011

Studies on effectiveness of new HCV therapies presented at 76th ACG meeting

Studies reporting on the effectiveness of new therapies for chronic Hepatitis C virus are among the clinical science presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, where investigators also presented findings from an age-based risk assessment and screening intervention for Hepatitis C among Baby Boomers, patients aged 50-65, who saw a gastroenterologist for routine colon cancer screening.

1 Nov 2011

Biogen Idec third quarter revenues increase 11% to $1.3 billion

Biogen Idec Inc., a global biotechnology leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies, today announced its third quarter 2011 results.

28 Oct 2011

Intracellular nucleic acid sensors can trigger autoimmune disease

Bruce Beutler, MD, a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Medicine, has coauthored an article describing a novel molecular mechanism that can cause the body to attack itself and trigger an autoimmune disease.

28 Oct 2011

Insight into role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases

Cytokines, a varied group of signaling chemicals in the body, have been described as the software that runs the immune system, but when that software malfunctions, dysregulation of the immune system can result in debilitating autoimmune diseases such as lupus, arthritis, and diabetes. Leading experts in the field of cytokine research present their most up-to-date findings and unique perspectives on the role of cytokines in autoimmune diseases in a special issue of Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

28 Oct 2011