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Pennsylvania Department of Health reports four confirmed and six probable cases of H3N2v flu

The Pennsylvania Department of Health today reported four confirmed and six probable human cases of influenza due to a new strain of the flu known as H3N2v.

18 Aug 2012

Climate change poses risks to food supply, may lead to price spike, experts warn

"Downpours and heat waves caused by climate change could disrupt food supplies from the fields to the supermarkets, raising the risk of more price spikes such as this year's leap triggered by drought in the United States," Reuters reports.

18 Aug 2012

FibeBiotics aims to prove benefits of polysaccharides in clinical trials

Staying healthy requires constantly stimulating the immune system. Ingesting non-digestible fibres such as polysaccharides is thought to help. Yet companies including such ingredients in their food products cannot claim that they boost the immune system. At least, not until they have been scientifically tested and proven in clinical trials. Only then, would the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) allow such health claims.

18 Aug 2012

Mylan Pharmaceuticals receives FDA approval for pioglitazone tablets to treat type 2 diabetes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic version of Actos (pioglitazone hydrochloride) tablets. Along with diet and exercise, pioglitazone is used to improve blood glucose control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

18 Aug 2012

Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim receive FDA approval for Tradjenta sNDA to treat type 2 diabetes

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for Tradjenta (linagliptin) tablets for use as add-on therapy to insulin.

18 Aug 2012

Prenatal alcohol exposure effects last well into childhood

Women who heavily expose their unborn child to alcohol risk restricting their child’s growth until the age of 9 years, researchers say.

17 Aug 2012

WFP begins series of air drops to deliver food to refugees in South Sudan

"The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) carried out the first in a series of air drops to replenish rapidly diminishing food stocks for more than 100,000 people in South Sudan who have fled fighting in Sudan," the U.N. News Centre reports.

17 Aug 2012

Nostrum, VCU sign license agreement to develop inhaled dapsone for respiratory diseases

Virginia Commonwealth University and Nostrum Pharmaceuticals, LLC, are pleased to announce the signing of a license agreement for the development of inhaled dapsone for the treatment of respiratory diseases.

17 Aug 2012

Walnuts provide key nutrients that may be essential in male reproductive health

Research published in the recent issue of Biology of Reproduction Papers-in-Press reports that 75 grams (approximately 2.5 ounces) of walnuts consumed per day improved sperm vitality, motility, and morphology (normal forms) in a group of healthy young men between 21-35 years of age.

17 Aug 2012

T. gondii can cause inflammation in the brain

A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually be causing subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts.

17 Aug 2012

PKS-positive E. coli may encourage development of colon cancer

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have identified a type of E. coli bacteria that may encourage the development of colon cancer.

17 Aug 2012

Food preferences influence sleep patterns, metabolic health

The relationship between short sleep duration and the development of metabolic abnormalities may be partly influenced by food preferences, show study findings.

16 Aug 2012

Surgeons perform two TAVR procedures at Toledo Hospital

Minimally invasive surgery is one of the biggest trends in health care as a safer alternative to major surgery. One of the newest procedures, approved this year by the Food and Drug Administration, is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).

16 Aug 2012

U.S. FDA warns of post-surgery codeine deaths in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Drug Safety Communication concerning three children who died and one child who experienced a non-fatal but life-threatening case of respiratory depression after taking the pain reliever codeine following surgery to remove tonsils (tonsillectomy) and/or adenoids (adenoidectomy).

16 Aug 2012

Study tracks effects of heavy PAE on growth and body composition throughout childhood

Although studies of alcohol's effects on fetal growth have consistently demonstrated deficits that persist through infancy, the data on long-term postnatal growth from human studies have been inconsistent. A new study of the effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on growth and body composition throughout childhood has found growth restrictions that persist through to nine years of age, as well as a delay in weight gain during infancy, both of which were exacerbated by iron deficiency.

16 Aug 2012

WFP appeals for $48M in food aid for Malawi; Britain gives $4.7M

"The U.N.'s World Food Programme [WFP] said Tuesday it needs $48 million in food aid for about 11 percent of Malawi's population who will face hunger due to bad crops," Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Aug 2012

Gates looks to develop 'next-generation toilets' for developing world

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on Tuesday "announced the winners of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge -- an effort to develop 'next-generation' toilets that will deliver safe and sustainable sanitation to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don't have it," according to a foundation press release.

16 Aug 2012

Medicago, IDRI receive FDA approval to commence Phase 1 H5N1 vaccine trial

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), announce that they have been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate.

16 Aug 2012

UCLA performs first transcatheter aortic valve replacement using new device

UCLA has performed its first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), using a new device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to replace an aortic valve in a patient who was not a candidate for open-heart surgery. The procedure took place August 9th.

16 Aug 2012

3SBio files APX001 IND application with SFDA in China

Apexigen, Inc., an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics, announced today that its partner, 3SBio [SSRX] of Shenyang, China, filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for APX001, also known as SSS07, with the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China.

16 Aug 2012