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BBSRC allocates £250M for strategic investment programmes

Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, will today announce substantial funding that will ensure the UK's bioscience research base remains globally competitive and at the forefront of meeting the grand challenges faced by society in the coming decades. The announcement will be made by the Minister during a visit to the Babraham Research Campus, near Cambridge, and highlighted again during a major speech at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

25 May 2012

Senate inches closer to passage of FDA reauthorization bill

The Senate struck a deal to vote Thursday afternoon on 17 amendments before moving onto final passage of the bill to reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration's user fee programs.

25 May 2012

5 questions about the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

In this article on the Feed the Future initiative's webpage, Tjada McKenna, deputy coordinator for development for Feed the Future, and Jonathan Shrier, acting special representative for global food security and deputy coordinator for diplomacy for Feed the Future, ask and answer five questions about the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched last week by the Obama Administration.

25 May 2012

Research group to present plan to improve nutrition security at Rio+20 summit

Ahead of the Rio+20 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, "CGIAR, the world's largest publicly funded research body, has published a seven-point 'call to action' plan," which "calls for an improved commitment to deliver nutrition security and lessen the need to aid," BBC News reports.

25 May 2012

FDA advisory committee votes in favor of Pfizer's tafamidis meglumine

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee voted on Pfizer's clinical data package for tafamidis meglumine.

25 May 2012

British Prime Minister Cameron to hold food security summit during Olympic games in London

"The U.K. will hold an international food security summit during the Olympic games in London this summer, British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced in a statement to the House of Commons," AlertNet reports.

25 May 2012

Auxilium, FCB I file suit against Watson over generic Testim

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market Testosterone Gel, 1%. Watson's 1% testosterone gel product is a generic version of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Testim 1%.

25 May 2012

U.S. military says too many enlistees are overweight; Americans find doing taxes easier than eating right

The military is seeking fitter members, saying overweight recruits could be a threat to national security. Meanwhile, a new survey says Americans find it easier to do their taxes than figure out healthy food options.

25 May 2012

Insmed initiates patient screening for ARIKACE phase 2 NTM lung disease trial

Insmed Incorporated, a biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has begun screening patients for its U.S. phase 2 clinical trial, Treatment with ARIKACE to Realize Greater Efficacy Trial (TARGET-NTM), of ARIKACE (liposomal amikacin for inhalation) in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung disease.

24 May 2012

USP announces two new standards related to elemental impurities

As part of its ongoing efforts to help ensure the quality of medicines, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has announced two new standards related to elemental impurities: General Chapters <232> Elemental Impurities-Limits and <233> Elemental Impurities-Procedures. The new standards provide procedures for the detection of selected impurities in drug products based on modern analytical methods, as well as acceptable limits for their presence based on toxicity data and exposure levels.

24 May 2012

Strategies, views on the health law's future vary depending on politics

Congressional Republicans continue to appear divided over what their strategy should be if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the health law. More immediately, though, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is targeting the measure's device tax as part of the Senate's consideration of a bill that would reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration user fees.

24 May 2012

Calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attack

Calcium supplements might increase the risk of having a heart attack, and should be “taken with caution,” concludes research published in the online issue of the journal Heart.

24 May 2012

New DHA and ARA source suitable for supplementation of infant formulas

Scientists are reporting development of a healthy "designer fat" that, when added to infant formula, provides a key nutrient that premature babies need in high quantities, but isn't available in large enough amounts in their mothers' milk.

24 May 2012

Nevro to initiate Senza HF-SCS System study for chronic pain

Nevro Corp., a medical device company focused on achieving improved pain relief for patients suffering from debilitating chronic pain, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for initiation of its SENZA-RCT study, a U.S. prospective, randomized, controlled pivotal clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Nevro's high-frequency spinal cord stimulation system for the treatment of chronic pain.

24 May 2012

Study uncovers new obesity genetic markers that may predict dietary intake

Blame it on your genes? Researchers from The Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center say individuals with variations in certain "obesity genes" tend to eat more meals and snacks, consume more calories per day and often choose the same types of high fat, sugary foods.

24 May 2012

Bayer submits regorafenib NDA with FDA for treatment of mCRC

Bayer HealthCare announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for the oral multi-kinase inhibitor regorafenib for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

24 May 2012

Study: Phthalates from PVC flooring materials is taken up by our bodies

A new study at Karlstad University in Sweden shows that phthalates from PVC flooring materials is taken up by our bodies. Phthalates are substances suspected to cause asthma and allergies, as well as other chronic diseases in children. The study shows that children can ingest these softening agents with food but also by breathing and through the skin.

24 May 2012

MTI develops SureTouch Wireless system for breast cancer screening

Medical Tactile, Inc. (MTI), with the support of The Pre-Mammogram Foundation and Qualcomm Incorporated, today announced that they have developed a pre-commercial SureTouch Wireless system that uses 3G-enabled tactile sensor technology for breast cancer screening.

23 May 2012

Scientists may be step closer to developing new therapy for AML

Scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center may be one step closer to developing a new therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after discovering that the targeted agents obatoclax and sorafenib kill leukemia cells much more effectively when combined than when the drugs are administered individually.

23 May 2012

Severe hypersensitivity reactions to anti-HIV drug occur through autoimmune mechanism

Potentially severe hypersensitivity reactions to the anti-HIV drug abacavir occur through an autoimmune mechanism, resulting from the creation of drug-induced immunogens that are attacked by the body's immune system, according to a study published online by the journal AIDS, official journal of the International AIDS Society.

23 May 2012