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Researchers discover new drug to control acute and chronic pain

American and Italian researchers have found that a novel drug allows anandamide a marijuana like chemical in the body to effectively control pain at the site of an injury.

21 Sep 2010

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law named regional office for national Public Health Law Network

The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University has been named a regional office for the national Public Health Law Network, which launches today to provide legal and policy solutions to professionals grappling with complex public health challenges such as food safety, health reform and emergency preparedness.

21 Sep 2010

Cook Medical expands Spectrum Turbo-Ject line of antibiotic impregnated PICCs for CRBSIs

Responding to increased demand for technology to help prevent potentially fatal catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs), Cook Medical has expanded its Spectrum Turbo-Ject line of antibiotic impregnated peripherally inserted central venous catheters (PICCs) to treat a wider range of patient needs. For the first time, the clinical benefits of minocycline and rifampin-impregnated PICCs, a critical component in eliminating 250,000 potentially fatal CRBSIs in the U.S. annually, are now available in 3 French single and 6 French triple lumen sizes.

21 Sep 2010

FDA accepts IND application for vaccine candidate based on iBioLaunch technology platform

iBio, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application filed for a vaccine candidate made with the Company's proprietary transformative technology, the iBioLaunch technology platform. The candidate vaccine was manufactured by iBio's research collaborator, Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology (FCMB), in its cGMP pilot manufacturing facility in Newark, Delaware.

21 Sep 2010

U.N. MDG summit begins; UNAIDS data shows 22 African countries see drop in new HIV infections

"Ten years after world leaders set the most ambitious goals ever to tackle global poverty, they are meeting again to try to spur action to meet the targets by the 2015 deadline - which the U.N. says will be difficult, if not impossible, in some cases," the Associated Press reports. More than 140 world leaders are scheduled to participate in the three-day U.N. Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which kicks off Monday.

21 Sep 2010

Regular consumption of watercress can prevent breast cancer: Research

Watercress, the super food, is now watercress the breast cancer preventive according to a study released September 20, 2010 in The British Journal of Nutrition conducted by the Cancer Research Centre at the School of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital in the United Kingdom.

21 Sep 2010

FDA recommends dabigatran etexilate to prevent stroke in AF patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee today voted 9 to 0 in favour of recommending dabigatran etexilate for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

21 Sep 2010

HHS urged not to cover contraception or sterilization in health plans

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should not require coverage of contraception or sterilization in group and individual health plans as part of "preventive" services for women, said representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as HHS continued its deliberations on a final list of required preventive services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

21 Sep 2010

Bariatric surgery rates rise among adolescents

According to recent surveys more and more adolescents need bariatric surgery for morbid obesity. This procedure was earlier reserved only for adults. Researchers say that from 2005 to 2007, the rate of gastric banding has jumped nearly seven-fold among youths aged 13 to 20. The process involves placement of a band around the upper part of the stomach using a laparoscope. The study appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

21 Sep 2010

Financial Times examines U.S. foreign aid reform

The Obama "administration's bold drive to improve the U.S.'s notoriously bureaucratic and dysfunctional foreign aid programme is setting out with highly uncertain chances of success," the Financial Times writes. "Officials acknowledge inadequacies in the traditional U.S. approach. The U.S. programme involves overlapping bureaucracies ... [and] frequently 'ties' U.S. aid to the purchase of American food and other goods and consultancy services," according to the article.

21 Sep 2010

Siemens publishes GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers in GHX Health ConneXion data pool

In an effort to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the healthcare supply chain, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics (Siemens) has published product data including GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for its entire U.S. product line into the GHX Health ConneXion(SM) data pool.

21 Sep 2010

U.N. launches largest humanitarian appeal to aid Pakistan flood relief

The U.N. on Friday launched an appeal for $2 billion in flood relief for Pakistan, Bloomberg reports. The request is the "largest appeal for humanitarian relief ever made by the world body," the news service writes (Varner, 9/17).

21 Sep 2010

FG-4592 oral anemia therapy receives CTA approval from SFDA

FibroGen, Inc., today announced that its investigational oral anemia therapy, FG-4592, received Clinical Trial Application (CTA) approval from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) to commence clinical development for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the People's Republic of China.

21 Sep 2010

FDA Advisory Committee recommends approval of dabigatran etexilate for stroke prevention in AFib patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee today voted 9 to 0 in favor of approving dabigatran etexilate for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). An estimated 2.3 million Americans have AFib and the prevalence is expected to increase 2.5 fold to 5.6 million by 2050, reflecting the growing population of elderly individuals.

21 Sep 2010

FDA approves Medtronic's Integrity Coronary Stent System

Delivering another innovation for interventional cardiology, Medtronic, Inc.,announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Integrity Coronary Stent System. The new platform for Medtronic's coronary stents, including the Integrity bare-metal stent, is based on an advance in biomedical engineering called continuous sinusoid technology that enables the exploration of other breakthrough device concepts such as a polymer free drug filled stent.

21 Sep 2010

AstraZeneca urges to increase funds for FDA fiscal year 2012 budget

AstraZeneca urged the Obama Administration to increase funding for the Food and Drug Administration's fiscal year 2012 budget by 20 percent to help the agency effectively manage a growing list of complex public health responsibilities.

21 Sep 2010

Elias Shaker to sell Generex's novel consumer products

Generex Biotechnology Corporation, the leader in drug delivery for metabolic diseases through the inner lining of the mouth, today announced that it has entered into a sales agreement with Elias Shaker & Company, a leading national full-service consumer product brokerage firm, to represent Generex's novel consumer products to national and regional retail and wholesale accounts in the USA.

20 Sep 2010

New body-contouring laser causes fat loss

Stephanie Martinez had one of the most universal desires - to shed a few stubborn inches from her waist, hips and thighs - without harsh diets, needles or other surgical interventions that require staying at home and taking time off from work.

20 Sep 2010

Celldex commences CDX-011 Phase 2b trial in advanced breast cancer patients expressing GPNMB

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the first patient has been treated in a randomized Phase 2b study of the Company's CDX-011 (glembatumumab vedotin) antibody drug conjugate in glycoprotein NMB (GPNMB) expressing advanced, refractory breast cancer patients. CDX-011 targets the protein GPNMB, which is over expressed in a variety of cancers including breast cancer, melanoma, and brain tumors.

20 Sep 2010

Boston Scientific announces acquisition of Asthmatx

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement, under which Boston Scientific will acquire Asthmatx, Inc., a privately held company in Sunnyvale, California. Asthmatx designs, manufactures and markets a less-invasive, catheter-based bronchial thermoplasty procedure for the treatment of severe persistent asthma in the 6 to 8 million patients 18 years and older worldwide whose asthma is not well controlled with drugs (inhaled medications).

20 Sep 2010