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First Edition: June 11, 2013

Today's headlines include coverage of the Obama administration's decision to drop the fight to keep age restrictions in place for Plan B emergency contraceptive pill sales.

11 Jun 2013

Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging receives 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award

A Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging, Dean F. Wong, M.D., Ph.D., has been honored with the prestigious 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award for his contributions over the past 30 years in applying basic science to the field of nuclear medicine.

11 Jun 2013

Brain circuits involved in compulsive behavior reveal a surprising connection with obesity

What started as an experiment to probe brain circuits involved in compulsive behavior has revealed a surprising connection with obesity.

11 Jun 2013

Drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate antibiotic resistance

Bacteria in the gut that are under attack by antibiotics have allies no one had anticipated, a team of Wyss Institute scientists has found. Gut viruses that usually commandeer the bacteria, it turns out, enable them to survive the antibiotic onslaught, most likely by handing them genes that help them withstand the drug.

11 Jun 2013

Novel approach to pain therapy paves way for lower dosage painkillers

For patients managing cancer and other chronic health issues, painkillers such as morphine and Vicodin are often essential for pain relief. The body's natural tendency to develop tolerance to these medications, however, often requires patients to take higher doses - increasing risks of harmful side effects and dependency.

11 Jun 2013

New approach for reducing drug abuse

Critics of the "war on drugs" point to the limited success of current strategies for reducing drug abuse and argue that a new approach is needed. Such an approach may now be on the horizon within the covers of a new book by New York Times best-selling author David Sheff. Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy was published in April 2013 and is quickly gaining attention. The book confronts the traditional views on addiction and highlights scientific approaches that work.

11 Jun 2013

State roundup: Calif. inches to budget deal; Iowa's Medicaid abortions may need gov. OK

The U.S. Supreme Court says women in America can terminate a pregnancy and that every citizen has an individual right to own a firearm, but those rulings have done little to settle political arguments over abortion and guns. The result is an uneven medley of state laws, which means that just how you can exercise those constitutional rights depends on where you live, and the differences often turn on whether a state is run by Democrats or Republicans (Barrow, 6/8).

11 Jun 2013

Viewpoints: Selling Obamacare in Arizona; 'Hassle-free' marketplace; Seeking the 'grand bargain'

You may not admit it, but you are a fan of Obamacare and Gov. Jan Brewer knows it. The Republicans who run the Arizona legislature don't like Obamacare. And the Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives don't like it. But you do. You may deny it. You may not even know it. But you do. And that will help the governor get her Medicaid expansion plan through the legislature (EJ Montini, 6/6).

11 Jun 2013

European Commission grants orphan drug designation for maribavir for treatment of CMV disease

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced that the European Commission has granted orphan drug designation for maribavir for treatment of cytomegaloviral disease in patients with impaired cell mediated immunity.

11 Jun 2013

Data points to potential role of immunosuppression in protecting organs from inflammation after injury

In the largest study of its kind, physicians from the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center have determined that outcomes for traumatic injury in patients with organ transplants are not worse than for non-transplanted patients, despite common presumptions among physicians.

11 Jun 2013

Chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors have quality-of-life issues

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have determined that chronic myeloid leukemia patients who are treated with a class of oral chemotherapy drugs known as a tyrosine kinase inhibitors have significant side effects and quality-of-life issues that need to be addressed. Some of these issues include depression, fatigue, nausea and change of appearance.

11 Jun 2013

Grassley continues focus on Medicare decision trading probe

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, says that hundreds of people had access to information about a Medicare decision before it was announced, which triggered a spike in Wall Street trading. Also on Capitol Hill, compounding pharmacies are lobbying against pending legislation and a draft proposal on Medicare's 'doc fix' draws criticism.

11 Jun 2013

Study: Nearly 40% of designated drivers consume alcohol that could impair their driving

They may volunteer to be the one to get their friends home safely, but "designated drivers" often drink-even to a level that impairs them behind the wheel, according to a report in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

10 Jun 2013

Researchers move closer to specific therapy to treat triple receptor-negative breast cancer

The search for a specific therapy to treat a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer has moved a step forward thanks to new research carried out by the University of Essex.

10 Jun 2013

African medicinal plants contain chemicals that may help stop spread of cancer cells

African medicinal plants contain chemicals that may be able to stop the spread of cancer cells. This is the conclusion of researchers following laboratory experiments conducted at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).

10 Jun 2013

BioLineRx signs out-licensing agreement with CTTQ to develop, commercialize Hepatitis C drug

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has signed an out-licensing agreement with Jiangsu Chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the leading Chinese pharmaceutical company in the liver disease therapeutic area, for the development and commercialization of BL-8030, an orally available treatment for the Hepatitis C virus.

10 Jun 2013

NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

NanoViricides, Inc. announced today that it has filed an Orphan Drug application with the Office of Orphan Product Development of the US FDA for DengueCide, its drug candidate for the treatment of dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever.

10 Jun 2013

Common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning, new report suggests

An interesting new report of animal research published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning that is important clinically.

10 Jun 2013

Whitehead Institute researchers identify drug target for anemia

Researchers at Whitehead Institute have identified a protein that is the target of glucocorticoids, the drugs that are used to increase red blood cell production in patients with certain types of anemia, including those resulting from trauma, sepsis, malaria, kidney dialysis, and chemotherapy.

10 Jun 2013

Prominent Republican leaves immigration overhaul talks over immigrant health care

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Raul Labrador says he disagreed with others in the talks about health provisions for immigrants who are here illegally now but would gain legal status under the bill. Also, CMS announces that it cannot stop sequestration cuts to Medicare's reimbursement for cancer drugs.

10 Jun 2013

Drugs News and Research

First Edition: June 11, 2013

Johns Hopkins expert in brain imaging receives 2013 Paul C. Aebersold Award

Brain circuits involved in compulsive behavior reveal a surprising connection with obesity

Drug targeting of phages could offer a potential new path to mitigate antibiotic resistance

Novel approach to pain therapy paves way for lower dosage painkillers

New approach for reducing drug abuse

State roundup: Calif. inches to budget deal; Iowa's Medicaid abortions may need gov. OK

Viewpoints: Selling Obamacare in Arizona; 'Hassle-free' marketplace; Seeking the 'grand bargain'

European Commission grants orphan drug designation for maribavir for treatment of CMV disease

Data points to potential role of immunosuppression in protecting organs from inflammation after injury

Chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors have quality-of-life issues

Grassley continues focus on Medicare decision trading probe

Study: Nearly 40% of designated drivers consume alcohol that could impair their driving

Researchers move closer to specific therapy to treat triple receptor-negative breast cancer

African medicinal plants contain chemicals that may help stop spread of cancer cells

BioLineRx signs out-licensing agreement with CTTQ to develop, commercialize Hepatitis C drug

NanoViricides files Orphan Drug application with FDA for DengueCide

Common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning, new report suggests

Whitehead Institute researchers identify drug target for anemia

Prominent Republican leaves immigration overhaul talks over immigrant health care

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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