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Mice study shows obesity can increase risk of developing liver cancer

Obesity comes with plenty of health risks, but there's one that's perhaps not so well known: an increased risk of developing cancer, and especially certain types of cancer like liver cancer. Now, a group of researchers reporting in the January 22nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have confirmed in mice that obesity does indeed act as a "bona fide tumor promoter." They also have good evidence to explain how that happens.

22 Jan 2010

FDA accepts ACT Biotech's ACTB1003 IND

ACT Biotech Inc., a privately held biotechnology company developing a portfolio of oral kinase inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs, today announced the acceptance of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ACTB1003 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company has now assembled a complete preclinical package, including manufacturing and toxicology studies, allowing ACTB1003 to enter a clinical trial.

22 Jan 2010

Tips to identify signs of eating disorders

It's estimated that one-third of Americans made a New Year's resolution to lose weight this year. Though these dieting individuals may have healthy intentions, they could be putting themselves at risk for an eating disorder, warns Eating Recovery Center (www.eatingrecoverycenter.com), a licensed and Joint Commission accredited behavioral hospital providing comprehensive treatment and sustainable recovery for eating disorders.

22 Jan 2010

Association between vitamin D and risk of colorectal cancer identified

High blood levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of colon cancer, finds a large European study published on bmj.com today. The risk was cut by as much as 40% in people with the highest levels compared with those in the lowest.

22 Jan 2010

Reducing dietary salt can offer significant health benefits

Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon (or three grams) per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year, according to a new study. Such benefits are on par with the benefits from reductions in smoking and could save the United States about $24 billion in healthcare costs, the researchers add.

21 Jan 2010

FDA approves continuous-flow heart-assist device pioneered at Texas Heart Institute at SLEH

The federal Food and Drug Administration today approved a continuous-flow heart-assist device pioneered at the Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (SLEH) for use as a permanent treatment for advanced heart failure.

21 Jan 2010

Scientific/technical review for XIAFLEX' European MAA commences

BioSpecifics Technologies Corp., a biopharmaceutical company developing first in class collagenase-based products, today announced that its partner Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that Pfizer Inc. received notification from the European Medicines Agency that the Marketing and Authorization Application (MAA) for XIAFLEX™ for the treatment of Dupuytren's disease (a debilitating disorder resulting from excessive collagen deposition that causes contractures of the fingers) has completed the validation phase successfully and that the scientific/technical review procedure commenced today.

21 Jan 2010

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries receives FDA tentative approval for generic Femara Tablets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted tentative approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market its generic version of Novartis’ breast cancer treatment Femara® (letrozole) Tablets, 2.5 mg. Final approval of Teva’s Letrozole Tablets is expected upon expiry of patent protection for the brand product in June 2011.

21 Jan 2010

US FDA grants tentative approval for LPI's Memantine HCl tablets

Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (LPI) announced today that it has received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for its Memantine Hydrochloride tablets, 5mg and 10mg.

21 Jan 2010

Reuters examines chronic disease in developing countries, future of drug prices

"Global health projections leave little doubt that chronic diseases are rapidly overtaking infectious diseases, such as malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), as the world's biggest killers - a shift emphasized by a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on global health risks," Reuters writes in a story analyzing the future of drug pricing in the developing world. Longer life-spans in developing countries "and changing patterns of food, alcohol and tobacco consumption are creating a 'double burden' for poor nations, piling chronic diseases on top of infectious diseases," the news service writes.

21 Jan 2010

U.S. Navy hospital ship reaches Haiti

Even before the U.S. Navy's hospital ship, Comfort, anchored off the coast of Haiti on Wednesday, patients who were injured in last week's earthquake were airlifted onto the ship to receive care, the Miami Herald reports (Clark, 1/21). According to the Baltimore Sun, "patients were flown in by the Navy, Coast Guard or Air Force in one of the 30 helicopters available within the ship's range. Plans for a boat-based shuttle were foiled by an earthquake aftershock that flattened the pier the Comfort had expected to use and that jolted the ship as if it had hit ground. Ship officials identified an alternate boat-landing site by midafternoon" (Little, 1/21).

21 Jan 2010

Fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2009 results announced by Somanetics

Somanetics Corporation today reported financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter and year ended November 30, 2009.

21 Jan 2010

Enrollment complete in Vertos Medical's U.S. IRB I "mild" procedure Patient Outcomes Trial

Medical device company Vertos Medical Inc. has announced the completion of enrollment in its post-market U.S. IRB (Institutional Review Board) I Patient Outcomes Trial, a 75-patient study of the mild procedure. The open-label, single-arm, prospective, IRB-approved study is intended to gather patient outcomes data following treatment for symptomatic central canal spinal stenosis using proprietary mild devices. Results from the trial, which is being conducted by 14 investigators at academic and private practice settings across the United States, are expected to be published during 2010.

21 Jan 2010

Abaxis' new CRP assay receives FDA marketing clearance

Abaxis, Inc., a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510K marketing clearance of the new C-Reactive Protein (CRP) assay when used by healthcare professionals in conjunction with the Piccolo Xpress™ point-of-care analyzer.

21 Jan 2010

Results of two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 published

Results of the TRANSFORMS and FREEDOMS studies, the two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 (fingolimod), have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, providing comprehensive evidence to support the efficacy and safety profile of this first-in-class therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS).

21 Jan 2010

BioLife Solutions announces biologic packaging products pre-filled with GMP biopreservation media

BioLife Solutions, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of biopreservation tools for cells, tissues, and organs, and OriGen Biomedical, a leading provider of biologic packaging products for research and clinical blood and cell-based therapies, today announced that the companies will introduce sterile standard and custom biologic packaging products pre-filled with BioLife's serum-free, protein-free HypoThermosol® cell and tissue storage/transport media and CryoStor™ cryopreservation media.

21 Jan 2010

USPTO issues Notice of Allowance for IntelGenx's bupropion patent

IntelGenx Corp. ("IntelGenx") today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has issued a formal Notice of Allowance for a key patent application protecting IntelGenx's CPI-300, a novel, high strength formulation of bupropion hydrochloride ("HCl"), the active ingredient in Wellbutrin XL(R).

21 Jan 2010

Tufts CSDD: Orphan product designations increased up to 425 in 2006-08

The number of orphan product designations in the U.S. more than doubled during the last decade, reflecting growing interest by pharmaceutical and biotech companies in developing products to treat orphan diseases, according to a study recently completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

21 Jan 2010

Canadian Red Cross ships tents to Haiti

As large-scale Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti continue, a shipment of Canadian Red Cross tents arrived in Haiti. These tents are part of a series of expected Canadian Red Cross shipments from around the world and will temporarily shelter 1,500 people.

21 Jan 2010

Interactive debate on low calorie sweeteners in today's changing foodscape

Energy reduction is high on the agenda for many involved in food and health whether from the perspective of public health policy, dietary advice, product formulation and development, or making available food and drinks that people enjoy.

21 Jan 2010