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New approach can design antibiotics that kill even 'superbugs'

The world needs new antibiotics to overcome the ever increasing resistance of disease-causing bacteria - but it doesn't need the side effect that comes with some of the most powerful ones now available: hearing loss. Today, researchers report they have developed a new approach to designing antibiotics that kill even "superbugs" but spare the delicate sensory cells of the inner ear.

12 Jun 2012

First Edition: June 12, 2012

Today's headlines include news about the pressure health costs are placing on state budgets.

12 Jun 2012

Normal p53 gene makes breast cancer chemotherapy with doxorubicin less effective

Presence of normal p53, a tumor suppressor gene, instead of a mutated version, makes breast cancer chemotherapy with doxorubicin less effective. The preclinical study led by MD Anderson scientists was published today in the journal Cancer Cell.

12 Jun 2012

New data on individuals with natural ability to fight off AIDS

"Scientists on Sunday said they had found a key piece in the puzzle as to why a tiny minority of individuals infected with HIV have a natural ability to fight off the deadly AIDS virus," Agence France-Presse reports.

12 Jun 2012

Researchers find pathway for origin and growth of the most common form of brain and spinal cord tumor – meningioma

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered one of the most important cellular mechanisms driving the growth and progression of meningioma, the most common form of brain and spinal cord tumor.

12 Jun 2012

DNDi, Astellas partner on new drug discovery research for treatment of NTDs

Astellas Pharma Inc. and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced an agreement today to collaborate on drug discovery research for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness - three neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) which together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide.

12 Jun 2012

Medicaid: Managed care contracts, copay proposals make state news

State Medicaid programs -- including both managed care contracts and new copay proposals -- are making news in Ohio, California, Florida and Arizona.

12 Jun 2012

Thiazolidinedione drugs linked with increased risk of DME in patients with Type 2 diabetes

Treatment with glucose-lowering thiazolidinedione drugs in patients with Type 2 diabetes appears to be associated with an increased risk of diabetic macular edema (a complication that may affect vision) at 1-year and 10-year follow-up evaluations, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

12 Jun 2012

Chagas disease – ‘the AIDS of the Americas’

A recent editorial published in the Public Library of Science's Neglected Tropical Diseases called Chagas disease, a parasite which kills about 20,000 people a year, "the AIDS of the Americas." The disease can be transferred to a child from its mother or by blood transfusions. About 20 percent of those infected can develop life-threatening illness that includes enlarged hearts or intestines, and the drugs used today to treat the disease can take months to work.

12 Jun 2012

China amends intellectual property laws to allow for issuance of compulsory licenses

"China has overhauled parts of its intellectual property laws to allow its drug makers to make cheap copies of medicines still under patent protection in an initiative likely to unnerve foreign pharmaceutical companies," Reuters reports.

12 Jun 2012

Agence France-Presse reports on efforts to eradicate sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa

Agence France-Presse reports on Human African trypanosomiasis, "commonly known as sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies found in 36 sub-Saharan African countries," writing, "Without treatment in four months to a year, 'the parasite penetrates into the brain, causing serious neurological symptoms, until death,' said Doctor Benedict Blaynay, head of neglected tropical diseases at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi."

12 Jun 2012

Study shows how infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous

One of the biggest risk factors for liver, colon or stomach cancer is chronic inflammation of those organs, often caused by viral or bacterial infections. A new study from MIT offers the most comprehensive look yet at how such infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous.

12 Jun 2012

New set of computer models predicts negative side effects in current drugs

A new set of computer models has successfully predicted negative side effects in hundreds of current drugs, based on the similarity between their chemical structures and those molecules known to cause side effects, according to a paper appearing online this week in the journal Nature.

12 Jun 2012

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases important targets for development of new drugs against major diseases

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, are working to develop substances that can prevent parasites, bacteria and fungi from producing essential proteins, research that could, in the long term, lead to new drugs for several major diseases.

12 Jun 2012

Researchers demonstrate effectiveness of a potential new therapy for stroke patients

Researchers at the University of Missouri have demonstrated the effectiveness of a potential new therapy for stroke patients in an article published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. Created to target a specific enzyme known to affect important brain functions, the new compound being studied at MU is designed to stop the spread of brain bleeds and protect brain cells from further damage in the crucial hours after a stroke.

12 Jun 2012

Hepatitis C more prevalent among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles

Recent government studies show that hepatitis C, which can destroy the liver and necessitate a liver transplant, now kills more American adults than AIDS, and new UCLA research shows just how prevalent the disease is among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles.

12 Jun 2012

Study shows how ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows how light and strained ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells and less toxic to healthy cells than a similar and widely used drug.

12 Jun 2012

Individuals on statins more likely to experience fatigue with exertion

In a study of more than 1,000 adults, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are more likely than non-users to experience decreased energy, fatigue upon exertion, or both. The researchers suggest that these findings should be taken into account by doctors when weighing risk versus benefit in prescribing statins.

12 Jun 2012

MVP receives European patent for PEG conjugates of interferon-beta-1b to treat MS

Mountain View Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced its receipt of European Patent No. 1 667 708 B1, titled "Polyethylene Glycol Conjugates of Interferon-beta-1b with Enhanced in vitro Biological Potency."

12 Jun 2012

Rheumatoid arthritis infection risk predicted by RABBIT

The RABBIT risk score can predict the likelihood of serious infection in rheumatoid arthritis patients using tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, research confirms.

11 Jun 2012

Drugs News and Research

New approach can design antibiotics that kill even 'superbugs'

First Edition: June 12, 2012

Normal p53 gene makes breast cancer chemotherapy with doxorubicin less effective

New data on individuals with natural ability to fight off AIDS

Researchers find pathway for origin and growth of the most common form of brain and spinal cord tumor – meningioma

DNDi, Astellas partner on new drug discovery research for treatment of NTDs

Medicaid: Managed care contracts, copay proposals make state news

Thiazolidinedione drugs linked with increased risk of DME in patients with Type 2 diabetes

Chagas disease – ‘the AIDS of the Americas’

China amends intellectual property laws to allow for issuance of compulsory licenses

Agence France-Presse reports on efforts to eradicate sleeping sickness in sub-Saharan Africa

Study shows how infections provoke tissues into becoming cancerous

New set of computer models predicts negative side effects in current drugs

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases important targets for development of new drugs against major diseases

Researchers demonstrate effectiveness of a potential new therapy for stroke patients

Hepatitis C more prevalent among homeless adults in downtown Los Angeles

Study shows how ruthenium-based drugs may be more effective at fighting cancer cells

Individuals on statins more likely to experience fatigue with exertion

MVP receives European patent for PEG conjugates of interferon-beta-1b to treat MS

Rheumatoid arthritis infection risk predicted by RABBIT

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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