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CSL Behring commences enrollment in SCIg PATH trial for CIDP

CSL Behring has announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the PATH study, an international clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of two different doses of subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg), compared with placebo, in maintenance treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

26 Mar 2012

FDA approves Teva's QNASL nasal aerosol corticosteroid

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved QNASL Nasal Aerosol, a new, "dry" nasal aerosol corticosteroid that treats seasonal nasal and year-round nasal allergy symptoms in adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older.

26 Mar 2012

Stem cells from own bone marrow improve heart function

A research network led by a Mayo Clinic physician found that stem cells derived from heart failure patients' own bone marrow and injected into their hearts improved the function of the left ventricle, the heart's pumping chamber. Researchers also found that certain types of the stem cells were associated with the largest improvement and warrant further study.

26 Mar 2012

Percutaneous cryoablation freezes and destroys breast cancer tumors

Individuals fighting metastatic breast cancer, where the disease has progressed to other areas of the body, may finally have another weapon in their arsenal: percutaneous cryoablation.

26 Mar 2012

Promising results from Esperion ETC-1002 Phase 2 clinical trial for dyslipidemia

Esperion Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company working to discover, develop and commercialize treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced positive results from a Phase 2 clinical trial for ETC-1002.

26 Mar 2012

PCI may be an excellent option for STEMI patients 90 years and older

Selected patients 90 years and older who experience an acute heart attack, or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), have reasonable outcomes with coronary stenting, and should be considered for reperfusion therapy, based on a scientific poster being presented at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session.

26 Mar 2012

Switch may release fuel and materials for rapid growth and formation of layers that later become organs

Shortly after a mouse embryo starts to form, some of its stem cells undergo a dramatic metabolic shift to enter the next stage of development, Seattle researchers report today. These stem cells start using and producing energy like cancer cells.

26 Mar 2012

Results from Merck's vorapaxar study on cardiovascular events

Researchers today presented and published results from the TRA-2P (Thrombin-Receptor Antagonist in Secondary Prevention of Atherothrombotic Ischemic Events) TIMI 50 study of vorapaxar, Merck's investigational anti-thrombotic medicine, in patients with a prior history of cardiovascular events or disease.

26 Mar 2012

Minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI is safe in patients with MS

Researchers who investigated the connection between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (a reported condition characterized as a blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain and spinal cord and returns it to the heart) and multiple sclerosis indicate that a minimally invasive endovascular treatment for CCSVI, is safe and may produce "significant," short-term improvement in physical- and mental health-related quality of life in individuals with MS.

26 Mar 2012

Largest study to date to look at BMC therapy in patients with heart failure

Use of a patient's bone marrow cells for treating chronic ischemic heart failure did not result in improvement on most measures of heart function, according to a study appearing in JAMA. The study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific sessions.

26 Mar 2012

Routine counseling on fertility preservation needed for young women with cancer

A new study has found that very few young women with cancer take steps to preserve their fertility while undergoing cancer therapy. Also, certain groups of young women are more likely to do so than others. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that efforts are needed to provide counseling on fertility preservation in reproductive-aged women diagnosed with cancer.

26 Mar 2012

Endovascular aneurysm repair associated with lower mortality rates

A burst aneurysm in the abdominal aorta-the largest blood vessel in the body- is a deadly condition. In fact, about half of these patients don't make it to the hospital in time. Those who do more often than not face open surgery to repair the blood vessel. This study finds that a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment for ruptured aneurysms called endovascular aneurysm repair is safer than open surgical repair and is associated with lower mortality rates, say researchers Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

26 Mar 2012

Additional help does not improve success rates for smokers trying to quit

A major research trial to test whether extra support for smokers calling an NHS quitline - on top of what is already offered by the service - has found the additional help does not improve success rates for quitting the habit.

26 Mar 2012

Mutational profiling could determine which AML patients will benefit from dose-intensive chemotherapy

An international group of researchers, including those from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have published a paper in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reviewing the results of a study that analyzed mutations in 18 genes of 398 patients who had acute myeloid leukemia.

26 Mar 2012

Social rejection, internalized shame may contribute to depression in lung cancer patients

Studying the role of social stigma in depression for lung cancer patients, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found that depression can be heightened by a lung cancer patient's sense of social rejection, internalized shame and social isolation. These factors may contribute to depression at rates higher than experienced by patients with other kinds of cancer.

26 Mar 2012

Bacteriophages can tackle drug-resistant bacterial infections

Viruses that can target and destroy bacteria have the potential to be an effective strategy for tackling hard-to-treat bacterial infections. The development of such novel therapies is being accelerated in response to growing antibiotic resistance, says Dr David Harper at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Dublin.

26 Mar 2012

New embolization procedure may bring hope to men with enlarged prostate

A new interventional radiology treatment, prostatic artery embolization, may bring hope to men with debilitating symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate, say the group of researchers who pioneered its use.

26 Mar 2012

Diabetics less likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrest

Patients with high blood sugar run an increased risk of dying if they have a heart attack, and diabetics are less likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrest than non-diabetics, reveals research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

26 Mar 2012

Medtronic announces results from two Symplicity system trials on treatment-resistant hypertension

Medtronic, Inc., announced that the Symplicity renal denervation system provides safe, significant and sustained blood pressure reduction up to three years in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension, according to data from two clinical trials presented at the 2012 American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting.

From Medtronic 26 Mar 2012

Positive results from Amgen's AMG 145 Phase 1b study on patients with LDL-C

Amgen announced today positive results from a Phase 1b clinical study of AMG 145, an investigational PCSK9 inhibitor, in patients with high cholesterol who were taking statins. The study demonstrated that multiple doses of AMG 145 significantly reduced serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), also known as "bad" cholesterol, by up to 81 percent versus placebo (maximum reduction) in subjects on low to moderate doses of statins/

26 Mar 2012