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First study to elucidate how statins reduce activation of abnormal blood clotting

People with high cholesterol are at risk of heart attack and stroke because atherosclerotic plaques within their arteries can rupture triggering the formation of a blood clot called an occlusive thrombus that cuts off the blood supply to their heart or brain.

5 Jan 2012

Positive preliminary results from Alnylam's Phase I ALN-PCS trial on severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the achievement of positive preliminary results from its ongoing clinical trial of ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting PCSK9 for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

5 Jan 2012

Rilonacept appears safe and well-tolerated in patients with gout

A phase II clinical trial found that rilonacept, an inhibitor of the protein interleukin-1 (IL-1), significantly reduced acute gout flares that occur when initiating uric acid-lowering therapy. Results of the trial—the first placebo-controlled study investigating IL-1 targeted therapy in prevention of gout flares—show rilonacept to be generally well tolerated with no serious infections or treatment-related serious adverse events reported.

5 Jan 2012

Veloxis commences LCP-Tacro Phase IIIb study in kidney transplant patients

Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S today announced dosing of the first patient in the STRATO (Switching kidney TRAnsplant patients with Tremor to LCP-tacrO) Phase IIIb study of LCP-Tacro in kidney transplant recipients experiencing drug-induced tremors.

4 Jan 2012

FDA grants orphan designation for AMT's hemophilia gene therapy program

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics, a leader in the field of human gene therapy, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to its gene therapy program for the treatment of hemophilia B.

4 Jan 2012

First Edition: January 4, 2012

In today's headlines, Romney wins a historically close contest in Iowa caucuses and Wall Street Journal readers favor televising the Supreme Court arguments regarding the health law.

4 Jan 2012

IQWiG examines added benefit of pirfenidone for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Pirfenidone inhibits the development of inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) in pulmonary tissue and has been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) since the beginning of 2011.

4 Jan 2012

PEDF may suppress brain from tumor-induced damage, metastasis

Scientists are one step closer to repairing the damage caused by brain metastasis, a major challenge in cancer treatment, according to data published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

4 Jan 2012

Study reveals possibility to selectively target and block crucial microRNA in liver cancer

A new study shows that it is possible to selectively target and block a particular microRNA that is important in liver cancer. The findings might offer a new therapy for this malignancy, which kills an estimated 549,000 people worldwide annually.

4 Jan 2012

Bariatric surgery may reduce cardiovascular deaths and events in obese patients

Among obese individuals, having bariatric surgery was associated with a reduced long-term incidence of cardiovascular deaths and events such as heart attack and stroke, according to a study in the January 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jan 2012

Researchers discover culprit that leads from heart failure to diabetes

Either heart failure or diabetes alone is bad enough, but oftentimes the two conditions seem to go together. Now, researchers reporting in the January Cell Metabolism appear to have found the culprit that leads from heart failure to diabetes and perhaps a novel way to break that metabolic vicious cycle.

4 Jan 2012

MTR technique indicates that COPAXONE therapy results in tissue repair in RRMS patients

Researchers utilizing an advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to characterize and chart the evolution of MS lesions found that relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with COPAXONE (glatiramer acetate injection) experienced significantly increased magnetization transfer ratio.

4 Jan 2012

Losartan may help prevent smoking-related COPD

Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a commonly prescribed blood pressure medicine, losartan (Cozaar), to prevent almost all of the lung damage caused from two months of exposure to cigarette smoke. The treatment specifically targeted lung tissue breakdown, airway wall thickening, inflammation and lung over-expansion.

4 Jan 2012

BSD expands sales programs for MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System

BSD Medical Corporation, a leading provider of medical systems that utilize heat therapy to treat cancer, announced today that the Company is approaching 100 patients successfully treated with the MicroThermX Microwave Ablation System at hospitals throughout the U.S.

4 Jan 2012

Antigen Express to move AE37 cancer vaccine into larger clinical trials

Generex Biotechnology Corporation today provided an update to the clinical development & regulatory strategy for its cancer vaccine, AE37.

4 Jan 2012

Bedside clinical tools can detect acute spatial neglect after stroke

Researchers at Kessler Foundation and Seton Hall University report findings in the early diagnosis of acute spatial neglect, a hidden disability that is a common complication of stroke. In the weeks after stroke, 30-50% of stroke survivors cannot reliably report or respond to external events that take place in the space opposite the side of their brain injury.

4 Jan 2012

Quantitative CT can offer valuable prognostic information for COPD patients

National Jewish Health researchers and their colleagues in the COPDGene research consortium report that a computerized form of radiology, known as quantitative CT, can offer valuable prognostic information for patients and doctors beyond the standard breathing tests most commonly used to evaluate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

4 Jan 2012

Lundbeck announces availability of ONFI Tablets in the U.S.

Lundbeck announced today that ONFI Tablets are now available for prescribing in the United States. The FDA recently approved ONFI for adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in patients two years and older.

4 Jan 2012

Low T Center for testosterone replacement therapy opens new clinic in Denver

Low T Center is opening a new clinic at 12213 North Pecos, Westminster, Co., a suburb of Denver on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. This men's oriented clinic will provide testosterone replacement therapy in the form of testosterone injections for men around the ages of 40-60 years old.

4 Jan 2012

FDA approves CSL Behring's Berinert for treatment of HAE attacks

CSL Behring today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label expansion for self-administration of Berinert, C1 Esterase Inhibitor (Human), a pasteurized, nanofiltered therapy indicated for the treatment of acute attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare and potentially fatal genetic disorder.

4 Jan 2012