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Arabidopsis thaliana helps scientists to solve puzzles in human health

A tiny plant called Arabidopsis thaliana just helped scientists unearth new clues about the daily cycles of many organisms, including humans. This is the latest in a long line of research, much of it supported by the National Institutes of Health, that uses plants to solve puzzles in human health.

14 Jul 2011

Cumulus cells can provide information about genetic and chromosomal status of eggs

At present, when a woman undergoes preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in a fertility clinic, doctors are trying to select an egg or an embryo that is healthy and doesn't have a chromosome abnormality such as an extra copy of chromosome 21, which causes Down's syndrome. In order to establish this, they either have to biopsy a part of the egg called the polar body or remove a cell from the embryo for screening. Both procedures are expensive, invasive and can damage the egg or embryo.

6 Jul 2011

TCGA examines ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tumors from 500 patients

An analysis of genomic changes in ovarian cancer has provided the most comprehensive and integrated view of cancer genes for any cancer type to date. Ovarian serous adenocarcinoma tumors from 500 patients were examined by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network and analyses are reported in the June 30, 2011, issue of Nature.

30 Jun 2011

New 3D herpes infection model brings hope

Herpes infections on the lips, in the eyes or on the nose are painful, long-lasting and unpleasant. A new 3D herpes infection model brings hope: active ingredients and new treatments can be reliably tested with this model. Animal tests could soon be a thing of the past.

27 Jun 2011

Pharmasset receives U.S. patent titled 'Nucleoside Phosphoramidate Prodrugs'

Pharmasset, Inc. announces that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. patent 7,964,580 titled "Nucleoside Phosphoramidate Prodrugs".

22 Jun 2011

Medivir initiates TMC649128 phase Ib trial in chronic hepatitis C

Medivir AB, the emerging research-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases, today announces the start of a phase Ib clinical trial with TMC649128 intended for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

22 Jun 2011

QIAGEN to acquire Ipsogen

QIAGEN N.V. has made an offer and entered into exclusive negotiations to purchase a 47% initial stake in Ipsogen S.A. and subsequently make a public offer to fully acquire a global leader in molecular profiling and personalized healthcare diagnostics for a broad range of hematological cancers.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 15 Jun 2011

Alios, Vertex sign worldwide license agreement to develop new hepatitis C combination medicines

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Alios BioPharma, Inc. today announced an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement that will add two distinct nucleotide analogues to Vertex's hepatitis C portfolio.

13 Jun 2011

Hyperthermia prevents repair of tumor cells

BSD Medical Corporation, a leading provider of medical systems that utilize heat therapy to treat cancer, announced today that a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrated that hyperthermia can be a powerful tool to inhibit the ability of cancer cells to repair the DNA damage caused by radiation or chemotherapy.

10 Jun 2011

Pall's GeneDisc System helps German authorities screen for deadly E.coli strain

Pall Corporation's GeneDisc System is helping German authorities screen for a deadly strain of E.coli that has sickened nearly 3000 people and disrupted that nation's food industry. Pall's GeneDisc technology is being used by Germany's national reference laboratory to expedite testing of food samples for the toxic strain of the pathogen known as E.coli O104:H4.

From Pall Corporation 10 Jun 2011

Pharmasset expands PSI-7977 clinical trial for treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today the addition of three treatment cohorts to the ELECTRON trial of PSI-7977, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV).

8 Jun 2011

Alnylam's ALN-VSP Phase I trial data on liver cancer presented at ASCO 2011

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the results from its Phase I clinical trial with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement.

6 Jun 2011

New report: Life science tools market to reach over $80B by 2016

The life science tools market will reach over $80 billion by 2016, according to a new report on companiesandmarkets.com. The life science tools market has shown steady growth over the last couple of years despite the economic downturn.

3 Jun 2011

Study provides insights into evolution and origins of MRSA

A distinctly new type of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that is not detected by traditional genetic screening methods has been discovered in patients in Irish hospitals according to research to be published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

3 Jun 2011

Clovis Oncology, Roche partner to develop in vitro PCR-based diagnostic test for NSCLC

Clovis Oncology, Inc. and Roche, announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop an in vitro PCR based companion diagnostic test.

2 Jun 2011

PCR-based saliva test can accurately identify cytomegalovirus infection in newborns

Although cytomegalovirus infection is a known cause of birth defects, including permanent hearing loss, most CMV infections in infants are not identified early, when interventions can lessen the effects of hearing loss.

2 Jun 2011

Complementary technologies for rapid EHEC identification and detection

With the recent outbreak in Europe of Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), Roche Applied Science and TIB Molbiol are providing scientists with complementary technologies that can be used for the rapid identification and detection of EHEC.

30 May 2011

EPO awards Trilink patent for CleanAmp Primers

TriLink BioTechnologies, Inc., a leader in manufacturing high quality oligonucleotides and nucleoside triphosphates, announced today the award of their CleanAmp Primer patent by the European Patent Office (EPO Patent no. 2032714).

27 May 2011

Pharmasset, Bristol-Myers Squibb initiate PSI-7977 plus BMS-790052 combination Phase 2a trial in HCV

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today the initiation of a Phase 2a trial investigating the combination of Pharmasset's PSI-7977, a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, and BMS-790052, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company's NS5A replication complex inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

26 May 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim's new afatinib-cetuximab phase Ib data in NSCLC presented at ASCO 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present new phase Ib data at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago that indicates combining its investigational therapy afatinib with cetuximab at the maximum tested dose controlled disease in all (n=22) treated epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutation positive patients with non-small cell lung cancer who developed acquired resistance to treatment with a reversible EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

26 May 2011