Food News and Research

RSS

UPS pledges $9M to help relief organizations, combating human trafficking addressed at CGI

Shipping company UPS on Thursday at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting, "announced a multi-year, $9 million project to help relief organizations respond better to global emergencies," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (9/24).

25 Sep 2009

Folotyn approved for the treatment of Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Folotyn (pralatrexate), the first treatment for a form of cancer known as Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma (PTCL), an often aggressive type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

25 Sep 2009

Health coverage, quality depend heavily on geography

An analysis of Census date finds that health care quality and coverage is closely connected to geography.

25 Sep 2009

Investigational New Drug application for Uricase-PEG 20 approved

EnzymeRx, LLC, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Uricase-PEG 20, filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month, has become effective.

25 Sep 2009

AABM Team wins two medals in a national contest

The Aquatic Animal Bio-Medicine R&D Team (AABM Team) of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan, led by Distinguished Prof. Huey-Lang Yang from Institute of Biotechnology, won two medals out of more than 100 teams in the national contest, “2009 Crazy Idea – King of Practical Applications on Creative Researches and Development of Biotechnology,” organized by the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.

25 Sep 2009

The Siebel Foundation to fund fellowships for Jacob School's top bioengineering graduate students

As breakthrough discoveries in bioengineering become more crucial to fundamental global issues, including health, food production and water supplies, UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering's top ranked bioengineering department continues to be on the cutting edge of this field. The Siebel Foundation has recognized the Jacob School's pioneering efforts with a $2 million endowment to fund fellowships for some of its top bioengineering graduate students.

25 Sep 2009

ACP releases paper promoting increased funding for FDA

A new policy paper that calls for broader authority and increased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). Improving FDA Regulation of Prescription Drugs offers a half-dozen recommendations about how to improve the agency's ability to approve and monitor new drugs.

25 Sep 2009

Cardiovascular disease: Major cause of death in Europe

Despite the decline of heart disease mortality registered in the past 30 years, cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the N.1 killer in Europe and in the World. In the EU, experts reveal that striking disparities still exist between countries not only in terms of CVD incidence, but also with regard to national prevention policies.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers develop molecule to confuse insects' ability to detect plants

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published this week in Chemical Communications, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers study about abnormal gene functioning in mitochondria

Researchers are delving into abnormal gene function in mitochondria, structures within cells that power our lives. Mitochondria are the place where energy is generated from the most basic molecules of food. Because this function is essential to life, defects in mitochondria may affect a wide range of organ systems in humans and animals.

25 Sep 2009

The Adiana permanent contraception system supported by UK's NICE

Hologic, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of premium diagnostics, medical imaging systems and surgical products dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of women, today announced the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), in its updated guidance for hysteroscopic sterilization, supports the use of Hologic's Adiana((R)) permanent contraception system.

25 Sep 2009

Neogen announces first-quarter results of fiscal 2010

Neogen Corporation announced today that its revenues for the first quarter of FY 2010, which ended Aug. 31, increased 12% from the previous year's first quarter to $32,347,000. First quarter net income increased 18% from the prior year's $3,733,000 to $4,395,000, or to $0.29 per share in the current year compared to the previous year's $0.25.

25 Sep 2009

Prevention and cure of Alzheimer's disease important to Americans

A new voter survey sponsored by the ACT-AD Coalition (Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease) finds that three-quarters of Americans nationwide and across party lines say it is personally important to them to find a cure or to prevent Alzheimer's disease, while a similar proportion of the national electorate say they look to Congress to make it "a national priority" to speed up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) review process in specific ways for therapies that slow, halt or reverse the disease.

25 Sep 2009

FDA provides a conditional approval for Reverse Medical Corporation's ReStore Microcatheter IDE study

Reverse Medical Corporation announced today that it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conditional approval to begin a neurothrombectomy IDE study for its ReStore™ Microcatheter at twenty US centers. The study is planned to begin enrollment in US and European hospitals following investigating study center Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals.

25 Sep 2009

Huachansu may slow cancer progression

Huachansu, a Chinese medicine that comes from the dried venom secreted by the skin glands of toads, has tolerable toxicity levels, even at doses eight times those normally administered, and may slow disease progression in some cancer patients, say researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

25 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Urban malnutrition in CAR; U.S. HIV travel ban; East Africa hunger

"The global financial crisis has led to an alarming rate of urban malnutrition in the south of the Central African Republic, where diamond mines have closed as demand for the gems falls, the medical relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says," Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 9/24). In a related blog post, Reuters AlertNet writes that aid agencies are warning that without additional support from donors, the Central African Republic could "start sliding backwards after three years of progress at a time when humanitarian assistance was raised" (Fominyen [2], 9/24).

25 Sep 2009

FDA urged to prohibit menthol in tobacco products

Today the American Legacy Foundation(R) (Legacy) urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prohibit menthol in cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products as one of its first priorities related to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the Act).

25 Sep 2009

African Leaders Malaria Alliance launched at U.N. General Assembly

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, African heads of state formed a 20-member African Leaders Malaria Alliance with the goal of eliminating deaths from malaria by 2015, the Associated Press writes. "With an estimated 500 million annual cases, Africa is the continent most affected by malaria, accounting for 86 percent of all cases and 91 percent of all malaria deaths worldwide, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania said at the alliance's launch," according to the news service (9/24).

25 Sep 2009

NDA submitted to the FDA for new osteoarthritis drug

NicOx S.A. today announced that a New Drug Application (NDA) for naproxcinod has been submitted to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeking approval for an indication for the relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis (OA). The NDA file contains data from three large pivotal phase 3 studies, all of which met their co-primary efficacy endpoints. NicOx plans to submit a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for naproxcinod to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) in Q4 2009.

25 Sep 2009

Partial success reported in the Phase 3 trial of HIV/AIDS vaccine

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based, biopharmaceutical company developing human vaccines for HIV/AIDS (HIV-1, Human Immunodeficiency Virus), was pleased to hear the announcement today of partial success in the recently completed Phase 3 trial in Thailand of a candidate HIV/AIDS vaccine owned by Sanofi-Aventis and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.

25 Sep 2009