Therapy News and Research

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Impact of cancer treatment on cardiovascular function

For the past two decades, cancer therapy has become more sophisticated and effective, resulting in an ever-expanding group of long-term cancer survivors. There is also a growing awareness of the potentially negative effects of cancer treatment on the heart and the management of cardiac disease during and after cancer therapy.

22 Sep 2010

FDA grants orphan-drug designation to Catalyst's CPP-115 investigational drug

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. today announced that its investigational drug, CPP-115, a novel GABA aminotransferase inhibitor, has been granted orphan-drug designation for the treatment of infantile spasms (West Syndrome) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

22 Sep 2010

Few insurers provide coverage for weight loss treatment

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The Washington Post, Sandra G. Boodman writes: "After her weight hit the obese range, her cholesterol level nudged the danger zone and her doctor urged her to lose weight, Melissa Moss, veteran of a decade of failed diets, decided she needed intensive help.

22 Sep 2010

Brown grants exclusive intellectual property license to Tivorsan Pharmaceuticals

Development of a potential treatment for the most common form of muscular dystrophy is moving into a new phase at Brown University. Brown has granted an exclusive license for the intellectual property to Tivorsan Pharmaceuticals, a startup firm that will strive to see it through human trials.

22 Sep 2010

High dose aspirin effective for treatment of severe headache and migraine

An inexpensive, hundred-year-old therapy for pain - aspirin - is effective in high doses for the treatment of severe headache and migraine caused by drug withdrawal, according to a new study by researchers with the UCSF Headache Center. Study participants were administered aspirin through an IV and 25 percent of the time they reported a significant reduction in pain - three points on the 10-point pain scale.

22 Sep 2010

Biodegradable polymers represent future of stent design

Three-year data demonstrated that satisfactory clinical and safety outcomes of sirolimus eluting stents with a biodegradable polymer were sustained in a real world setting. The results were presented at the 22nd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation.

21 Sep 2010

Optimer submits fidaxomicin rolling NDA for treatment of Clostridium difficile infection

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has submitted the first section of a rolling New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for fidaxomicin to treat patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and to prevent recurrences of CDI. Optimer anticipates completing the submission in the fourth quarter of 2010 and plans to request priority review, which, if granted, could lead to an FDA decision on the NDA in the second quarter of 2011.

21 Sep 2010

Celera receives patent on KIF6 gene variant

Celera Corporation today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued United States Patent 7,799,530 relating to methods of determining heart attack risk by detecting the KIF6 gene variant and reduction of such increased risk by statin therapy.

21 Sep 2010

Volcano to end distribution agreement with Fukuda Desnhi in Japan

Volcano Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of precision intravascular therapy guidance tools designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, said today it has reached an agreement with Fukuda Desnhi Co., Ltd. to end its distribution agreement in Japan.

21 Sep 2010

FDA grants orphan drug designation for MultiStem stem cell therapy

Athersys, Inc. announced today that MultiStem, Athersys' multipotent adult progenitor stem cell therapy, has been granted orphan drug designation by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of graft vs. host disease (GvHD).

21 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 21, 2010

In today's headlines, news about major insurers' plans to stop offering child-only health policies in advance of new rules.

21 Sep 2010

JustAnswer doctors answer queries on breast cancer

An estimated 207,090 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone, according to the American Cancer Society. While a diagnosis undoubtedly creates a frightening experience for any family, the more that information is available about the disease, the less upsetting it can be. Naturally, patients will look beyond what is provided by their attending physician, but where can they go when they have specific health questions?

21 Sep 2010

VIVUS announces QNEXA study results for obesity treatment

VIVUS, Inc. today announced positive top-line results from a two-year study of QNEXA(phentermine/topiramate) Controlled Release Capsules, an investigational therapy for treatment of obesity, a condition that affects approximately one-third of adult Americans.

21 Sep 2010

Cytheris commences enrollment in CYT107 recombinant human Interleukin-7 clinical trial for HIV

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that it has begun enrolling patients in INSPIRE 3, a Phase II clinical program evaluating the effect of repeated cycles of the company's investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), in the treatment of chronically HIV-1 infected patients classified as Immunological Non-Responders (INR) after at least 24 months of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART).

21 Sep 2010

Over 80% of hospitalized patients suffer more severe pain than necessary

More than 80% of hospitalized patients suffer more severe pain than necessary. This is the conclusion of Christoph Maier (Bochum University Hospital, Bochum, Germany) and his coauthors in their interim report of the Pain-Free Hospital Project ("Schmerzfreies Krankenhaus"), which appears in the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International. The project, which was initiated in 2003, has the goal of improving pain management in hospitals across Germany.

21 Sep 2010

Paper highlights need for new studies and guidelines around oxygen therapy during MI

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) welcomes a paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC )(1) highlighting concerns over the use of oxygen therapy during MI in patients with normal oxygen levels. The publication adds to calls for revision of the STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy and for a prospective, large scale randomised trials, issues that were both first raised in a Cochrane Review published in June.

21 Sep 2010

Annals of Internal Medicine publishes GRACE study data on HIV therapy

Data from the GRACE study will be published in the September 21st issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. GRACE is the largest-ever study of treatment experienced adult women with HIV-1 to examine gender differences in response to HIV therapy. Sponsored by Tibotec Therapeutics Clinical Affairs, a division of Centocor Ortho Biotech Services, LLC, the GRACE study enrolled 67 percent women, demonstrating that it is possible to recruit large numbers of women into U.S.-based HIV treatment studies.

21 Sep 2010

Study reveals molecular steps for pneumonia therapy

A structural molecule and the cellular pump that regulates its levels influence the severity of pneumonia and could provide new ways of treating the lung infection, which is a leading cause of hospitalization and death, according to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Iowa. Their findings are available online in Nature Medicine.

21 Sep 2010

International activists ask: 'Will MDG summit fail HIV-positive people?'

A group of Russian AIDS activists are charging that the Russian Ministry of Health is denying that there are drug stock-outs that prevent patients from starting or continuing treatment. "In this situation, people with HIV face a choice: to die quietly at home or try to attract the attention of the government and the media," said Alexey Yaskovich, a Russian activist from Novgorod. "Therefore, activists will continue to go to the streets of Moscow and hold public events dedicated to saving their lives."

21 Sep 2010

Recommendations for prostate cancer prevention and treatment

In light of Prostate Cancer Awareness month, integrative medicine pioneer and cancer expert Dr. Isaac Eliaz announces breakthrough research and essential recommendations for the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. As a well known specialist in the field of integrative prostate cancer therapy, Dr. Eliaz strategically combines ancient and modern healing modalities into a holistic practice of medicine by successfully incorporating the most effective and well researched therapies available in conventional and complementary medicine.

21 Sep 2010