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Without increased funding, California's dominance and public health are threatened, according to new report

The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today released a report, "The National Institutes of Health: Fueling Healthcare Innovation in California," urging legislators to support increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - the backbone of the biomedical industry in California, which employs more than 267,000 people in high wage jobs.

11 Jun 2008

Maxygen receives approval for trial of factor VIIa in UK

Maxygen, Inc. today announced that it has filed a Clinical Trial Authorization (CTA) and received the necessary approvals in the United Kingdom to initiate a first-in-human Phase I trial of MAXY-VII in hemophilia patients.

11 Jun 2008

Viruses genetically designed to kill cancer cells influence tumor blood-vessel growth

Viruses genetically designed to kill cancer cells offer a promising strategy for treating incurable brain tumors such as glioblastoma, but the body's natural defenses often eliminate the viruses before they can eliminate the tumor.

11 Jun 2008

Drug combo offers new approach for reversing type 1 diabetes

Promising results from a study that tested a new approach for reversing Type 1 diabetes are being presented this week at the American Diabetes Association's 68th Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco.

11 Jun 2008

European research project to explore Alzheimer's diagnosis

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, GE Healthcare, a division of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) and a Consortium of leading research institutions across Europe announced the PredictAD project, a research collaboration aimed at developing new diagnostic procedures for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

10 Jun 2008

Researchers identify biomarkers of early-stage pancreatic cancer in mice and man

A multicenter team of researchers has identified a panel of proteins linked to early development of pancreatic cancer in mice that applies also to early stages of the disease in humans - a breakthrough that brings scientists a significant step closer to developing a blood test to detect the disease early, when cure rates are highest.

10 Jun 2008

Arsenic and new rice

Amid recent reports of dangerous levels of arsenic being found in some baby rice products, scientists have found a protein in plants that could help to reduce the toxic content of crops grown in environments with high levels of this poisonous metal.

10 Jun 2008

MicroRNA play a significant role in some human cancers

A new study demonstrates that microRNAs can modulate the expression of well known tumor-specific oncogenic translocation proteins and may play a significant role in some human cancers. The research, published by Cell Press in the June issue of the journal Cancer Cell, is likely to lead to new strategies for treating some specific lymphomas and leukemias.

9 Jun 2008

Genetic variation linked to earlier onset of Alzheimer's symptoms

Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a genetic variation associated with an earlier age of onset in Alzheimer's disease.

9 Jun 2008

Complex synapses drove brain evolution

One of the great scientific challenges is to understand the design principles and origins of the human brain. New research has shed light on the evolutionary origins of the brain and how it evolved into the remarkably complex structure found in humans.

8 Jun 2008

Scientists demonstrate feasibility of preventing malaria parasite from becoming sexually mature

Researchers have demonstrated the possibility of preventing the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is responsible for more than a million malaria deaths a year, from becoming sexually mature.

5 Jun 2008

Living condom gives protection from AIDS

Scientists in Australia have developed a natural condom which could prevent the spread of AIDS.

5 Jun 2008

New grant to enable University of Rochester to increase HIV research by 25 percent

The University of Rochester today announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a team of more than 50 researchers a five-year, $3.2 million grant.

4 Jun 2008

Kidney cell suicide in diabetes patients

Diabetes is the leading cause of renal failure that requires dialysis. The disease generates such a hostile environment that it forces the kidney cells to kill themselves, progressively reducing the renal functions of the kidneys.

4 Jun 2008

How the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe (Zetia) works

A new study in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, sheds light on the action of the drug ezetimibe (trade name Zetia), which is used to treat high cholesterol. Ezetimibe is unique among cholesterol-lowering drugs in that it works by cutting the amount of cholesterol taken in from the diet rather than by blocking cholesterol's manufacture in the body.

3 Jun 2008

U of M sets new standard of care for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Physicians at the University of Minnesota and University of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview have set the path to a cure for a young boy's fatal genetic skin disease, recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), by using a cord blood and bone marrow transplant. Nate Liao, a 25-month-old from Clarksburg, N.J., underwent the experimental therapy in October 2007.

3 Jun 2008

CSL Behring study shows extended half-life recombinant VIIa leads to longer biologic activity

CSL Behring today presented results of a pre-clinical study that not only demonstrates the feasibility of genetically fusing factor VIIa to human albumin, but that this therapeutic protein with a prolonged half-life can lead to a longer biologic effect.

3 Jun 2008

Paclitaxel Poliglumex/Capecitabine regimen well tolerated and active in metastatic breast cancer

At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), data were presented from a phase II investigator-sponsored trial paclitaxel poliglumex (Opaxio, CT-2103) in combination with capecitabine in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

3 Jun 2008

NGAL protein levels in simple urine test speed diagnosis of failing kidneys

Walk into any emergency department complaining of chest pain and you are likely to have blood drawn. Within hours it should be clear whether you've had a heart attack, based on enzyme levels in your blood and whether those levels reveal the tissue damage normally associated with a heart attack or other major cardiac event.

2 Jun 2008

Members of European Parliament discuss food labelling and heart health

Members of the European Parliament Heart Group meet today, 3 June, in Brussels, to discuss the link between nutrition and cardiovascular diseases and how labelling of food can help people choose products that are better for their hearts and vessels.

2 Jun 2008