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Drug study results, interpretation favour wishes of sponsor pharmaceutical companies

Drug studies financed by pharmaceutical companies frequently show positive results in favour of the sponsor. In the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107(16): 279-85), a research group headed by the Chairman of the Drug Commission of the German Medical Association, Prof. Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, describes the influence of sponsoring on the results, protocol and quality of drugs studies.

10 May 2010

More genetic sites associated with increase in breast cancer risk discovered

Scientists have found five new regions of the genome that increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by between six and 16 per cent, according to a study in Nature Genetics today (Sunday)1.

10 May 2010

UT Southwestern offers advanced lung-cancer patients free screenings of tumors for genetic mutations

UT Southwestern Medical Center is the only site in North Texas participating in a national study that offers advanced lung-cancer patients free screenings of their tumors for genetic mutations, some of which might be targets for treatment with existing or experimental therapies.

10 May 2010

NIH awards UF scientists $7.5M for study of MRI technology in evaluating children with DMD

Duchenne muscular dystrophy research at the University of Florida got a major boost with the award of $7.5 million in National Institutes of Health funding to study the use of magnetic resonance imaging in determining the natural progression of the disease.

10 May 2010

Everolimus-eluting stents more effective than paclitaxel-eluting stents

Results from the SPIRIT IV clinical trial, which were first presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009 scientific symposium, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 May 2010

Iowa researcher uses new technique to verify brain's master switch

The protein that has long been suspected by scientists of being the master switch allowing brains to function has now been verified by an Iowa State University researcher.

10 May 2010

Study: PDE5 inhibitors may increase permeability of blood brain barrier to Herceptin

New research by scientists at Cedars-Sinai's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute suggests that a drug currently approved to treat erectile dysfunction may significantly enhance the delivery of the anti-cancer drug Herceptin to certain hard-to-treat brain tumors.

10 May 2010

Findings may help develop a new class of drugs for diabetes

More than half a century after researchers identified a promising way to treat diabetes based on blocking the breakdown of insulin in the body, a research team led by a scientist at the Mayo Clinic campus in Florida have developed potent molecules that can do just that.

10 May 2010

MIT, South Africa announce plans to join patent pool for 'neglected diseases'

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa's Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) will join the Pool for Open Innovation against Neglected Tropical Diseases, Science|Business reports.

10 May 2010

AARP and coalition group urge Governor to enact legislation

Legislation that will bring a sweeping reform to the way in which for-profit nursing homes operate in Illinois and that will greatly improve the quality of care and safety for institutionalized residents passed the State Senate today, and is on its way to the Governor's desk.

10 May 2010

House committee to investigate Johnson & Johnson after kids' Tylenol recall

A House committee is looking at Johnson & Johnson after the company announced a recall of children's medicines. "Lawmakers requested information on Thursday from regulators about Johnson & Johnson's recall of Children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter pediatric medicines, saying the company's repeated recalls 'point to a major problem' with production," Reuters/The New York Times reports.

10 May 2010

Swedish scientists discover a new method to develop effective antimalarial drugs

Amodiaquine was introduced as an antimalarial drug, but was withdrawn when serious adverse effects were observed. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now developed a method that can be used to develop safer drugs.

10 May 2010

Texas CHIP program faces budget uncertainties while Arizona Governor restores funds for health care programs for the poor

Seven years ago, state leaders working to close a $9.9 billion budget gap took a hatchet to government health insurance for children of the working poor. Thousands of children paid the price when officials tightened eligibility rules and whacked dental, vision and mental health benefits. Gradually, benefits were restored to the Children's Health Insurance Program and, this month, enrollment reached roughly the same level as in 2003.

7 May 2010

PCMA releases statement on PBM Audit Reform and Transparency Act of 2010

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have pioneered tools - including incentivizing the use of generic medications, e-prescribing, and mail-service pharmacies - that improve savings, access, and safety for consumers and payers. Since the key to access is affordability, payers and policymakers alike should explore broader use of PBMs' cost-savings tools and reject approaches that make prescription drugs more expensive.

7 May 2010

Inflammation enzyme regulates production of brown fat tissue

Love handles, muffin tops and stomach tires - white fat tissue forms the typical curves in the notorious problem areas to store energy. Exactly the opposite happens in brown fat tissue: Instead of being stored, energy gets transformed into heat. To the dismay of many people, adults have only small amounts of this energy burner. By contrast, babies and animals in hibernation have lots of it in their bodies where it serves for heat regulation.

7 May 2010

Chemical changes in genetic material regulate activity of many genes

Chemical changes in the genetic material, known as epigenetic modifications, regulate the activity of many genes. Thus, attachment of methyl groups to DNA often inactivates important cellular growth brakes. Therefore, this process called methylation is believed to be a major cause of uncontrolled division of cancer cells. Specific enzymes, the DNA methyltransferases, are responsible for methylation.

7 May 2010

Icagen reports revenues of $1.5M, net loss of $3.2M for first-quarter 2010

Icagen, Inc. reported today its financial results and operational highlights for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. For the first quarter of 2010, the Company reported revenues of $1.5 million and a net loss of $3.2 million. As of March 31, 2010, the Company's cash and cash equivalents totaled $14.3 million.

7 May 2010

Fragile X syndrome iPS cells and embryonic stem cells behave differently: Study

In the last three years, a new technique for reprogramming adult cells has given scientists an easier and less controversial way to harness the power of embryonic-like stem cells to study human disease from its earliest beginnings in hopes of gleaning new insights into the root causes of disease and developing new therapies.

7 May 2010

Closer to understanding age-related memory loss and drug to boost memory

The world's scientific community may be one step closer to understanding age-related memory loss, and to developing a drug that might help boost memory. In an editorial published May 7 in Science, J. David Sweatt, Ph.D., chair of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Neurobiology, says that drugs known as histone deacetylase inhibitors are showing great promise in stopping memory loss - and even in boosting the formation of memory in animal models.

7 May 2010

New changes to 'Extra Help' program enables more people save on prescription drug costs

Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for "Extra Help" may be eligible to pay no more than $2.50 for generic drugs and $6.30 for each brand name drug thanks to changes to Medicare's Low-Income Subsidy Program for Part D prescription drug costs (also known as LIS or "Extra Help") that take effect this year. These changes make it easier than ever for people on Medicare with limited incomes to save on their drug costs.

7 May 2010