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Avexa's ATC Phase III study concludes

Avexa Limited today announced that the apricitabine (ATC) Phase III study will be closed and the data will be subsequently unblinded and analyzed. After extensive interaction with the regulatory authorities and potential partners, the decision was made to evaluate the 24 week data with the results due in the first quarter of 2010.

3 Oct 2009

Researchers screen decades-old frozen infant stool samples to detect norovirus

A search through decades-old frozen infant stool samples has yielded rich dividends for scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

3 Oct 2009

News outlets continue to examine findings of recent U.N. report

News outlets continue to mine through the findings of the U.N.'s 2009 progress report on HIV and AIDS.

3 Oct 2009

Google's venture capital wing invests in biotech company

Google's venture capital group is investing millions into Adimab, a biotech company that will construct a massive library of antibodies, some of which may yield powerful new drugs, the New York Times blog Bits reports.

3 Oct 2009

FDA grants Fast Track designation to Corthera's relaxin for treating acute heart failure

Corthera Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to relaxin, the company's investigational drug for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF). The Fast Track program facilitates the development and expedites the review of new drugs intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs.

3 Oct 2009

CNN, TIME examine increasing antibiotic resistance

CNN examines a recent report by researchers that warns of increasing antibiotic resistance and appeals for governments to take action to develop new antibiotics to avert a health crisis.

3 Oct 2009

ALL initiative three-year clinical observational study results published

A program that bundled two generic, low-cost drugs - a cholesterol-lowering statin and a blood pressure-lowering drug - and gave daily doses to 68,560 people with diabetes or heart disease for two years is estimated to have prevented 1,271 heart attacks and strokes in the first year following the study period, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the American Journal of Managed Care.

3 Oct 2009

Co-marketing partnership between Enzo Life Sciences and BioTek Instruments

Enzo Biochem, Inc. announced today a co-marketing partnership between its Enzo Life Sciences subsidiary, a world leader in non-radioactive probe technology, and BioTek Instruments, a privately held global leader in the development, manufacture and sale of microplate instrumentation for drug discovery and life science applications, involving powerful, integrated solutions for high throughput live cell analysis.

3 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: U.S. food aid declines; agriculture in Zimbabwe; U.S.-backed ITN network; reducing maternal mortality; DNDI expands; healthcare in Congo

Although U.S. food aid funding has increased by 53 percent over the last two years, a Government Accountability Office report on Wednesday said that during the same time period, the "amount of food delivered to address emergencies abroad fell 5 percent," the Washington Independent reports.

3 Oct 2009

$7.2 million grant awarded to develop microbicide-releasing vaginal ring

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a four-year, $7.2 million grant to develop a microbicide-releasing vaginal ring to prevent HIV transmission.

3 Oct 2009

61 institutions awarded grants for cancer research from American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 94 new national research and training grants totaling $45,097,000 to 61 institutions nationwide in the second of two grants cycles for 2009. The grants go into effect beginning January 1, 2010.

3 Oct 2009

SNM's joint session with CMOD on molecular imaging biomarkers in clinical research

SNM is collaborating with the International Partnership for Critical Markers of Disease (CMOD) during CMOD's 7th Annual Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints Symposium, Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Bethesda, Md., Oct. 19th, 2009.

3 Oct 2009

Arginetix raises funds for development programs

Arginetix, Inc. today announced it has closed a $10.75 million Series A financing. The company is developing small molecule inhibitors of the enzyme arginase for the treatment of endothelial dysfunction, including pulmonary arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis and asthma.

2 Oct 2009

Study reveals the importance of cholestrol derivative in brain cell formation

A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells outside the body.

2 Oct 2009

Molecular mechanisms of BN108 and timosaponin AIII described in a journal

Bionovo, Inc. today announced the publication in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal Public Library of Science One (PLoS ONE) of a paper describing the molecular mechanisms underlying the selective cytotoxic activity of its drug candidate BN108 and its active compound, timosaponin AIII.

2 Oct 2009

sNDA for Clonicel submitted to the FDA

Addrenex Pharmaceuticals and Sciele Pharma, Inc., a Shionogi company today announced that Addrenex has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Clonicel (modified-release clonidine) to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

2 Oct 2009

Change in Heparin manufacturing - expected to decrease the potency

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today alerted health care professionals to a change in heparin manufacturing that is expected to decrease the potency of the common blood-clotting drug.

1 Oct 2009

Actavis' clients launch generic Atorvastatin in Spain

Actavis Group, the international generic pharmaceuticals company, today announced that its third-party sales division, Medis, has delivered 30 million tablets of Atorvastatin to its clients in Spain. This is the first generic version of the blockbuster molecule to reach the Spanish market.

1 Oct 2009

CVRx commences enrollment in study evaluating the Rheos System to treat heart failure

CVRx, Inc. reported the first enrollment of a patient in the HOPE4HF Trial, a study that is evaluating the Rheos System to treat heart failure. The Rheos System uses Baroreflex Activation Therapy® technology, an entirely new non-pharmaceutical approach designed to treat cardiovascular disease. The HOPE4HF Trial is being conducted under an approved investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

1 Oct 2009

Screening and diagnostic tests contribute to health care value across spectrum of care

Amidst ongoing debate in Congress over reforming the nation's health care system, a new report from the Lewin Group finds that screening and diagnostic laboratory tests are central to achieving some of the most important goals of health care reform.

1 Oct 2009