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Nanoviricides and Southern Research sign agreement to test anti-Influenza and anti-HIV drug candidates

NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the "Company"), reported today that it has signed a “Master Service Agreement” with the Southern Research Institute (“Southern Research”), Birmingham, AL. Southern Research is a well established, prestigious institution that has performed preclinical testing services for several vaccines and antivirals.

21 Sep 2009

Swedish researcher to receive Fernström Foundation's Nordic Prize

Internationally renowned Swedish researcher Professor Jan-Åke Gustafsson, from KI and the University of Houston, is this year's recipient of the Fernström Foundation's Nordic Prize. The prize, which is worth SEK 1 million, is one of Scandinavia's most prestigious medical prizes.

21 Sep 2009

HHS awards $77.2 million contract to BioCryst to complete Phase 3 development of peramivir

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCRX) today announced that it has been awarded a $77.2 million contract modification by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to complete Phase 3 development of its influenza neuraminidase inhibitor, intravenous (i.v.) peramivir, for the treatment of complicated influenza.

21 Sep 2009

Results of Phase 1 study of Oral AEZS-112 announced by Aeterna Zentaris

Æterna Zentaris Inc. (TSX: AEZ; Nasdaq: AEZS) ("the Company"), a global biopharmaceutical company focused on endocrine therapy and oncology, today announced the completion of a Phase 1 study of its orally-active tubulin and topoisomerase II inhibitor compound, AEZS-112, in patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphoma, which may potentially provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer.

21 Sep 2009

The 2009 National Pharmacy Study ranks Prescription Solutions second among mail order pharmacies

Prescription Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefits management (PBM) organization and a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) company, today announced that it received the highest rankings for customer service and cost competitiveness factors among mail order pharmacies in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 National Pharmacy StudySM.

21 Sep 2009

Symposium to discuss the scientific approaches of the FDA

The Second Annual Science Writers Symposium on Nov. 4 and 5, 2009, at the FDA's White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Md., will highlight how the FDA applies novel scientific approaches to critical public health issues and the products it regulates. The symposium, featuring a lab tour and presentations by FDA scientists, will give writers a unique insight into the evolving field of regulatory science with an eye towards generating potential story ideas.

21 Sep 2009

Increasing the half life of proteins to treat diseases such as hepatitis B

Many biopharmaceuticals comprise small proteins that are quickly eliminated from the body. Scientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) combine such small proteins with a kind of molecular balloon that swells and thus prolongs the half-life of the proteins in the body. The TUM spin-off XL-Protein GmbH has now started to further develop this new technology with blockbuster potential.

21 Sep 2009

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

There's enough wrong with the Baucus proposal as it stands to make it unworkable and unacceptable. But that said, Senator Baucus's mark is better than many of us expected. If it serves as a basis for negotiation, and the result of those negotiations is a plan that's stronger, not weaker, reformers are going to have to make some hard choices about the degree of disappointment they're willing to live with (Paul Krugman, 9/17).

21 Sep 2009

ICTs play a major role in the health care sector

Today the GridTalk project launches its 8th GridBriefing at the Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) conference in Barcelona. The report covers how information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly computing grids, are used in the health and biomedical sectors of European research. EGEE has supported this research community since the project's birth and it is the second largest user group after physics research.

21 Sep 2009

Differences between two types of integrins

The adhesion of cells to the various components of their environment is mediated mainly by molecules known as integrins. Two integrins, α5β1 and αvβ3, mediate adhesion with fibronectin, which is present in the extracellular matrix. But why are 2 molecules involved in the adhesion to a single extracellular component? An article published on-line in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), whose main author is Pere Roca-Cusachs, an IBEC researcher, offers the first experimental answer to this question.

21 Sep 2009

AFib ablated using visually-guided laser balloon catheter

Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York became the first in the U.S. to ablate atrial fibrillation using a visually-guided laser balloon catheter.

21 Sep 2009

Nine countries pledge H1N1 vaccine donations to developing countries

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21 Sep 2009

Paralyzed rats can walk and run: UCLA scientists

UCLA researchers have discovered that a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise can enable paralyzed rats to walk and even run again while supporting their full weight on a treadmill.

21 Sep 2009

New interferon/lovastatin treatment to battle cancer

For selected patients, he decided he might have something better. He now has opened NeoPlas Innovation in Nashville to offer the combination "off-label" treatment on an outpatient basis.

21 Sep 2009

Research combining magnetism and nanotechnology

Researchers led by Daniel Kohane, MD, PhD of Children's Hospital Boston, funded by the National Institutes of Health, have devised a solution that combines magnetism with nanotechnology.

21 Sep 2009

Early drinkers more susceptible to alcoholism

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21 Sep 2009

Higher drinking age can cut back the intensity of alcohol use

A new study finds that adults who legally were able to purchase alcohol before the age of 21 in their states are more likely than others are to be alcoholics or addicted to drugs.

19 Sep 2009

Survey reveals that patients face problems with mail order pharmacies

Many patients go without their prescribed medicine due to the slow or ineffective service of mail order pharmacies, according to a survey of just over 400 patients conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). The findings both raise troubling questions about the impact mail-order programs have on patients and contradict two purported benefits of mail order: increased convenience and lower costs.

19 Sep 2009

Pfizer Oncology to present early-stage research of investigational agents for cancer treatment

Pfizer Oncology will present data from across its portfolio, including results from long-term follow-up of Aromasin® (exemestane tablets) in a study of early breast cancer, updated study results from a Phase 3 study of Sutent® (sunitinib malate) in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET), and early-stage research of investigational agents PF-02341066 and figitumumab (CP-751,871) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

19 Sep 2009

Wyeth and Ambrx collaborate to produce the next generation of biologic drugs

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) and Ambrx Inc. today announced the formation of a worldwide alliance to discover, develop, and commercialize protein drug candidates for three undisclosed targets in multiple therapeutic areas. The alliance will capitalize on Ambrx's recent breakthroughs in applying its protein medicinal chemistry platform to proteins produced in mammalian cells such as antibodies and antibody-toxin conjugates.

19 Sep 2009