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George Rehm and David Mahoney joins Adamas' Board of Directors

Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that it has closed a $40 million Series D round of funding led by aeris CAPITAL AG and DAG Ventures. Earlier investors MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and Northgate Capital also participated in the round. In conjunction with the financing, the company announced the election of George M. Rehm, Managing Partner of aeris CAPITAL AG, and David L. Mahoney, a private equity investor, to the company's Board of Directors.

19 Aug 2009

Cyanide toxicity in smoke inhalation victims

"If commercial flying had as many civilian fatalities as those relating to smoke and fire, there would be a public revolt," said Rob Schnepp, CPTC president and assistant chief of special operations for the Alameda County Fire Department in California. "The numbers aren't going down, and this tells me that we aren't addressing the problem adequately.

18 Aug 2009

Disrupting the DNA-repair process

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have uncovered the mechanism behind a promising new approach to cancer treatment: damaging cancer cells' DNA with potent drugs while simultaneously preventing the cells from repairing themselves.

18 Aug 2009

4SC starts phase 2 trial in hepatocellular carcinoma with 4SC-201 (resminostat)

4SC AG, the German drug discovery and development company, today announced the dosing of the first patient in its Phase II trial with 4SC-201 (resminostat), a pan-histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, as a new potential treatment option for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most frequent form of liver cancer.

18 Aug 2009

Genentech announces Phase III study results for Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemo in HER2-negative breast cancer

Genentech, Inc. today announced that a Phase III study (RIBBON 2) of Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy increased the time women with metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer whose initial chemotherapy had stopped working lived without the disease worsening (progression-free survival or PFS), compared to chemotherapy alone.

18 Aug 2009

New findings on how hepatitis C survives for so long in the body

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a previously unknown mechanism that allows the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to remain in the body for decades.

18 Aug 2009

Aspirin improves survival after colorectal cancer diagnosis

Men and women who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer and began regular use of aspirin had a lower risk of overall and colorectal cancer death compared to patients not using aspirin, according to a study in the August 12 issue of JAMA.

18 Aug 2009

$Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis$

Denosumab reduces fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Fractures are a major cause of disability and health care costs among postmenopausal women. Now a study in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights an alternative therapy that prevents fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

18 Aug 2009

Nematode worm provides model of invasive cancer

A single cell in a 1-millimeter nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behavior -- its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout the body.

17 Aug 2009

FDA approves Extavia for multiple sclerosis

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Extavia(R) (interferon beta-1b), the first in a new planned portfolio of multiple sclerosis (MS) medicines from Novartis to help patients manage this devastating disease.

17 Aug 2009

New consortium to tackle African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis

A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide.

17 Aug 2009

Cognitive behavioral therapy improves sleep and pain in osteoarthritis

A study in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective treatment for older patients with osteoarthritis and comorbid insomnia.

16 Aug 2009

New biomarker predicts response to hepatitis C treatment

Researchers have identified the first genetic marker that predicts response to hepatitis C treatments, and a single letter of DNA code appears to make a huge difference. Duke University Medical Center scientists says the biomarker not only predicts who is most likely to respond to treatment and who isn't, but also may explain why there are such different rates of response among racial and ethnic groups, a phenomenon that has puzzled physicians for years.

16 Aug 2009

New strategy for inhibiting virus replication

Viruses need living cells for replication and production of virus progeny. Thus far, antiviral therapy primarily targets viral factors but often induces therapy resistance. New improved therapies attempt to targets cellular factors that are essential for viral replication.

16 Aug 2009

New immune therapy for kidney cancer tested

Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial to evaluate whether the standard treatment for a common form of kidney cancer works better by itself or when combined with a certain type of blood cell that comes from a patient’s relative. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

14 Aug 2009

Updated, evidence-based guidelines highlight primary care needs of HIV patients

With HIV patients living longer thanks to advances in treatment, the primary care needs of those living with HIV have never been more important. Updated, evidence-based guidelines from the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) are designed to help providers manage the care of those living with this complex chronic infection.

14 Aug 2009

Opexa Therapeutics reports Q2 2009 financials

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXA), a company developing a novel T-cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, and provided details on further developments.

13 Aug 2009

Wine may offer radioprotective effect for breast cancer patients

Drinking wine while undergoing radiation treatment for breast carcinoma may reduce the incidence of skin toxicity in breast cancer patients, according to a study in the August issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

13 Aug 2009

Aryx Therapeutics reports Q2 2009 financials

ARYx Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARYX) today reported results of operations and provided a general business update for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.

13 Aug 2009

Human trafficking, HIV; Zimbabwe doctors; Lay health care workers

"Up to a quarter of a million women and girls in Southeast Asia, mostly adolescents, are forced into prostitution each year and face violence and the prospect of contracting HIV/AIDS," researchers said on Wednesday in a report about criminal activity in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, Reuters reports.

13 Aug 2009