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New method for implanting aortic heart valves

An innovative approach for implanting a new aortic heart valve without open-heart surgery is being offered to patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

7 Jan 2009

Gene marker may improve odds of stem cell therapies for disease

A single tumor-suppressor gene may provide a unique marker for senescence in Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro, while also playing a role in moving MSCs into senescence, researchers at the Human Health Foundation and the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine report.

7 Jan 2009

Widespread antiviral drug use can accelerate the evolution of drug resistance in viruses

Influenza's ability to resist the effects of cheap and popular antiviral agents in Asia and Russia should serve as a cautionary tale about U.S. plans to use the antiviral Tamiflu in the event of widespread avian flu infection in humans, scientists say.

7 Jan 2009

Discovery of more efficient way to create induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells

A Boston University School of Medicine-led research team has discovered a more efficient way to create induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells, derived from mouse fibroblasts, by using a single virus vector instead of multiple viruses in the reprogramming process.

7 Jan 2009

Codexis announces licensing agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

Codexis, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., to produce an important publicly-undisclosed generic product, using a proprietary Codexis biocatalyst.

7 Jan 2009

Bird flu becoming more resistant to antivirals

A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested.

7 Jan 2009

A new state-of-the-art approach to brain and spine surgery

A medical revolution emerges when technology blends with smart care.

7 Jan 2009

Liquidia Technologies to collaborate with Abbott on siRNA therapeutics

Liquidia Technologies, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Abbott to develop PRINT nanoparticles for the delivery of siRNA-based therapeutics. Liquidia's PRINT technology offers the ability to fabricate nanoparticles of precisely defined size, shape, surface chemistry, and composition, which offers the potential to develop safer and more effective therapies.

7 Jan 2009

Levitating nanomechanics shows potential to improve medicine

Magicians have long created the illusion of levitating objects in the air. Now researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University have actually levitated an object, suspending it without the need for external support.

7 Jan 2009

Strong urologic surgeons perform cutting-edge minimally invasive surgery

Urologists at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) are advancing the frontiers of minimally invasive surgery as they begin to introduce single-port access (SPA) surgery to the Rochester region.

7 Jan 2009

Nintendo's Wii Fit helping seniors get healthy

While some emerging technologies can create environments that require very little physical effort, one Kansas State University researcher thinks games like Nintendo's Wii Fit can help promote physical rather than sedentary activities for people of all ages.

6 Jan 2009

Phase III studies of EXPAREL (DepoBupivacaine) from Pacira complete enrollment

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an acute care specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that enrollment has been completed in two pivotal Phase III SIMPLE trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a single intraoperative administration of EXPAREL(TM) (DepoBupivacaine) for prolonged postoperative analgesia.

6 Jan 2009

Health-monitoring technology helps seniors live at home longer

Many older adults want to remain active and independent for as long as possible. Seniors want to age in their own homes and avoid moving to institutions or nursing homes.

6 Jan 2009

Caring for chronic diseases in a "fragmented" health care system

Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care.

6 Jan 2009

Innovative brain-scan technology helps visualize brain aging before symptoms appear

UCLA scientists have used innovative brain-scan technology developed at UCLA, along with patient-specific information on Alzheimer's disease risk, to help diagnose brain aging, often before symptoms appear.

6 Jan 2009

Bacteria discovered in amniotic fluids of women who undergo preterm birth

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Yale University have made a significant advancement in understanding the cause behind why some pregnant women suffer from inflammations in the inner womb without any signs of an infection.

6 Jan 2009

Metadherin gene linked to metastasis of breast cancer

A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death.

5 Jan 2009

Phase 3 trial begins for Gammagard liquid plus rHuPH20 in primary immunodeficiency patients

Baxter International Inc. and Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. gas announced the start of a Phase 3 clinical trial of Baxter's Gammagard Liquid [Immune Globulin Intravenous] 10% (IGIV), marketed as KIOVIG in the European Union, with Halozyme's recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20, Enhanze Technology) for the treatment of primary immunodeficiency (PID).

From Baxter International Inc. 5 Jan 2009

Endo Pharmaceuticals to acquire Indevus Pharmaceuticals

Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENDP) and Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDEV) announced today that they have entered into a merger agreement under which Endo will commence a tender offer to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Indevus for approximately $370 million, or $4.50 per Indevus share, in cash, and up to an additional approximately $267 million, or $3.00 per Indevus share, in cash payable in the future upon achievement of certain regulatory and sales milestones.

5 Jan 2009

PDL BioPharma and Alexion Pharmaceuticals resolve patent dispute

PDL BioPharma, Inc. and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today jointly announced that the companies have entered into a definitive license agreement and settlement agreement that resolve the legal disputes between them relating to Alexion's humanized antibody, Soliris (eculizumab) and PDL's patents known as the Queen et al. patents.

5 Jan 2009