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FDA allows marketing of Aptus EndoStapling System to treat AAA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first system that can repair a failed or problematic aortic endograft, a fabric tube used to repair a dangerously large aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the large blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists design math model that could guide future prostate cancer treatments

Scientists have designed a first draft of a mathematical model that someday could guide treatment decisions for advanced prostate cancer, in part by helping doctors predict how individual patients will respond to therapy based on the biology of their tumors.

22 Nov 2011

Hypertension on the rise in Canada

Hypertension in Canada is increasing, and it is projected that more than one-quarter of Canadian adults will be diagnosed with hypertension by 2012/13, according to a study in CMAJ.

22 Nov 2011

Study identifies major risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis

Many premature infants suffer a life-threatening destruction of intestinal tissue called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Now a Loyola University Medical Center study has identified a major risk factor for NEC: Preemies with the AB blood type who develop NEC are nearly three times as likely to die from it as preemies with other blood types.

22 Nov 2011

Hemoglobin A1c fails to identify children with diabetes

In 2009, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommended that Hemoglobin A1c be exclusively used for the diagnosis of diabetes in children. The simple test measures longer-term blood sugar levels -- without requiring patients to fast overnight. However, a new U-M study has shown that these tests are not very accurate in children.

21 Nov 2011

FDA clears Aptus EndoStapling System to treat AAA

Aptus Endosystems, Inc., a medical device company developing advanced technology for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), announced today that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Aptus EndoStapling System, which will now be known as the HeliFX™ Aortic Securement System.

21 Nov 2011

FDA approves Abbott's new Chagas in vitro diagnostic test

Abbott received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new Chagas in vitro diagnostic test.

21 Nov 2011

Drug abuse high in West Australian young men: Study

According to a drug expert almost one in 10 men under 30 years of age has regularly used stimulant drugs and West Australians are the worst offenders.

21 Nov 2011

Regeneron’s Eylea for treating age related macular degeneration gets FDA nod

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has received marketing approval for their eye drug - Eylea, an injection meant to treat a common cause of blindness in older people. Eylea can be used to treat “wet” age-related macular degeneration. The only other drug approved for the condition is Lucentis from Roche, which was approved in 2006.

21 Nov 2011

Breast cancer drug Avastin loses FDA support

According to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement last Friday, the cancer drug Avastin should not be used to treat breast cancer that has spread to other organs because it doesn't help patients enough to justify its risky side effects.

21 Nov 2011

ChanRx to evaluate AFIB drug, vanoxerine with closed Series A funding

ChanRx is developing a superior drug for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AFIB), and has closed its Series A funding with investments from Sante Ventures and company founder, Dr. Arthur "Buzz" Brown. The company, a spin out of Cleveland-based ChanTest, will use the funding to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of its proprietary AFIB drug, vanoxerine.

21 Nov 2011

Akebia commences dosing in AKB-9778 Phase 1 study for diabetic macular edema and retinopathy

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a small molecule discovery and development company focused on anemia and vascular disorders, today announced that it has dosed the first subjects in a first-in-man Phase 1 study of AKB-9778, a first-in-class human protein tyrosine phosphatase beta (HPTPβ) inhibitor in development for diabetic macular edema (DME) and diabetic retinopathy (DR).

21 Nov 2011

UTHealth and Memorial Hermann HVI first in Houston to implant FDA approved artificial heart valve

Cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute are the first in Houston to implant the artificial heart valve recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, as well as a newer, smaller version that is part of a clinical trial.

21 Nov 2011

Clinical value of OrSense NBM 200 non-invasive Hb monitor for maternal health to be presented at 4th COGI

OrSense Ltd., announced today that two oral presentations on the clinical value of its NBM 200 non-invasive hemoglobin (Hb) monitor for maternal health and anemia monitoring prior, during and post delivery of pregnant women will be presented at the 4th Asia Pacific Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics Gynecology and Infertility (COGI).

21 Nov 2011

Swissmedic approves REVLIMID for treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes

Celgene International Sàrl, a subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, today announced that REVLIMID (lenalidomide) has been granted approval by the Swiss agency for Therapeutic Products (Swissmedic) for use in patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to low-or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenic abnormality with or without additional cytogenic abnormalities.

21 Nov 2011

MedUni Vienna researchers discover important regulators in development of stem cells

A team of researchers at the MedUni Vienna's Institute of Medical Genetics has discovered that two genes (TSC/Tuberin and PRAS40) are extremely important regulators in the development of stem cells: if these genes are switched off, the stem cells do not develop but instead die a programmed cell death.

21 Nov 2011

$GE Healthcare, Neste Jacobs enter alliance to increase self-sufficiency in blood plasma fractionation$

GE Healthcare, Neste Jacobs enter alliance to increase self-sufficiency in blood plasma fractionation

GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of GE and Neste Jacobs, a leading global expert in plasma fractionation plant engineering design and construction, announced today that the companies have formed a strategic alliance to assist countries worldwide to become self-sufficient in the manufacture of blood plasma products.

21 Nov 2011

New blood pressure remote monitoring program for Stamford employees, families

Stamford Hospital has launched a new blood pressure remote monitoring program for its employees and their families in order to detect risk factors for heart disease while helping to improve their overall health.

21 Nov 2011

South Asian cardiac patients three times as likely to require repeat treatment following PCI

South Asian patients with coronary artery disease were almost three times as likely to be readmitted to hospital for further interventional treatment to arterial plaque than their White European counterparts, according to research in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

21 Nov 2011

Almac collaborates with Alexion for packaging and distribution of Soliris during German E. coli outbreak

Almac, a leading provider of contract services to the global pharmaceutical and biotech industries, responded earlier this year to an urgent request from their client partner, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a global biotechnology company, for packaging and distribution of Soliris (eculizumab) for patients with STEC-HUS during the E. coli outbreak in Germany earlier this year.

21 Nov 2011