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Gender link discovered for colorectal cancer

Researchers have identified three new colorectal cancer risk loci, including one on the X-chromosome, bringing the total number of independent loci associated with the disease to 20.

30 May 2012

Experimental drug shows promise for elderly chronic leukemia patients

The experimental drug ibrutinib is highly active and well tolerated in elderly, treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, US researchers report.

30 May 2012

Beyond chemotherapy to cure leukemia

The fight against cancer is not won in a single battle: long after a cancer has been beaten into remission, it can return. The reason for this is under debate, and much is unclear.

30 May 2012

New technique promotes dramatic increase in cardiac function

LoneStar Heart Inc., today announced the advancement of a new therapeutic strategy aimed at genetic reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into functioning heart muscle cells to treat damage following a heart attack and other forms of heart disease.

30 May 2012

Corrected interim data from Vertex VX-809, KALYDECO combination Phase 2 study for CF

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today a correction to the previously reported responder analysis, as well as additional data from, the recent interim analysis of an ongoing Phase 2 study of VX-809 and KALYDECO that showed significant improvements in lung function among adults with cystic fibrosis who have two copies of the most common mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, F508del.

30 May 2012

CytRx INNO-206 doxorubicin conjugate shows anti-multiple myeloma effects

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, today announced that in animal and in vitro studies, its tumor-targeting doxorubicin conjugate INNO-206 showed anti-multiple myeloma effects and enhanced the anti-tumor effects of bortezomib, which is approved for the treatment of relapsed multiple myeloma.

30 May 2012

Beike stem cell bank in China granted AABB accreditation

Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd announced that it has been awarded AABB accreditation for cord blood and cord tissue banking. This accreditation has been granted following an intensive on-site assessment by AABB assessors and establishes that the level of medical, technical and administrative performance within the facility is in accordance with the AABB standards or exceeds those set by AABB.

30 May 2012

Sequenom MassARRAY System detects EML4/ALK fusion gene in NSCLC

Sequenom, Inc., a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today reported on a recently released publication in which the Sequenom MassARRAY System (for research use only) was used in a groundbreaking independent study that detected the transforming fusion gene EML4/ALK in non-small cell lung cancer.

30 May 2012

RBCC negotiates potential joint venture with AMBS for traumatic brain injury treatment

Rainbow BioSciences, the biotech subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp., continues due diligence toward an agreement to help develop a promising new treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), concern continues to grow over the troubling incidence of TBI among athletes and soldiers.

30 May 2012

Researchers uncover insights into rare genetic disorders

Researchers studying rare genetic disorders have uncovered insights into those diseases in biological structures that regulate chromosomes when cells divide. Focusing on the cohesin complex, a group of proteins forming a bracelet that encircles chromosome pairs, scientists have discovered mutations that disrupt cohesin, causing a recently recognized class of diseases called cohesinopathies.

30 May 2012

Exelixis files NDA with FDA for cabozantinib to treat MTC

Exelixis, Inc. today announced that it has completed the filing of its rolling New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cabozantinib as a treatment for patients with progressive, unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.

30 May 2012

New treatment for sickle cell disease developed by Emmaus Medical receives positive opinion from EMA

Emmaus Medical, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing a new treatment for sickle cell disease, and subsidiary of Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc., announced today that its investigational L-glutamine treatment for sickle cell disease has received a positive opinion recommending orphan medicinal product designation by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP). The designation allows Emmaus ten years of marketing exclusivity in EU member countries after the product obtains marketing authorization, as well as streamlined regulatory review processes and registration and other fee reductions.

30 May 2012

New magnetic sensor might simplify measurement of brain activity

In future a new magnetic sensor the size of a sugar cube might simplify the measurement of brain activity. In the magnetically shielded room of Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt the sensor has passed an important technical test: Spontaneous as well as stimulated magnetic fields of the brain were detected.

30 May 2012

Use of transplanted induced pluripotent stem cells could lead to new treatments for HD

Researchers from South Korea, Sweden, and the United States have collaborated on a project to restore neuron function to parts of the brain damaged by Huntington's disease (HD) by successfully transplanting HD-induced pluripotent stem cells into animal models.

30 May 2012

Scientists show why leukemia often returns

The fight against cancer is not won in a single battle: Long after a cancer has been beaten into remission, it can return. The reason for this is under debate, and much is unclear. New research led by Weizmann Institute scientists shows that, at least for one type of blood cancer, the source of cancer recurrence is in a set of cells that do not proliferate as quickly as regular cancer cells, and thus able to survive chemotherapy.

30 May 2012

CHOC Children's research project receives $5.5M CIRM grant

A CHOC Children's research project, under the direction of Philip H. Schwartz, Ph.D., senior scientist at the CHOC Children's Research Institute and managing director of the facility's National Human Neural Stem Cell Resource, has been awarded a $5.5 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

30 May 2012

DFG to establish 20 CRCs by 1 July 2012

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is to establish 20 Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) by 1 July 2012. This decision was taken by the Grants Committee at its spring session in Bonn. The new CRCs will receive funding totalling 176 million euros (including a 20 percent programme allowance for indirect project costs) for the initial 4-year funding period.

30 May 2012

Marshall Edwards initiates ME-344 Phase I trial in solid tumors

Marshall Edwards, Inc., an oncology company focused on the clinical development of novel therapeutics targeting cancer metabolism, announced today that the first cohort of patients has been dosed in a Phase I clinical trial of ME-344, the Company's lead mitochondrial inhibitor drug candidate, in patients with refractory solid tumors.

30 May 2012

Scientists develop synthetic peptide that overcomes cancer cells’ survival defenses

Scientists at the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center have developed an anti-cancer peptide that overcomes the stubborn resistance to chemotherapy and radiation often encountered in certain blood cancers when the disease recurs following initial treatment.

30 May 2012

Researchers discover new HIV-suppressing protein

Scientists have identified a new HIV-suppressing protein in the blood of people infected with the virus. In laboratory studies, the protein, called CXCL4 or PF-4, binds to HIV such that it cannot attach to or enter a human cell.

30 May 2012