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Secret behind viruses making covert attacks unravelled: Study

Some viruses use a form of disguise to avoid being detected by the body’s immune system. Now researchers from Melbourne have found out the secret behind the Trojan-horse like phenomenon. Gabrielle Belz and her colleagues at Parkville’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cambridge found the key viral gene that was responsible for the phenomenon called K3. The study appeared in the current issue of the Journal of Immunology.

9 Jan 2011

Green tea may help in Alzheimer’s disease: Study

A new study finds that a cup of green tea may protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The researchers looked at the effects of a concentrated green tea extract that had been treated in the laboratory to mimic the effects of normal digestion.

9 Jan 2011

Simple Alzheimer’s disease test developed

The latest research has shown that a simple blood test could detect Alzheimer’s disease. Applying the same technology it could also detect hard-to-detect cancers and other diseases. The study reports appeared this Thursday in the journal Cell.

9 Jan 2011

Malaria drug makes cancer drug more effective

Scientists investigating the cancer-fighting properties of artesunate - a drug commonly used to treat malaria - have found early evidence that combining it with an existing cancer drug has the potential to make each drug more effective than when used alone. They also found that regular treatment breaks could improve success levels.

7 Jan 2011

Infinity provides guidance on anticipated pipeline and business goals for 2011

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today provided guidance on its anticipated pipeline and business goals for 2011. Infinity begins the year with a broad pipeline of four drug candidates in clinical development and a fifth expected to enter the clinic during the year. The company also enters 2011 with approximately $345 million in committed capital.

7 Jan 2011

Scientists identify type of cell at the origin of brain tumors

Scientists have identified the type of cell that is at the origin of brain tumors known as oligodendrogliomas, which are a type of glioma - a category that defines the most common type of malignant brain tumor.

7 Jan 2011

MMRF awards $3 million under 2010 Biotech Investment Awards program

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) today announced that it has awarded $1 million to each of three Boston-area biotech companies through its 2010 Biotech Investment Awards program: Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Epizyme, Inc. and Karyopharm Therapeutics, Inc. Since the inception of this MMRF program in 2006, $11 million has been committed to 11 biotech companies in multi-year, results-driven funding for the development of innovative treatments for patients with multiple myeloma.

7 Jan 2011

Chimerix initiates enrollment in CMX001 clinical study for life-threatening conditions caused by dsDNA viruses

Chimerix, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing orally-available antiviral therapeutics, today announced that patient enrollment has begun in a multicenter, open-label clinical study of CMX001 (the CMX001-350 study) for the treatment of life-threatening or serious conditions caused by double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses.

7 Jan 2011

StemCells $10 million common stock offering to close today

StemCells, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell ten million shares of its common stock to selected institutional investors at a price of $1.00 per share, which represents a 10% discount to the closing price per share of January 6. The offering is expected to close today, subject to customary closing conditions, and StemCells expects to receive net proceeds, after deducting offering expenses and fees, of approximately $9.4 million.

7 Jan 2011

Dendreon provides U.S. commercialization and European strategy updates for PROVENGE

Dendreon Corporation today announced several updates regarding the U.S. commercialization of PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T), the European strategy for PROVENGE, and progress on its pipeline.

7 Jan 2011

BIND Biosciences commences BIND-014 Phase 1 clinical trial in cancer

BIND Biosciences announced today that it has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of BIND-014 in cancer patients. BIND-014, the first product candidate to enter clinical evaluation from BIND's broad proprietary Medicinal Nanoengineering platform, is a targeted polymeric nanoparticle containing the cytotoxic agent, docetaxel.

7 Jan 2011

Single cellular crisis shatters chromosomes in cancer causation

Remarkable new research overthrows the conventional view that cancer always develops in a steady, stepwise progression. It shows that in some cancers, the genome can be shattered into hundreds of fragments in a single cellular catastrophe, wreaking mutation on a massive scale.

7 Jan 2011

Chromosome shattering seen in two to three percent of all cancers

Most of the time cancer seems to creep up gradually over time; cells become premalignant, then increasingly abnormal before they become cancerous. But sometimes cancers seem to pop up as if out of nowhere. Now, researchers reporting in the January 7th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have new evidence to explain how that can happen.

7 Jan 2011

Cell Medica enters EBV-associated cancer research collaboration with CAGT and Baylor College of Medicine

Cell Medica, a leading cellular therapeutics company which develops, manufactures and markets cellular immunotherapy products for the treatment of infectious disease and cancer, is pleased to announce an exclusive license agreement and research collaboration with the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy (CAGT), Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas), for the commercialization of an innovative cell-based treatment for cancers associated with the oncogenic Epstein Barr virus (EBV).

7 Jan 2011

Intrexon Corporation, ZIOPHARM enter partnership to develop, commercialize DNA-based therapeutics

ZIOPHARM Oncology, a small molecule late-stage oncology drug development company, and Intrexon Corporation, a next generation synthetic biology company, announced today a global exclusive channel partnership in oncology where ZIOPHARM will develop and commercialize DNA-based therapeutics using Intrexon's UltraVector Technology.

7 Jan 2011

Study examines link between media consumption, eating disorders among adolescent girls in Fiji

For parents wanting to reduce the negative influence of TV on their children, the first step is normally to switch off the television set. But a new study suggests that might not be enough. It turns out indirect media exposure, i.e., having friends who watch a lot of TV, might be even more damaging to a teenager's body image.

7 Jan 2011

Biomarker study yields diagnostic blood test candidate for detection of Alzheimer's disease

OPKO Health, Inc. today announced the publication of a biomarker study yielding its diagnostic blood test candidate for the detection of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Jan 2011

Cells that give rise to neurons maintain high levels of ROS

For years, the majority of research on reactive oxygen species (ROS) - ions or very small molecules that include free radicals - has focused on how they damage cell structure and their potential link to stroke, cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.

7 Jan 2011

HRG protein inhibits tumor growth and metastasis: Study

Most cancer tissues are invaded by inflammatory cells that either stimulate or inhibit the growth of the tumor, depending on what immune cells are involved. Now a Swedish-Belgian research team has shown that a protein that naturally occurs in the body, HRG, inhibits tumor growth and metastasis into secondary organs by activating specific immune cells.

7 Jan 2011

Generex, Antigen Express and RXi report positive research data from active immunotherapy collaboration

Generex Biotechnology Corporation, together with its wholly-owned immunotherapeutic vaccines subsidiary, Antigen Express, Inc., and RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a recognized leader in RNAi-based therapeutics, today announced that they have obtained positive early research data from their collaboration to explore the use of RXi's RNAi technology to develop proprietary vaccine formulations for active immunotherapy.

7 Jan 2011