Asthma News and Research

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Asthma is a common inflammatory disease affecting the airways that leads to shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing. Symptoms range from mild to severe but are generally manageable with appropriate treatment.

Humana Military announces the URAC re-accreditation for its Case Management Program

Humana Military Healthcare Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), recently received re-accreditation for its Case Management Program from URAC, a Washington, D.C.-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the industry.

9 Sep 2009

Philadelphia MCAN project as model for managing childhood asthma and reducing H1N1 risk

Nearly a dozen 7th graders with asthma were welcomed along with other classmates back to school today by a special guest who had a message for them about staying healthy - Kathleen Sebelius, 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

9 Sep 2009

DOR's Phase 1/2 clinical trial for prevention of radiation enteritis receives NIH grant

DOR BioPharma, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DORB) (DOR or the Company), a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded DOR a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to support the conduct of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating DOR201, a time-release formulation of oral beclomethasone dipropionate (oral BDP), for the prevention of acute radiation enteritis.

8 Sep 2009

Benefits of early exposure to daycare not sustainable

New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking. While young children in daycare definitely do get more illnesses and experience more respiratory symptoms as a result, any perceived protection these exposures afford against asthma and allergy seem to disappear by the time the child hits the age of eight.

8 Sep 2009

PPA bus tour raises awareness of patient assistance programs

The "Help is Here Express" bus tour will be stopping in Kentucky throughout the week of September 8 - 11 at various cities in order to help uninsured and financially-struggling Kentuckians access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free.

5 Sep 2009

Researchers discover the causes for the severity of RSV illness

Approximately one-half of all infants are infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year of life, and almost all children have been infected at least once by the time they reach their second birthday. Researchers at West Virginia University have discovered what makes RSV such a severe and persistent illness.

4 Sep 2009

nSpire Health awarded over $9 million for clinical research trials

nSpire Health, a leading global manufacturer of respiratory diagnostic products and services, announced today clinical trial research services awards of over $9 million in August. The trials awarded by prominent pharmaceutical companies include the company’s eSP™ core lab services, gold standard KoKo® spirometry, and new patent pending PiKoLogic® electronic patient reported outcomes (ePRO) solution.

4 Sep 2009

Positive impact on medication adherence through Aetna's care management program

Aetna announced today results of an analysis from the first half of 2009, demonstrating an average medication adherence of over 95 percent for its members taking Specialty medications. Disease states evaluated in Aetna’s analysis include: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, Crohn's disease, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), psoriasis, Hepatitis C and asthma.

4 Sep 2009

New treatment for vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell patients

GlycoMimetics, Inc. (GMI), a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing a new class of glycobiology-based therapies for a broad range of indications, today announced that a pilot study of the company’s lead candidate, GMI-1070, is underway in sickle cell patients. The first patients in this pilot study were treated at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland in California.

4 Sep 2009

Brown University neuroscience professor awarded EUREKA grant

Brown University neuroscience professor Gilad Barnea will receive a nearly $1.3 million, four-year federal grant toward development of a method to selectively monitor the activation of each of the five receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.

4 Sep 2009

SAFLUTAN launched in United Kingdom and Spain

Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) has launched SAFLUTAN (tafluprost) in the United Kingdom and Spain, and additional launches in other countries are expected over the next several months, pending regulatory approvals, the Company said today.

3 Sep 2009

Damprid's recommendations for tackling seasonal allergy

For America’s 60 million seasonal allergy sufferers, fall can be one of the most difficult times of year as ragweed begins to release its pollen into the air and mold and fungus spores increase due to the decay of leaves and other plants. Each ragweed plant produces one billion pollen grains per average season. This generally continues until the first frost, usually in October.

3 Sep 2009

Aerocrine’s NIOX MINO technology approved in Canada for treating asthma

Aerocrine AB (STO:AEROB) today announced that Health Canada’s Therapeutic Products Directorate has approved Aerocrine’s NIOX MINO® technology for use in treating asthma. Canada’s National Health Service may now begin using the NIOX MINO, a medical device that provides a measure of the degree of inflammation in the airways in a single breath.

3 Sep 2009

Sepracor to be acquired by Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma for $2.6 billion

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. (“DSP”, TSE: 4506) and Sepracor Inc. (“Sepracor”, Nasdaq: SEPR) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which DSP will acquire Sepracor for approximately $2.6 billion through a cash tender offer of $23.00 per share, followed by a merger to acquire all remaining outstanding Sepracor shares at the same price paid in the tender offer.

3 Sep 2009

Department of Health Care Services 2009 Gold Quality Award for SFHP

San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP), the City's community public health plan, today announced that it has received the Department of Health Care Services 2009 Gold Quality Award, ranking the plan as a leader in quality care throughout the state of California for Medi-Cal managed care plans.

2 Sep 2009

Selexis SA and NKT Therapeutics sign research services agreement

Selexis SA ("Selexis") and NKT Therapeutics, Inc. ("NKTT") announce today that they have entered into a research services agreement whereby Selexis will screen antibody variants and generate high performance CHO-based production cell lines using their novel platform named INTEGRA-D2M(TM).

2 Sep 2009

LUNA surgical procedure did not alleviate chronic pelvic pain in women

A surgical procedure known as LUNA (laparoscopic uterosacral nerve ablation) did not result in improvements in chronic pelvic pain, painful menstruation, painful sexual intercourse or quality of life when compared with laparoscopic surgery that does not interrupt pelvic nerve connections, according to a study in the September 2 issue of JAMA.

2 Sep 2009

Nuvo Research's co-operative drug development project with Fraunhofer Institute for developing WF10

Nuvo Research Inc., a Canadian drug development company focused on the research and development of drug products that are delivered to and through the skin using its topical and transdermal drug delivery technologies, and on the development of its immune modulating drug candidate WF10, today announced a co-operative drug development project with the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI in Leipzig, Germany for the preclinical and clinical development of WF10 as a potential treatment for Allergic Rhinitis.

2 Sep 2009

Children's Hospital Oakland converts to Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry technology

Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI), the inventor of Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) and Measure-Through Motion and Low-Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced today that Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland has completed its system-wide conversions to Masimo Rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry technology.

2 Sep 2009

New clinical predictors required to determine future asthma attacks

Screening tests used to predict asthma activity in patients may have little tracking success when applied to people with persistent disease who are adhering to their health care regimens, UT Southwestern Medical Center physician report.

1 Sep 2009