Antibiotic News and Research

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Antibiotics are drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other microorganisms.

Bacterial DNA reveals a rise in antibiotic resistant genes

Antibiotic resistance in the natural environment is rising despite tighter controls over our use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, Newcastle University scientists have found.

24 Dec 2009

AstraZeneca signs definitive agreement to acquire Novexel

Novexel, a speciality pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibiotics designed to overcome the significant global problem of microbial drug resistance, announces today that its shareholders have signed a definitive agreement whereby Novexel shall be acquired by AstraZeneca for a total cash consideration of up to $505 million, including contingent payments and the net cash position of the company at closing.

24 Dec 2009

GlobalPost examines antibiotic resistance in China

GlobalPost examines antibiotic resistance and overprescribing in China. The country "has high rates of antibiotic resistance and a health care system that provides strong financial incentives for over-prescribing antibiotics.

23 Dec 2009

Brazilian researchers perform autopsy study to examine the causes H1N1 death

Brazilian researchers have performed the first-ever autopsy study to examine the precise causes of death in victims of the H1N1 swine flu.

23 Dec 2009

Researchers develop new approach for treating and healing skin abscesses

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a new approach for treating and healing skin abscesses caused by bacteria resistant to most antibiotics.

23 Dec 2009

New community-associated strain of MRSA more apt to cause serious problems

The often feared and sometimes deadly infections caused by MRSA - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - are now moving out of hospitals and emerging as an even more virulent strain in community settings and on athletic teams, and raising new concerns about antibiotic resistance.

23 Dec 2009

AdvanDx receives FDA clearance for its 90 minutes PNA FISH protocol

AdvanDx today announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for a fast, 90 minutes protocol for its E. coli/P. aeruginosa PNA FISH® and EK/P. aeruginosa PNA FISH® tests. The faster protocol reduces the PNA FISH turn-around time from the original 2.5 hours to 90 minutes by reducing PNA probe hybridization from 90 minutes to 30 minutes.

22 Dec 2009

Health Canada approves Prevnar 13 vaccine for invasive pneumococcal disease

Following a Priority Review, Health Canada has approved Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine (Diphtheria CRM197 Protein)) for children aged six weeks through five years for active immunization against invasive pneumococcal disease, a bacterial infection that can include meningitis (inflammation of the coverings of the brain and spinal cord), sepsis (bloodstream infection), bacteremic pneumonia, pleural empyema (accumulation of pus in the cavity surrounding the lungs) and bacteremia (bacteria in the blood).

22 Dec 2009

Rifampicin resistant tuberculosis

Scientists have identified a strain of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis that thrives in the presence of rifampin, a front-line drug in the treatment of tuberculosis. The bacterium was identified in a patient in China and is described in a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Chongqing Pulmonary Hospital, Lanzhou University and Fudan University.

22 Dec 2009

Durata Therapeutics acquires Vicuron Pharmaceuticals

Durata Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has acquired Vicuron Pharmaceuticals from Pfizer (PFE). Durata is a newly formed biopharmaceutical company that was created by a five-member venture capital syndicate to pursue late-stage clinical development of novel antibiotic programs. The acquisition was funded through a stock purchase by New Leaf Venture Partners, LLC, Domain Associates, LLC, Aisling Capital, Sofinnova Ventures Inc. and Canaan Partners.

21 Dec 2009

Neogen reports record net income for second-quarter fiscal 2010

Neogen Corporation announced today that its net income for the second quarter of FY 2010, which ended Nov. 30, increased 18% from the previous year's second quarter. Adjusted for a 3-for-2 stock split effective Dec. 15, net income in the quarter rose to $0.20 per share, compared to the prior year's $0.17. Neogen's second quarter net income of $4,610,000 set another quarterly record for the 27-year-old company.

19 Dec 2009

Medical liability concerns lead to overprescription of antibiotics

A new study led by a team of researchers at New York Medical College suggests that that medical liability concerns may be playing a role in the increase of MRSA in healthcare settings by encouraging clinicians to prescribe antibiotics more often and more broadly than clinical circumstances and evidence-based guidelines warrant. The study appeared in the September-October issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics.

19 Dec 2009

New ways of treating infections identified by researchers at Binghamton University

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have identified three key regulators required for the formation and development of biofilms. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating chronic infections.

19 Dec 2009

PolyMedix completes first two segments of its PMX-30063 antibiotic drug candidate Phase 1B study

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company developing acute care products for infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has successfully completed the first two segments of a Phase 1B clinical safety study with its novel antibiotic drug candidate PMX-30063.

18 Dec 2009

Cubist Pharmaceuticals acquires Calixa Therapeutics

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading acute care therapeutics company has completed its previously announced acquisition of Calixa Therapeutics Inc.,

17 Dec 2009

Majority of Canadians confuse sinusitis with H1N1 symptoms

It's winter, that great Canadian season of snow, ice, grey skies...and colds and the flu. In a year when H1N1 is high on everyone's radar, it is more important than ever for Canadians to know what their symptoms mean and when they should see their doctor.

17 Dec 2009

Nanotherapeutics acquires Ramoplanin clinical program from Oscient Pharmaceuticals

Nanotherapeutics, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced that it has acquired in bankruptcy proceedings two late stage clinical programs: Ramoplanin from Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corporation and PRX-3140 from EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

16 Dec 2009

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings' Restanza promising against tularemia

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADLS), today announced positive top-line results from a pivotal, non-human primate study of its novel, once-a-day, oral antibiotic Restanza(TM) (cethromycin) against an inhaled lethal dose of tularemia. A 14-day course of Restanza achieved a 100% survival rate at the doses tested. All of the ten animals in the study that received 16 mg/kg once-a-day of Restanza (approximate to a human dose of 300 mg) within 24 hours after exposure to a lethal dose of inhaled tularemia survived while only one of the ten animals that received placebo survived.

16 Dec 2009

MRSA, the most concerning pathogen to surveyed for skin and skin structure infections

Arlington Medical Resources (AMR) and Decision Resources find that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most concerning pathogen to surveyed European infectious disease specialists with regard to their treatment of skin and skin structure infections.

16 Dec 2009

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals and MGH enter into collaborative research agreement

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs for the treatment of serious multi-drug-resistant infections announced today it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

16 Dec 2009