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Columbia Asia opens new hospitals in India and Malaysia

Columbia Asia, a fast-growing hospital company with Pacific Northwest roots, has opened hospitals in two cities near New Delhi, India, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

23 Dec 2010

Promising initial data from STABLE clinical trial for endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection

Study investigators reported positive steps in Cook Medical's efforts to gain FDA approval of the treatment assessed in the STABLE clinical trial, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a proximal endograft and a distal uncovered stent for the endovascular treatment of Type B aortic dissection for purposes of seeking FDA approval. The findings were presented by Dr. Joseph Lombardi at the 37th annual VEITHsymposium.

23 Dec 2010

BioTime enters MTA with UC to make research-grade hES cell lines

BioTime, Inc. today announced a material transfer agreement (MTA) with the University of California (UC) system to make five research-grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines available to UC system researchers. These lines are genetically identical to a bank of GMP-compliant hES cell lines that will be made available to California-based researchers under a recent agreement between BioTime and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

23 Dec 2010

Sequenom CMM authorizes SensiGene T21 LDT clinical validation study

Sequenom, Inc. today announced that the company's wholly-owned reference laboratory, the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine (Sequenom CMM), has authorized commencement of a pivotal clinical validation study. This validation study is designed to evaluate the clinical performance of the SensiGene T21 Laboratory Developed Test (LDT) for the detection of an overabundance in maternal blood of chromosome 21, which is associated with fetal chromosome 21 aneuploidy.

23 Dec 2010

Researchers find 37° C body temperature is warm enough to ward off fungal infection

Two researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that our 98.6° F (37° C) body temperature strikes a perfect balance: warm enough to ward off fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.

23 Dec 2010

Vatican issues communique to clarify Pope's statement on condoms

"The Vatican on Tuesday issued its most authoritative clarification on Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks that condoms could sometimes be used for disease prevention, saying that the pope in no way justified their use to prevent pregnancy," the New York Times reports (Donadio, 12/21).

23 Dec 2010

Research: Arsenic trioxide may benefit individuals with connective brain tumors

Arsenic is usually thought of as a poison. Despite this, it has been used in medicine for over 2000 years, and the arsenic compound arsenic trioxide (ATO) is FDA approved for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

23 Dec 2010

Certain drugs may block tumor host interactions but do not destroy cancer cells

A class of drugs thought to kill cancer cells may in fact block "cross talk" between the cancer cell and normal immune cells, resulting in reduced cancer growth and spread-a discovery that could significantly alter the way cancer drugs are evaluated in the future.

23 Dec 2010

Enrollment begins in Phase 2 trial of RegeneRx’s RGN-259 in dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patient has been screened and is being enrolled in a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the Company's drug candidate RGN-259 in patients with dry eye associated with graft vs. host disease. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, investigator-sponsored trial is expected to enroll a total of 20 patients over the next several months, with data reported later in 2011. RGN-259 is a sterile, preservative-free topical eye drop formulation of the novel therapeutic peptide Thymosin beta 4, or Tβ4.

23 Dec 2010

Patients with over expression of P-Rex1 protein are more likely to develop cancer metastasis

Overexpression or hyperactivation of ErbB cell-surface receptors drives the growth of many breast cancers. Drugs, like Herceptin, that block the receptors' signals halt tumor progression in some patients.

23 Dec 2010

Amylin, Lilly submit BYETTA sNDA for type 2 diabetes

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced that a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the expanded use of BYETTA® (exenatide) injection as an add-on therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or a thiazolidinedione (TZD) in conjunction with diet and exercise for adults with type 2 diabetes who are not achieving adequate glycemic control.

23 Dec 2010

Researchers discover protein that suppresses melanoma progression

In a breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for patients with malignant melanoma, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that a particular protein suppresses the progression of melanoma through regulation of an oncogene, or gene responsible for cancer growth. The study is published in the December 23 issue of Nature.

23 Dec 2010

NCI grants U-M Cancer Center $10.7M for study of colorectal and pancreatic cancer

The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a five-year $10.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

23 Dec 2010

TMEM106B gene appears to protect against frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Neuroscientists had assumed that a mutation in the progranulin gene, which makes the progranulin protein and supports brain neurons, was sufficient to produce a kind of dementia known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration. But now an international team of scientists led by researchers at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida have found another genetic factor they say appears to protect against the disorder in progranulin mutation carriers.

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Novartis' Amturnide for treatment of high blood pressure

Today Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amturnide (aliskiren, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets for the treatment of high blood pressure. Amturnide combines the only approved direct renin inhibitor worldwide, Tekturna (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

23 Dec 2010

Researchers perform cord blood cell transplantation to treat child with ischemic brain injury

In three monthly injections, researchers transplanted neurally-committed, autologous cord blood derived cells tagged with iron oxide nanoparticles into the lateral cerebral ventricle of a 16-month old child with severe global hypoxic ischemic brain injury.

22 Dec 2010

Teen birth rate at a seven decade low: Report

Figures reveal that fewer teenagers are giving birth and the numbers are a seventy year low. Reasons are not specified but two decades of public-health initiatives to curb teenage pregnancy may be paying off feel experts. Report co author Brady Hamilton, a statistician at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics said, “One of the biggest highlights is the continuing decline in teen births -- down to record lows.”

22 Dec 2010

Snowblowers can cause severe hand injuries during winter

It's the peak season for snowstorms, and snowblowers are working overtime. But Loyola University Health System hand surgeon Dr. Randy Bindra cautions that snowblowers can cause severe hand injuries, including loss of fingers that can require one or more surgeries and months of rehabilitation.

22 Dec 2010

Earlier ART initiation should be highest priority for global expansion of HIV patient care

Earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy should be the highest priority for global expansion of HIV patient care. This finding, from a paper published in this week's PLoS Medicine, should help resource-limited nations to phase in the implementation of the new 2010 WHO recommendations for HIV treatment. "Immediate scale-up of the entire WHO guideline package may be prohibitively expensive in some settings," said lead author Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.

22 Dec 2010

RadNet to acquire Imaging On Call

RadNet, Inc., a national leader in providing high-quality, cost-effective, fixed-site outpatient diagnostic imaging services through a network of 198 fully-owned and operated outpatient imaging centers, today reported it has executed a definitive agreement to acquire Imaging On Call, LLC for $5.5 million plus contingent compensation of up to an additional $2.5 million if Imaging On Call achieves certain 2011 performance milestones.

22 Dec 2010