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Opinions: Genetically-modified crops can improve vaccines; MDG focus on women and girls; U.S. leadership for MDGs; Boosting access to drugs; Merits of bilateral development assistance

"The U.N. estimates that diarrheal diseases kill 1.8 million people every year. … So you might take it as good news that American company Ventria Bioscience says it has hit on an improvement to existing rehydration therapies, which could mean another tool in the fight against diarrhea," according to a Wall Street Journal editorial examining the delays the company has experienced since it first sought to have its product approved by the FDA back in 2004, even "[a]fter a panel of food, medicine, immunology, child nutrition and health experts had declared its product safe."

23 Sep 2010

Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to initiate clinical trial of new investigational vaccine

At an international gathering of TB vaccine researchers in Tallinn today, the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation announced it will initiate a clinical trial of an investigational live recombinant tuberculosis vaccine to be led by researchers at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The announcement was made at the Second Global Forum on TB Vaccine Development.

23 Sep 2010

Scientists develop humanized mouse model to study typhoid fever

Better treatments and prevention for typhoid fever may emerge from a laboratory model that has just been developed for the disease. The model is based on transplanting human immune stem cells from umbilical cord blood into mice that are susceptible to infections.

23 Sep 2010

Researchers develop drug to eliminate disease transmission by cough

What if there was a drug that could completely eliminate airborne disease transmission that occurs when someone coughs. Researchers at the University of Alberta believe they have found a way to achieve this.

23 Sep 2010

Northwestern Medicine participates in world's first human embryonic stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury

Northwestern Medicine is the first site open for enrollment in a national clinical research trial of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy for participants with a subacute thoracic spinal cord injury. Following the procedure, participants will receive rehabilitation treatment at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC).

23 Sep 2010

Women face sexual function problems after breast cancer

A new study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine looked at whether women were more likely to experience sexual problems after breast cancer. The results showed that 70% of women were facing sexual function problems approximately two years post diagnosis.

23 Sep 2010

Study may help develop preventative treatments for womb infections

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have established in mice the mechanism that detects and responds to the presence of bacteria in the womb a discovery that opens up the possibility of new preventative treatments for diseases like pelvic inflammatory disease and Chlamydia.

23 Sep 2010

Infinity Pharmaceuticals to present IPI-926 inhibitor Phase 1 data at ESMO Congress

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Phase 1 data of its novel Hedgehog pathway inhibitor, IPI-926, will be presented during the 35th Congress of the European Society of Molecular Oncology (ESMO), in Milan, Italy.

23 Sep 2010

Beta-Pro donates human pancreatic islet cells to diabetes researcher

The cellular services company Beta-Pro LLC, announced today that it donated more than 300,000 human pancreatic islet cells to nationally renowned diabetes researcher Raghavendra G. Mirmira, M.D., Ph.D., the Eli Lilly & Co. Professor of Pediatric Diabetes, Indiana University School of Medicine, Herman B.

23 Sep 2010

Anthera Pharmaceuticals closes financing transaction

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain accredited investors in connection with a private placement, or PIPE, financing transaction pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Regulation D promulgated thereunder.

23 Sep 2010

Boehringer Ingelheim to present linagliptin Phase III data at 46th EASD

New Phase III data found that investigational linagliptin therapy resulted in significant reductions in blood sugar as measured by hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) when compared to placebo, both when added to sulfonylurea (SU) in inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients, and when administered as monotherapy in T2D patients for whom metformin is inappropriate.

22 Sep 2010

APF launches new educational initiative for people with pain, health care professionals

The American Pain Foundation today announced the launch of PainSAFE (Pain Safety & Access For Everyone), a new educational initiative designed for people with pain and health care professionals. The mission of PainSAFE is to provide education surrounding the appropriate and safe use of pain management therapies for people affected by pain and health care professionals, thereby, helping to reduce risk and improve access to quality pain care.

22 Sep 2010

Seredor acquires United Sleep Diagnostics to expand sleep diagnostic activities

Continucare Corporation announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Seredor Corporation has further expanded its sleep diagnostic activities through the acquisition of United Sleep Diagnostics, Inc., an operator of sleep diagnostic centers. The acquired business currently operates three independent testing facilities and manages sleep centers at six hospitals located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, Florida.

22 Sep 2010

Nationwide Health Information Network tool to convey public health information

One hundred and sixty-six years after Samuel Morse used dots and dashes to telegraph "What hath God wrought?" opening up a whole new world of communication, Indiana has become the first state in the nation to use a potentially equally revolutionary tool, the Nationwide Health Information Network, to convey public health information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

22 Sep 2010

Scientists develop new therapy for treatment of skin, lung cancer

Scientists at the University of Granada have developed a new therapy for the treatment of skin and lung cancer. This therapy involves the use of a suicide coliphage-gene (gene E) that can induce death to cells transfected with it.. Their studies have demostrated that this technique is not only effective in vitro (using tumour cell cultures), but also in vivo through the use of experimental animals in which tumours were induced.

22 Sep 2010

Titan completes enrollment in Probuphine Phase 3 study for opioid addiction

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that patient enrollment is now complete in the confirmatory, Phase 3 clinical study of Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction. This placebo and active controlled Phase 3 study is being conducted at 20 sites in the United States and the results are expected in the second quarter of 2011, about three months ahead of the original schedule.

22 Sep 2010

Vascular Disease Foundation honors UCSD professor with President's Award for Vision

The Vascular Disease Foundation has awarded Michael Criqui, MD, MPH, professor and chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, one of its highest honors, the President's Award for Vision. The award was presented at the VDF's annual meeting in Alexandria, Virginia on September 20.

22 Sep 2010

Researchers investigate performance levels of resident and staff physicians

Research on the quality of US resident physician performance levels has often been limited by lack of a comparison group or strict focus on specific diseases and geographical areas. In order to gain insight on differences in quality of care provided by resident physicians versus staff physicians, Boston Medical Center and Palo Alto Medical Foundation researchers investigated performance of physicians in 33,900 hospital-based outpatient visits throughout the US.

22 Sep 2010

Paper calls for revision of STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy

The European Society of Cardiology welcomes a paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology highlighting concerns over the use of oxygen therapy during MI in patients with normal oxygen levels. The publication adds to calls for revision of the STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy and for a prospective, large scale randomised trials, issues that were both first raised in a Cochrane Review published in June.

22 Sep 2010

Usage of rapid response teams mask systemic problems in hospitals' care for sickest patients

The growing use of rapid response teams dispatched by hospitals to evaluate patients whose conditions have suddenly deteriorated may be masking systemic problems in how hospitals care for their sickest patients, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert.

22 Sep 2010