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Idera Pharmaceuticals reports net loss of $1.9M for first-quarter 2010

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of DNA- and RNA-based drug candidates targeted to Toll-like Receptors, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

5 May 2010

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

Clinical development of RG7128 is on track: Pharmasset

Pharmasset, Inc., in response to certain inaccuracies in an article published by PharmaWire on May 3, 2010 about its development program for treatment of hepatitis C virus in collaboration with Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. and F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, stated today that the development of RG7128 is on track, and that no safety or other concerns have delayed the program.

4 May 2010

Vanda reports total revenue of $12.4 million for first-quarter 2010

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of clinical-stage products for central nervous system disorders, today announced financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

4 May 2010

HGH improves athletic performance: Study

A study released today in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, finds that human growth hormone improves sprint capacity in healthy recreational athletes. This is the first trial to demonstrate that HGH improves athletic performance.

4 May 2010

Research makes progress in ending guesswork involved in prescribing effective ADHD medications

Children with ADHD who carry a specific type of dopamine receptor gene respond better to the drug methylphenidate than those without the genotype, according to new research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

4 May 2010

Algal DHA improves memory function in healthy aging adults: MIDAS

The Memory Improvement with Docosahexaenoic acid Study published online this week in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association showed that algal DHA improved memory function in healthy aging adults, providing a benefit roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone three years younger.

4 May 2010

Ocera Therapeutics presents Phase 2 proof-of-concept study results of AST-120 in non-constipating IBS

Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. presented results yesterday from a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study of AST-120 (spherical carbon adsorbent) in the treatment of patients with non-constipating Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) at DDW, the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association. Data showed that subjects treated with AST-120 responded in a consistent manner with reduction in pain better than placebo at week four and at week eight, the primary time point for analysis. The company plans to initiate a Phase 2b study evaluating AST-120 in non-constipating IBS.

4 May 2010

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals presents Phase 2 cobiprostone clinical trial data at DDW 2010

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today presented results of a phase 2 clinical trial of cobiprostone, an investigational drug, for the prevention of gastric ulcers and other gastrointestinal injuries in patients treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These data were presented at the Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2010 conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the distinguished abstract plenary session.

4 May 2010

Array BioPharma reports 18.4M revenue for third-quarter fiscal 2010

Array BioPharma Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

4 May 2010

Growth hormone boosts sprinting capacity in athletes but may have serious side effects

Human Growth Hormone (hGH) has long been used among athletes and body builders for stronger and a more muscular bodies over the past four decades. However it is only now that Sydney-based researchers have published a study that shows that hGH offers no such benefits.

3 May 2010

FDA approves Abbott's CREON sNDA including dosing guidance for treating EPI due to CP, pancreatectomy

Abbott announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for CREON® (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules that now includes dosing guidance in the prescribing information specific to patients with limited production of enzymes in the pancreas (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency) due to chronic pancreatitis (CP) or removal of the pancreas (pancreatectomy). Prior to this FDA approval, dosing guidance for medications such as CREON was based on patients with cystic fibrosis.

3 May 2010

Protein test to determine response of lung cancer patients to erlotinib

Testing for the presence of specific cancer protein 'fingerprints' in the blood of lung cancer patients may be a useful means of identifying a subgroup whose tumors are more likely to shrink when treated with the drug erlotinib, especially when other testing methods are unavailable, according to new data presented at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

3 May 2010

New classification of depressive subtypes of depression proposed

Lichtenberg and Belmaker propose a new classification of depressive subtypes of depression in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. They argue that a simple diagnosis is no longer sufficient to guide treatment.

3 May 2010

FDA oks 'vaccine' to treat prostate cancer

Provenge, developed by Dendreon Corporation, is the first approved "treatment that uses a so-called cancer vaccine, a drug that trains the body's own immune system to fight the disease," The New York Times reports.

3 May 2010

Preclinical safety data reports Natural S-equol has little effect on 2 reproductive hormones

Natural S-equol, a novel soy germ-based compound, is very likely the primary ingredient for reducing hot flushes in the dietary supplement SE5-OH, which is under development for reduction of menopause symptoms, according to pre-clinical efficacy data from studies using an animal model presented at the Experimental Biology 2010 annual meeting.

3 May 2010

Results from VeriStrat biomarker analysis of Phase III trial presented at European Lung Cancer Conference

Results from the VeriStrat biomarker analysis of a multicenter Phase III trial were presented today at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference currently being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Results showed that the VeriStrat test identified patients who were likely to have a survival benefit from treatment with erlotinib, a commonly prescribed oral therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

3 May 2010

Researchers find better way to prep patients for colonoscopy procedures

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital may have found a better way to prep patients for colonoscopy procedures so they no longer need to drink a gallon of prescribed fluids prior to the procedure.

3 May 2010

Vitamin E effective in treating NASH: Study

Vitamin E has been shown effective in treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, an obesity-associated chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death. NASH also is related to or a part of type 2 diabetes, lipid disorders and cardiovascular disease.

3 May 2010

NovaBay to present data on Aganocide compounds at ARVO annual meeting

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the latest public data on its Aganocide® compounds, a new class of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, will be presented during three poster sessions at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

30 Apr 2010