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FDA extends Acorda Therapeutics' Fampridine-SR PDUFA goal date

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the PDUFA goal date for its review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for Fampridine-SR to January 22, 2010. The original Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date for this priority review application was October 22, 2009.

22 Oct 2009

Scientists explore new molecular insights for treating anxiety disorders

There are increasingly precise molecular insights into ways that stress exposure leads to fear and through which fear extinction resolves these fear states. Extinction is generally regarded as new inhibitory learning, but where the inhibition originates from remains to be determined.

22 Oct 2009

Electronic eye implant mimics human retina; restores partial vision

A 50-year-old New York woman who was diagnosed with a progressive blinding disease at age 13 was implanted with an experimental electronic eye implant that has partially restored her vision. A team led by Dr. Lucian V. Del Priore at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the June 26 surgery -- the first case of its kind in New York.

22 Oct 2009

NIH awards $3.7 million to Johns Hopkins scientists for research on stem cells developed from ALS patients' skin

Johns Hopkins scientists have been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to learn more about the nerve and muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using stem cells developed from ALS patients' skin. The award, given over a two-year span, will be shared with three other laboratories, including one at Harvard University and two at Columbia University.

22 Oct 2009

St. Jude Medical's quadripolar pacing system receives European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced it has received European CE Mark approval for the industry’s first quadripolar pacing system for cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds). The quadripolar system offers physicians the ability to more effectively and efficiently manage the ever-changing pacing needs of patients with heart failure.

21 Oct 2009

Amputation prevention tips for diabetic patients

While "One Foot, Two Foot, Red Foot, Blue Foot" may be the opening line of a humorous children's book by Dr. Seuss, foot complications are no laughing matter to the 20 million Americans with diabetes. According to the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS), ulceration, infection, and gangrene are the most common foot and ankle problems of the diabetic patient.

21 Oct 2009

Researchers show how to make stem cell therapies safer for spinal injury patients

Animal research is suggesting new ways to aid recovery after spinal cord injury. New studies demonstrate that diet affects recovery rate and show how to make stem cell therapies safer for spinal injury patients. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

21 Oct 2009

Retinal prosthesis restores partial vision to people who are totally blind

Two experimental treatments, a retinal prosthesis and fetal tissue transplant, restored some vision to people with blinding eye diseases. The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health, may lead to new treatments for the blind. Researchers also reported that an engineered protein restored vision in an animal model and identified ways to improve stem cell treatments.

21 Oct 2009

New cutting edge nerve procedure relieves migraine permanently

The Plastic Surgery Center today announced that a 57-year-old Plainfield man reports he is free of constant headache pain after undergoing a new cutting edge nerve procedure to permanently eliminate pain caused by migraines. The procedure was performed by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Matthew Kaufman, of the Plastic Surgery Center in New Jersey on August 4, 2009.

21 Oct 2009

Senate health bill negotiators discussing, debating versions of public option

Senator Max Baucus says there is still the possibility for some sort of public option in the Senate health bill, though he doubts it can get 60 votes, as Majority Leader Harry Reid negotiates to shape the final legislation.

21 Oct 2009

Human neural stem cells protect cone photoreceptors: StemCells preclinical data

StemCells, Inc. announced today new preclinical data showing that its human neural stem cells protect cone photoreceptors (cones) in the eye from progressive degeneration and preserve visual function long term.

20 Oct 2009

Researchers use biotechnological tools to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease

No one has yet found a cure or a way to prevent people from developing Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, among others, are breaking new ground in biotechnology to find new tools that can help provide new solutions.

20 Oct 2009

First Edition: October 20, 2009

A new poll finds increased support for a public insurance plan in health reform just as Senate leaders discuss and debate in closed door meetings the various versions of this approach that might still draw enough votes to gain passage.

20 Oct 2009

Remote-controlled robot for testing visual prosthesis

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a remote-controlled robot that is able to simulate the "visual" experience of a blind person who has been implanted with a visual prosthesis, such as an artificial retina.

20 Oct 2009

Testicular cancer survivors at risk of effective treatment

Testicular cancer survivors can face an increased risk of long-term illness, not because of the malignancy, but the highly effective treatment they receive, according to a study in the urology journal BJUI.

20 Oct 2009

Tel Aviv University develops scaffold to regenerate damaged bones and tissues

Mother Nature has provided the lizard with a unique ability to regrow body tissue that is damaged or torn ― if its tail is pulled off, it grows right back. She has not been quite so generous with human beings. But we might be able to come close, thanks to new research from Tel Aviv University.

20 Oct 2009

NIH funded regeneration research to be presented at Society for Neuroscience annual meeting

Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts. Newts, for example, can lose a leg and grow a new one identical to the original. Zebrafish can re-grow fins.

20 Oct 2009

Children with neurological disorders have low skin temperature

Many wheelchair-using children with neurological disorders have much colder hands and feet than other children, and most receive no special help even though they have had these problems for a long time, is revealed in at thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

19 Oct 2009

New 3D scaffolding technology may help grow skin and blood vessels in labs

Scientists are developing new scaffolding technology which could be used to grow tissues such as skin, nerves and cartilage using 3D spaghetti-like structures. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, the quarterly highlights magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

19 Oct 2009

Researchers find the genetic mutation that is linked with changes in brain development

For decades, scientists have thought the faulty neural wiring that predisposes individuals to behavioral disorders like autism and psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia must occur during development. Even so, no one has ever shown that a risk gene for the disease actually disrupts brain development.

19 Oct 2009