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Two fully automated molecular testing systems for blood and plasma donor screening launched by Roche

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the commercial availability of the cobas 6800/8800 Systems, two integrated and fully automated molecular testing systems for blood and plasma donor screening, in markets accepting the CE mark. The cobas 6800/8800 Systems offer the fastest time to results with the highest throughput available, along with the longest walk-away time, enabling laboratory staff to drive increased workflow efficiencies, while adapting to their ever-changing testing demands.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 2 Sep 2014

Experts to debate healthy labor and delivery practices at Cedars-Sinai Birth Community Day

Doctors, nurses, midwives and doulas will debate healthy labor and delivery practices - including the use of the synthetic hormone Pitocin to hasten childbirth and vitamin K to speed blood clotting in newborns -- at the third annual Cedars-Sinai Birth Community Day, Aug. 14.

13 Aug 2014

National Gay Blood Drive to take place on July 11, 2014

On Friday, July 11, the second annual nationwide National Gay Blood Drive (NGBD) will take place to raise public awareness and increase pressure on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change its policy on the long-standing ban on blood donation by men who have had sex with other men (MSM) – a restriction that has been in place since 1983.

10 Jul 2014

Penn’s immunotherapy receives FDA's Breakthrough Therapy designation for ALL treatment

A University of Pennsylvania-developed personalized immunotherapy has been awarded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Breakthrough Therapy designation for the treatment of relapsed and refractory adult and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

7 Jul 2014

Scientists design new system for molecular blood group typing

Scientists in France have designed a new system for molecular blood group typing that offers blood banks the possibility of extensive screening of blood donors at a relatively low cost. Their approach is described in the current issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.

10 Apr 2014

NBTS Sri Lanka to use Transfusion Evidence Library to ensure quality, safety of blood supply

Evidentia Publishing is pleased to announce that the National Blood Transfusion Service of Sri Lanka will be utilising the Transfusion Evidence Library - a unique, online database providing high quality, evidence-based information for all research related to transfusion medicine - in support of their efforts to ensure quality and safety of blood and blood components.

8 Apr 2014

Celgene subsidiary presents REVLIMID study results on lymphoma at ASH annual meeting

Celgene International Sàrl, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) today announced that results from two studies of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) combinations in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in New Orleans, La.

11 Dec 2013

Growing cord blood stem cells in lab before transplant boosts survival, study finds

Donated umbilical cord blood contains stem cells that can save the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers.

9 Dec 2013

New method for improving cord blood transplant success

Starting with a discovery in zebrafish in 2007, Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers have published initial results of a Phase Ib human clinical trial of a therapeutic that has the potential to improve the success of blood stem cell transplantation.

9 Oct 2013

Phobias, anxiety are typical reasons why many decline to donate blood

As few as 3 percent of Americans eligible to donate blood do, and fear and anxiety are common reasons why many decline to give. U.S. hospitals are always in need of new donors; at Mayo Clinic, that need is heightened by concern about iron deficiency in frequent givers.

11 Sep 2013

Implementation of better blood-management plan changes culture at UAB

Blood is in big demand at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, once the fourth largest user of blood among U.S. hospitals served by the American Red Cross. And although blood transfusions can be life-saving during cancer care, trauma, surgery, transplants and difficult pregnancies, supply doesn't always rise to meet demand.

27 Aug 2013

IGTP, UAB discover first genetic biomarker to detect Lewy body dementia

The Germans Trias i Pujol Health Sciences Research Institute and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have discovered the first genetic biomarker to detect Lewy body dementia, a disease that can be confused with Alzheimer's.

26 Jul 2013

Celgene to discontinue treatment with REVLIMID in phase III ORIGIN trial

Celgene Corporation today announced that after consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Celgene will discontinue treatment with REVLIMID (lenalidomide) in the open-label, phase III ORIGIN trial, which enrolled 450 patients in over 100 sites in 26 countries.

18 Jul 2013

Gay men plan blood donation protest

Gay men plan to try to donate blood Friday in protest to a 1977 policy that bans them from doing so. Also, gay health care rights have changed due to a Supreme Court ruling.

15 Jul 2013

Phase III study: REVLIMID meets primary endpoint in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma

Celgene International Sàrl, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celgene Corporation, today announced that its phase III study (MM-020/IFM 07-01) of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) in combination with dexamethasone in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival.

11 Jul 2013

European Commission amends marketing authorisation for Celgene's REVLIMID

Celgene International Sàrl was today notified that the European Commission has amended the marketing authorisation for REVLIMID. This decision means that REVLIMID is now approved to treat patients with transfusion-dependent anaemia due to low or intermediate-1 risk myelodysplastic syndromes associated with an isolated deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality when other therapeutic options are insufficient or inadequate.

17 Jun 2013

Four studies show that OrSense's non-invasive NBM-200 Hb monitor is safe and accurate

OrSense Ltd., developer of monitors for non-invasive measurements of various blood parameters, announced today that its non-invasive Hemoglobin NBM-200 monitor was the topic of multiple recent studies highlighting the clinical value of the device.

28 May 2013

Prior administration of erythropoietin reduces need for blood transfusions

Anemia increases operative mortality and morbidity in non-cardiac and cardiac surgical procedures. Anemic surgical patients may require more blood transfusions, raising the risk of transfusion-related complications and increasing costs.

7 May 2013

SCCA pioneers new transplant procedures to reduce need for matching bone marrow donors

Patients from ethnic minority and mixed-racial backgrounds are less likely to receive a lifesaving bone marrow transplant than Caucasian patients with the same disease due to lack of matching donors, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

19 Apr 2013

New two-step immunotherapy approach offers new hope for ovarian cancer patients

As many as three quarters of advanced ovarian cancer patients appeared to respond to a new two-step immunotherapy approach -- including one patient who achieved complete remission -- according research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today in a press conference at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 (Presentation #LB-335).

8 Apr 2013