Preclinical News and Research

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Anticancer siRNA therapy advances, thanks to nanoparticles

Small pieces of nucleic acid, known as siRNAs (short interfering RNAs), can turn off the production of specific proteins, a property that makes them one of the more promising new classes of anticancer drugs in development. Indeed, at least two siRNA-based anticancer therapies, both delivered to tumors in nanoparticles, have begun human clinical trials. Now, three new reports highlight the progress that researchers are making in developing broadly applicable, nanoparticle-enabled siRNA anticancer therapeutics.

28 Mar 2008

Experimental drug SGX393 offers new approach to help control drug resistance in leukemia

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have found that an experimental drug known as SGX393 is effective against Gleevec-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

25 Mar 2008

PharmAthene signs agreement to acquire biodefense vaccines business from Avecia

PharmAthene, Inc., a biodefense company specializing in the development and commercialization of medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, and Avecia Biologics Limited, a contract manufacturer of biopharmaceuticals, has announced that the companies have entered into a definitive sale and purchase agreement under which PharmAthene will acquire all of the assets and intellectual property related to Avecia's biodefense vaccines business.

24 Mar 2008

NanoBio completes interim analysis of phase 2 clinical trial in onychomycosis

NanoBio Corporation has announced that it has seen promising results from an interim analysis of its phase 2 study of NB-002, a topical lotion for onychomycosis (nail fungus). Although the details remain confidential, the results clearly justify completing the study, according to NanoBio scientists

24 Mar 2008

EpiCept announces opinion by European Regulatory Authority on Ceplene

EpiCept Corporation has announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), has issued, as expected following the trend vote announced last month, a negative opinion regarding the marketing authorization application (MAA) for Ceplene (histamine dihydrochloride) for the remission maintenance and prevention of relapse of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in first remission.

24 Mar 2008

Russell Berrie Foundation donates $28 million for diabetes research

The Russell Berrie Foundation has donated $28 million to Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, as part of a focused effort to provide comprehensive care to diabetes patients while working, through concentrated research initiatives, toward a cure, the Medical Center gratefully announced today.

20 Mar 2008

MedImmune advances clinical development of antibody targeting interleukin-9 in patients with asthma

MedImmune has announced that its clinical program studying an investigational treatment targeting interleukin-9 (IL-9) has advanced with the start of a new trial in patients with asthma.

19 Mar 2008

Compound found in soybeans may halt spread of prostate cancer

A compound found in soybeans almost completely prevented the spread of human prostate cancer in mice, according to a study published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

17 Mar 2008

Lilly and Transition Therapeutics announce licensing and collaboration agreement

Eli Lilly and Company and Transition Therapeutics Inc. has announced that the two companies have entered into a licensing and collaboration agreement granting Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Transition's gastrin based therapies, including the lead compound TT-223, which is currently in early Phase II testing.

14 Mar 2008

Novel brain cancer drug HhAntag for children may damage bones

A novel drug that fully eliminated brain tumors from mice in a dramatic 2004 study has shown a darker side - causing permanent bone damage in younger mice.

11 Mar 2008

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

Drug resistance is making many diseases increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible to treat, according to Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Mar 2008

Drinking black tea might help combat type 2 diabetes

In an unexpected discovery Scottish scientists have found that black tea may help combat type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

5 Mar 2008

Experimental cancer drug MI-219 promising in preclinical studies

Researchers have long searched for a novel cancer drug that activates a certain protein to kill tumor cells.

4 Mar 2008

FDA approves Aloxi injection for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting

Eisai Corporation of North America, its U.S. subsidiary, MGI PHARMA, INC., and Helsinn Healthcare SA today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) injection for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) for up to 24 hours following surgery.

4 Mar 2008

Preclinical antitumor efficacy evaluation of dendrimer-based methotrexate conjugates

Although a variety of nanoparticles continue to show promise for improving cancer imaging and therapy, regulators and drug developers are concerned that these delivery systems may prove difficult to manufacture on a consistent basis, which is key for any agent designed for use in humans.

3 Mar 2008

Mouse model tightly matches pediatric tumor syndrome, will speed drug hunt

Frustrated by the slow pace of new drug development for a condition that causes pediatric brain tumors, a neurologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis decided to try to fine-tune the animal models used to test new drugs.

3 Mar 2008

Simple screening questionnaire for kidney disease outperforms current clinical practice guidelines

The general public is not sufficiently aware that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious and progressive medical condition.

1 Mar 2008

Stress and fear affects cancer's recurrence

After the surgical removal of a malignant tumor, the chance that cancer will re-appear in a different location of the body remains high.

28 Feb 2008

Discovery of potential drug targets for sepsis

"We have identified a key connection of signaling pathways in the cascade of events leading to sepsis. This defines a crucial point where the immune system spirals out of control to cause severe sepsis and where there is an opportunity for therapeutic intervention," says Scripps Research Professor Wolfram Ruf, who led the research with his postdoctoral fellow Frank Niessen.

28 Feb 2008

Nasal vaccine for smallpox protects animals against 77 times the potentially lethal dose of smallpox

Scientists at NanoBio Corporation and the University of Michigan have demonstrated their nasally delivered vaccinia vaccine can protect animals against 77 times the potentially lethal dose of smallpox, and without the safety risks of current vaccines for smallpox.

27 Feb 2008

Preclinical News and Research

Anticancer siRNA therapy advances, thanks to nanoparticles

Experimental drug SGX393 offers new approach to help control drug resistance in leukemia

PharmAthene signs agreement to acquire biodefense vaccines business from Avecia

NanoBio completes interim analysis of phase 2 clinical trial in onychomycosis

EpiCept announces opinion by European Regulatory Authority on Ceplene

Russell Berrie Foundation donates $28 million for diabetes research

MedImmune advances clinical development of antibody targeting interleukin-9 in patients with asthma

Compound found in soybeans may halt spread of prostate cancer

Lilly and Transition Therapeutics announce licensing and collaboration agreement

Novel brain cancer drug HhAntag for children may damage bones

Tackling antimicrobial resistance

Drinking black tea might help combat type 2 diabetes

Experimental cancer drug MI-219 promising in preclinical studies

FDA approves Aloxi injection for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting

Preclinical antitumor efficacy evaluation of dendrimer-based methotrexate conjugates

Mouse model tightly matches pediatric tumor syndrome, will speed drug hunt

Simple screening questionnaire for kidney disease outperforms current clinical practice guidelines

Stress and fear affects cancer's recurrence

Discovery of potential drug targets for sepsis

Nasal vaccine for smallpox protects animals against 77 times the potentially lethal dose of smallpox

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