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Potential vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis developed

Development of a fundamentally new "candidate," or potential, vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis), a parasitic disease that kills about 60,000 people annually, is reported in the current issue of ACS Chemical Biology. Spread by the bite of infected female sand flies, visceral leishmaniasis infects about 500,000 people annually, with the majority of cases occurring in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil.

26 Apr 2006

Anxiogenic-like effect of chronic corticosterone in the light-dark emergence task in mice

Neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School and its affiliate McLean Hospital have shown that long-term exposure to stress hormone in mice directly results in the anxiety that often comes with depression.

18 Apr 2006

Nimesulide fights breast cancer by targeting key enzyme

A pain-killing medication appears to halt the production of an enzyme that is key to a common form of breast cancer, a new study using tissue cultures suggests.

16 Apr 2006

First gene therapy human trial in the United States for a form of muscular dystrophy under way

The clinical trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tests the safety and effectiveness of a therapy that was developed over two decades by scientists at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh.

16 Apr 2006

Dasatinib provides significant benefit in chronic myeloid leukemia patients resistant to Gleevec

A study led by researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has found that dasatinib provides significant benefit in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients resistant to Gleevec. (imatinib), according to a study presented during the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

11 Apr 2006

Lack of response to herceptin may be reversed with PI3K inhibiting agents

Breast cancer patients with HER2-positive tumors who don't respond to Herceptin (trastuzumab) may benefit from cocktail therapy that includes Herceptin along with one or more PI3K inhibiting agents, say researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

11 Apr 2006

MPD Foundation funds research for incurable blood disorders

The Myeloproliferative Disorders Foundation has awarded $750,000 to establish the MPD Research Alliance, a collaboration of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic to accelerate drug development for incurable, progressive bone marrow disorders.

11 Apr 2006

Drug trial disaster will discourage future volunteers

According to the British government agency responsible for medical safety, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), no evidence has been found to suggest there were any problems with the manufacturing of a drug which left six volunteers seriously ill.

6 Apr 2006

New mouse model technology in cancer vaccine tool-box

Cancer vaccines are being investigated in early-phase clinical trials around the world, with many of those trials recruiting patients with melanoma.

4 Apr 2006

New device could cut chemotherapy deaths

A new method of delivering chemotherapy to cancer patients without incurring side effects such as hair loss and vomiting is being developed.

31 Mar 2006

Inducing melanoma for cancer vaccine development

Cancer vaccines are being investigated in early-phase clinical trials around the world, with many of those trials recruiting patients with melanoma.

28 Mar 2006

Gene therapy treatment for brain tumours and infections

In a study published in the March 15 issue of The Journal of Immunology, researchers at Board of Governors' Gene Therapeutics Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have developed a way to overcome immune privilege in the brain to eradicate potentially deadly brain tumors such as glioblastoma multiforme and other types of brain infections.

27 Mar 2006

EntreMed announces new U.S. Patent - "Estrogenic Compounds as Anti-Mitotic Agents"

EntreMed has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 7,012,070 covering methods of treatment for a broad range of indications with its lead clinical-stage compound, 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2).

17 Mar 2006

Bioniche granted patent for oligonucleotide technology

Bioniche Life Sciences has announced that it has been granted a European patent - EP1432450 - covering the composition and use of a novel oligonucleotide family for the treatment of cancer entitled: "Therapeutically Useful Triethyleneglycol Cholesteryl Oligonucleotides"

17 Mar 2006

New agreement on Chinese malaria vaccine candidate

In a move that promises to expand the clinical testing of another promising malaria vaccine candidate, the US-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and the Chinese company Shanghai Wanxing Bio-Pharmaceuticals today announced an agreement that supports the development of a pediatric malaria vaccine against Plasmodium (P.) falciparum, the most deadly strain of malaria.

15 Mar 2006

Trial explores safety and efficacy of injecting human stem cells directly into the brain to treat fatal pediatric neurodegenerative disorder

Researchers in Doernbecher Children's Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University will begin a Phase I clinical trial using stem cells in infants and children with a rare neurodegenerative disorder that affects infants and children.

13 Mar 2006