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Alkermes' VIVITROL medication for treatment of opioid dependence

Alkermes, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved VIVITROL(naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) for the prevention of relapse to opioid dependence, following opioid detoxification.

13 Oct 2010

DSM, BRAIN announce strategic cooperation to develop water-soluble vitamins

DSM Nutritional Products GmbH, a subsidiary of the Dutch company Royal DSM N.V., the world's primary supplier of vitamins, carotenoids and fine chemicals and BRAIN AG, one of the leading European white biotechnology companies, announced a strategic cooperation in the biotechnological production of water-soluble vitamins.

12 Oct 2010

New combination technique improves study of protein characterization

Using a combination of high-powered computers and advanced experimental magnetic resonance data, a Florida State University biophysical chemist has developed techniques that improve the way scientists can study and predict the structure and dynamics of proteins found in the human body. His innovations could ultimately shorten the time it takes researchers to develop new, more effective drugs and better understand biomedical processes that underlie a variety of health conditions.

12 Oct 2010

New microchip technology to identify neuronal regenerators

Scientists have long sought the ability to regenerate nerve cells, or neurons, which could offer a new way to treat spinal-cord damage as well as neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Many chemicals can regenerate neurons grown in Petri dishes in the lab, but it's difficult and time-consuming to identify those chemicals that work in live animals, which is critical for developing drugs for humans.

12 Oct 2010

Halozyme Therapeutics to advance core proprietary programs through key clinical inflection points

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products targeting the extracellular matrix, today announced a focusing of its resources on advancing its core proprietary programs through key clinical inflection points in 2011 and 2012, and supporting strategic alliances with Roche and Baxter such as validation of Halozyme's commercial scale manufacturing process to produce kilogram quantities of enzyme.

12 Oct 2010

Early cancer drug trials flawed by inconsistencies in prohibited drug lists, study finds

Researchers in Canada and France have raised concerns about substantial inconsistencies in a basic aspect of the way Phase-I and Phase-II cancer clinical trials are designed.

11 Oct 2010

'Achilles heel' for HCV infection

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This discovery may offer a new strategy for treating the infection.

11 Oct 2010

Research reveals that fragrances can cause contact allergy

The fragrances used in many household and skincare products can cause contact allergy when exposed to oxygen in the air, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg's Faculty of Science in conjunction with the University of Gothenburg to be presented at the dermatologist conference in Gothenburg.

11 Oct 2010

Phase-II clinical trial of MLN8237 drug shows promising results for treating ovarian cancer

A drug being developed as a treatment for ovarian cancer has shown single agent activity with durable disease control in some patients in a Phase-II clinical trial, an international research group has reported.

11 Oct 2010

Discovery can lead to new approach for treating MS in early stages

A deficiency in one of the immune system's enzymes affects the severity of autoimmune diseases such as MS, and explains why the course of these diseases can vary so much. New findings give an insight into how this enzyme deficiency can be diagnosed, and could lead to new medicines, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy.

11 Oct 2010

Abiraterone Phase III clinical data to be presented at ESMO meeting

Attendees at next week's European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in Milan will be presented with top-line Phase III Clinical Trials data on Abiraterone in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.

8 Oct 2010

Scientists engineer bacterial cell wall with small molecules to combat diseases

A team of Yale University scientists has engineered the cell wall of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, tricking it into incorporating foreign small molecules and embedding them within the cell wall.

8 Oct 2010

Matchmaker function may help cardiologists understand the natural repair process after heart attacks

Heart muscle cells do not normally replicate in adult tissue, but multiply with abandoned during development. This is why the loss of heart muscle after a heart attack is so dire-you can't grow enough new heart muscle to make up for the loss.

8 Oct 2010

Prostate cancer updates

Scientists have found that genetic variations for an enzyme involved in cell energy metabolism may increase the risk of prostate cancer. This variation in genes may impair the enzyme phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A), which helps regulate cells' responses to hormones and other signals, according to the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development researchers and colleagues.

8 Oct 2010

Researchers develop algorithm to integrate genomic and metabolic data

Researchers at the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois have developed a way to harness the prodigious quantities of both genomic and metabolic data being generated with high-throughput genomics and other techniques. They have developed an algorithm that automatically integrates both data sets. The model, called probabilistic regulation of metabolism (PROM), enables researchers to perturb a given regulatory gene or metabolic process and see how that affects the entire network.

7 Oct 2010

Researchers shed new light about long non-coding RNA molecules

Despite progress in decoding the genome, scientists estimate that fully 95 percent of our DNA represents dark, unknown territory. In the October 1 issue of the journal Cell researchers at The Wistar Institute shed new light on the genetic unknown with the discovery of the ability of long non-coding RNA (ncRNA) to promote gene expression.

7 Oct 2010

Ferring Pharmaceuticals announces publication of Phase 3 trials of LYSTEDA tablets for HMB

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced publication of one of its pivotal Phase 3 trials of LYSTEDA (tranexamic acid) tablets for cyclic heavy menstrual bleeding in the October issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology. The six-month clinical trial demonstrated that LYSTEDA significantly reduced menstrual blood loss from baseline, and improved health-related quality-of-life parameters in women with cyclic HMB while maintaining safety and tolerability.

7 Oct 2010

Research findings likely to have significant implications for treatment of pre-eclampsia, hypertension

Scientists have discovered a mechanism which raises blood pressure in pre-eclampsia, a potentially deadly condition which occurs during pregnancy.

7 Oct 2010

American Cancer Society awards 94 national research, training grants to 70 institutions nationwide

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded 94 national research and training grants totaling $46,633,000 to 70 institutions nationwide in the first of two grants cycles for 2011.

7 Oct 2010

Adeona completes enrollment in Part 2 CopperProof-2 clinical study

Adeona Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced completion of 100% enrollment in Part 2 of its clinical study, A Prospective, Randomized, Double Blind Trial of a Novel Oral Zinc Cysteine Preparation in Alzheimer's Disease (CopperProof-2).

6 Oct 2010