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New gout drug offers hope for those who have exhausted treatment options

Researchers in the U.S. say a new drug effectively treats serious cases of gout - the drug called pegloticase mimics a blood-clearing enzyme missing in humans and helps remove the build up in uric acid, which causes the painful, needle-like crystals to collect around fingers, toes and other joints.

27 Oct 2008

Exercise-induced fatigue in muscular dystrophies, study points to potential new therapies

A University of Iowa study suggests that the prolonged fatigue after mild exercise that occurs in people with many forms of muscular dystrophy is distinct from the inherent muscle weakness caused by the disease.

26 Oct 2008

Newly discovered mechanism can explain the Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome

Researchers from Uppsala University have discovered a mechanism that silences several genes in a chromosome domain. The findings, published in today's on-line issue of Molecular Cell, have implications in understanding the human disorder Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome.

26 Oct 2008

Providing pain relief with computers

Pain relief is big business - very big business - which is why Dr Adrian Mulholland in the School of Chemistry has just won an EPSRC Leadership Fellowship grant of nearly £1million, part of which will be used to further his research into designing drugs for pain relief. However, he never goes near a lab, doing it all from his computer.

23 Oct 2008

Gene study sheds new light on lung cancer

A multi-institution team, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today reported results of the largest effort to date to chart the genetic changes involved in the most common form of lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma. The findings should help pave the way for more individualized approaches for detecting and treating the nation's leading cause of cancer deaths.

22 Oct 2008

Fatty acids may be the culprit in Alzheimer's

According to new research from the U.S. controlling the level of a fatty acid in the brain could help treat Alzheimer's disease (AD).

21 Oct 2008

Getting to grips with the complexity of disease proteins

Drug molecules seldom act simply on one protein but on protein complexes and networks. A deeper understanding of these 'cooperative assemblies' should lead to better targeting of drugs.

20 Oct 2008

Johns Hopkins researchers detect sweet cacophany while listening to cellular cross-talk

Johns Hopkins scientists were dubious in the early 1980s when they stumbled on small sugar molecules lurking in the centers of cells; not only were they not supposed to be there, but they certainly weren't supposed to be repeatedly attaching to and detaching from proteins, effectively switching them on and off.

20 Oct 2008

New therapy for heart failure

During heart failure the body reacts to the production of the hormone aldosterone. Too much aldosterone can stiffen and damage the muscles of the heart.

15 Oct 2008

Combo of sunlight and low antioxidant levels leave seniors at risk of eye disease

European research has revealed that blue light exposure from the sun combined with low plasma levels of antioxidants may contribute to certain forms of the eye disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

14 Oct 2008

Kinaxo partners with Boehringer Ingelheim

Kinaxo Biotechnologies GmbH announced today that it has entered into a two-year collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Under the agreement Kinaxo will apply its new platform technologies to studies on drug mode of action and target identification. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

13 Oct 2008

Link found between bisphenol A and heart disease

British scientists have revealed a possible link between the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) and disease in adults.

13 Oct 2008

Bisphenol A linked to diabetes and heart disease in adults

A research team from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the University of Iowa, have found evidence linking Bisphenol A (BPA) to diabetes and heart disease in adults.

12 Oct 2008

Body's built-in weapon against HIV explained

Humans have a built-in weapon against HIV, but until recently no one knew how to unlock its potential.

12 Oct 2008

FDA continues review of Takeda's NDA for Alogliptin

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has announced that Takeda Global Research and Development Center, Inc., a wholly owned United States (U.S.) subsidiary, received notification that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will not be able to complete its review of the alogliptin New Drug Application (NDA) by the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of October 27, 2008.

12 Oct 2008

Ginkgo biloba may prevent brain cell damage after a stroke

Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke.

12 Oct 2008

Sea birds' DNA may hold keys to aging and cancer, Bucknell researcher says

Chances are, a mouse in the wild will live less than a year before stumbling upon a hungry falcon or feline.

5 Oct 2008

Eli Lilly starts second global phase III trial of investigational Alzheimer's disease compound

Eli Lilly and Company today announced it will begin enrolling patients in a second Phase III study of LY450139, a gamma-secretase inhibitor being investigated as a potential treatment to delay the progression of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

2 Oct 2008

Existing anti-obesity drugs may be effective against flu, hepatitis and HIV

Viruses dramatically increase cellular metabolism, and existing anti-obesity drugs may represent a new way to block these metabolic changes and inhibit viral infection, according to a study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

29 Sep 2008

Concert Pharmaceuticals initiates CTP-347 phase I clinical trial

Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has initiated a Phase I study in healthy volunteers to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of CTP-347, a novel deuterium-containing serotonin modulator created by Concert researchers.

25 Sep 2008