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USAN approves generic name "ulimorelin" for Tranzyme Pharma's TZP-101

Tranzyme Pharma today announced that the United States Adopted Name Council (USAN) has approved the generic name “ulimorelin” for Tranzyme’s novel, late-stage, prokinetic agent TZP-101. Ulimorelin, if approved, is expected to be a first-in-class drug for the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility indications in acute care (hospital-based) settings.

27 Jan 2010

Research could help develop sophisticated treatments for Type I diabetes

New research that significantly improves our understanding of how insulin interacts with cells in the human body is published today.

27 Jan 2010

FDA approves Victoza to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victoza (liraglutide), a once-daily injection to treat type 2 diabetes in some adults.

27 Jan 2010

New technology may allow scientists to monitor real time activity of protein network

A new assay capable of examining hundreds of proteins at once and enabling new experiments that could dramatically change our understanding of cancer and other diseases has been invented by a team of University of Chicago scientists.

24 Jan 2010

ACS Chemical Biology report supports zebrafish for drug development

By combining the tools of medicinal chemistry and zebrafish biology, a team of Vanderbilt investigators has identified compounds that may offer therapeutic leads for bone-related diseases and cancer.

22 Jan 2010

Norepinephrine responses to bucindolol influenced by alpha-2C adrenergic receptor genotype

ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular disease, today announced that the paper “An alpha-2C-Adrenergic Receptor Polymorphism Alters the Norepinephrine Lowering Effects and Therapeutic Response of the Beta Blocker Bucindolol in Chronic Heart Failure” was published in the January 2010 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Circulation: Heart Failure (http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org).

22 Jan 2010

Researchers identify new therapeutic approach for stroke treatment

For the first time, research led by Youming Lu, PhD, MD, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has identified a novel mechanism that may trigger brain damage during stroke and identified a therapeutic approach to block it.

22 Jan 2010

Findings may provide new insights into diabetes; suggest novel targets for drug intervention

The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) makes cameo appearances throughout the body, but its leading role is as the opening act in the stress response, jump-starting the process along the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that CRF also plays a part in the pancreas, where it increases insulin secretion and promotes the division of the insulin-producing beta cells.

22 Jan 2010

Findings may aid in developing therapeutic drugs for stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases

Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.

22 Jan 2010

Mice study shows obesity can increase risk of developing liver cancer

Obesity comes with plenty of health risks, but there's one that's perhaps not so well known: an increased risk of developing cancer, and especially certain types of cancer like liver cancer. Now, a group of researchers reporting in the January 22nd issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have confirmed in mice that obesity does indeed act as a "bona fide tumor promoter." They also have good evidence to explain how that happens.

22 Jan 2010

FDA accepts ACT Biotech's ACTB1003 IND

ACT Biotech Inc., a privately held biotechnology company developing a portfolio of oral kinase inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs, today announced the acceptance of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ACTB1003 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company has now assembled a complete preclinical package, including manufacturing and toxicology studies, allowing ACTB1003 to enter a clinical trial.

22 Jan 2010

China Pharma Holdings announces completion of clinical trials for Candesartan

China Pharma Holdings, Inc., which develops, manufactures, and markets specialty pharmaceutical products in China, today announced that the Company has completed clinical trials for Candesartan, an anti-hypertension drug, and submitted the generic drug production application to the SFDA.

21 Jan 2010

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals commences patient treatment in Tavocept Phase III trial

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the treatment of the first patients in a global multi-center Phase III clinical trial of Tavocept (BNP7787) in patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung, the most common type of lung cancer. In previous studies, Tavocept demonstrated the potential to substantially increase overall and one year patient survival while concurrently preventing and reducing the incidence and severity of common chemotherapy side-effects as compared to other currently available treatments for advanced lung cancer.

21 Jan 2010

Results of two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 published

Results of the TRANSFORMS and FREEDOMS studies, the two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 (fingolimod), have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, providing comprehensive evidence to support the efficacy and safety profile of this first-in-class therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS).

21 Jan 2010

Research provides new insights on VEGF receptor function

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland, have determined the crystal structure of the ligand binding domain of a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor in complex with one of its ligands (VEGF-C).

21 Jan 2010

Maturation disorders of nerve terminals may trigger autism

For brain cells to communicate, the contacts to each other must function. The protein molecule neuroligin-1 plays an important role in this as it stimulates the necessary maturation processes at the contact sites (synapses) of the nerves.

21 Jan 2010

Health Canada approves Novartis' Afinitor to treat patients with mRCC

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (Novartis) announced today that Afinitor(R) (everolimus), a once-daily oral cancer treatment, has been approved by Health Canada for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), also known as advanced kidney cancer, after failure of initial treatment with VEGF-receptor targeted therapies Sutent(R) (sunitinib) or Nexavar(R) (sorafenib).

20 Jan 2010

Researchers show how gliomas can evade drugs aimed at blocking EGFR

Researchers at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center have shown one way in which gliomas, a deadly type of brain tumor, can evade drugs aimed at blocking a key cell signaling protein, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR),that is crucial for tumor growth.

20 Jan 2010

Fc engineering enhances antibody half-life

A Nature Biotechnology article published online January 17 reveals that Xencor Inc.’s proprietary Fc engineering extends the half-life of antibodies while maintaining their potency and extending duration of action. These results, published in an article entitled, “Enhanced antibody half-life improves in vivo activity” demonstrate the potential of Fc engineering to impact the flexibility of route, schedule and dose for nearly any antibody.

20 Jan 2010

Statins may protect SCD children from pneumococcal infection

New research suggests a family of widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs might help protect individuals from serious illness following bacterial infection, including the pneumococcal infections that pose a deadly threat to those with sickle cell disease.

20 Jan 2010