Blindness News and Research

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Rxi Pharmaceuticals second-quarter net loss decreases to $2.1 million

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a recognized leader in RNAi-based therapeutic discovery and development, today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

11 Aug 2010

Researchers receive $1M grant to train Native American communities improve their health

UC Davis School of Medicine researchers will train Native American communities in Northern California to develop and implement culturally appropriate interventions to improve their health by decreasing obesity and type-2 diabetes, through a $1 million research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2010

Dr. Hastings receives grant for Spinal Muscular Atrophy research

Michelle Hastings, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, in the Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, has been awarded a five-year $1.68 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support her research aimed at investigating treatments for the fatal children's disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

11 Aug 2010

Survey finds prevalence of diabetic retinopathy high among U.S. adults

Nearly 30 percent of U.S. adults with diabetes over the age of 40 are estimated to have diabetic retinopathy, with about 4 percent of this population having vision-threatening retinopathy, according to a study in the August 11 issue of JAMA.

11 Aug 2010

Merck's two pivotal boceprevir Phase III registration studies for chronic HCV meet primary endpoint

Merck reported that two pivotal Phase III registration studies for boceprevir, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, have been completed and met the primary endpoints: in both studies in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, the addition of boceprevir to treatment with PEGINTRON® and REBETOL® significantly increased the number of patients who achieved sustained virologic response, compared to control groups that received Peg/riba plus placebo.

5 Aug 2010

Neurobiologists discover potential cure for degenerative vision diseases

Neurobiologists funded by the Office of Naval Research have discovered a potential cure for degenerative vision diseases leading to terminal blindness.

5 Aug 2010

Sunridge signs distribution agreement with Ameco Medical Equipment

Sunridge International announced today that it has signed an agreement with Ameco Medical Equipment L.L.C. for distribution rights in several Middle Eastern countries. The five-year contract valued at over 6.5 million dollars will start immediately.

4 Aug 2010

Study implicates Fritz's role in human genetic disorders

Mutations in a gene known as "Fritz" may be responsible for causing human genetic disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome, University of Texas at Austin developmental biologist John Wallingford and Duke University human geneticist and cell biologist Nicholas Katsanis have found.

31 Jul 2010

USIBC applauds Abbott for 100 years of improving healthcare in India

Today the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) saluted Abbott Laboratories for 100 years of improving healthcare in India. In 1910, Abbott was one of the first multinationals to establish operations in India. Over the past century, Abbott has been dedicated to connecting Indian patients with access to quality medication and patient care, enhancing the quality of life for its customers.

30 Jul 2010

Isis Pharmaceuticals receives $5M payment from GSK for dug development

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has earned a $5 million milestone payment from GlaxoSmithKline related to the designation as a development candidate of a drug to treat an undisclosed rare and serious disease. Isis will develop the drug to Phase 2 proof-of-concept, at which time GSK has the option to license it.

29 Jul 2010

Research to help people born with 'face blindness'

A specific area in our brains is responsible for processing information about human and animal faces, both how we recognize them and how we interpret facial expressions. Now, Tel Aviv University research is exploring what makes this highly specialized part of the brain unique, a first step to finding practical applications for that information.

29 Jul 2010

Redpoint Bio issued patent that covers high-throughput screening technology

Redpoint Bio Corporation, a company focused on the development of healthier foods and beverages and new approaches to the treatment of diabetes and obesity, today announced the issuance of Patent No. 7,749,730 B2 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled "High Throughput Screening Assay for the TRPm5 Ion Channel."

28 Jul 2010

Merck signs non-exclusive license agreement with LabCorp for commercialization of genetic test

Merck announced a non-exclusive license agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings for the commercialization of a genetic test that may help predict the response of patients with Hepatitis C virus infection to peginterferon alpha-based therapy.

28 Jul 2010

DIATHERIX Laboratories opens rapid response diagnostic panels for STD, HSV

DIATHERIX Laboratories ,adds a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) panel and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) panel to its line up of highly sensitive, rapid response diagnostic panels. The HSV panel identifies herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 and the STD panel identifies 10 sexually transmitted diseases simultaneously, many of which cannot be accurately identified by current testing methods. These STD organisms, if not appropriately treated, can cause diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhoeae, chlamydia, bacterial vaginosis, etc. and may lead to blindness, infertility or complications during pregnancy.

28 Jul 2010

EFINTD awards 850,000 Euros for medical research on neglected tropical diseases in Africa

More than one billion people all over the world suffer from tropical diseases which are mostly unknown to the wider public and have also been neglected economically. In a joint effort with four other European foundations, the Volkswagen Foundation has opened a second round of funding for African scientists conducting research on these neglected diseases.

27 Jul 2010

Scientists discover mechanism of herpes virus cell entry machinery

The mechanism by which a herpes virus invades cells has remained a mystery to scientists, but now research from Tufts University and the University of Pennsylvania reveals the unusual structure of a key member of the protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells.The new map details an essential piece of the herpes virus "cell-entry machinery," providing scientists with a new target for antiviral drugs.

27 Jul 2010

New drug for type 2 diabetes, Effect of insulin on bones

In a groundbreaking finding, a new medicine Galvus (vildagliptin) has been created for people with type 2 diabetes that would lower blood glucose levels without the side effects of other medications.

26 Jul 2010

Calibra Medical's Finesse insulin patch-pen receives FDA clearance for use with Novo Nordisk's Novolog

Calibra Medical announced today it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Finesse™ insulin patch-pen for up to three-day use with Novo Nordisk's Novolog® rapid acting insulin. Combining the mealtime therapy-adherence benefits of insulin pumps with the simplicity and affordability of syringes and pens, Calibra's novel bolus-only patch-pen is a small, adhesively attached, flat device that can be operated discretely through clothing to deliver mealtime, snack time, and correction bolus insulin in seconds.

26 Jul 2010

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

The VA Maryland Health Care System participated in a landmark national study of more than 10,251 high-risk diabetic adults across the nation, testing if three complementary treatment strategies can reduce the high rate of heart disease and stroke associated with type 2 diabetes and if these treatment strategies can also slow the progression of eye disease associated with diabetes, the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans.

22 Jul 2010

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believe they may have found a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that ultimately results in blindness. One of the more common retinal degenerative diseases, RP is caused by the death of photoreceptor cells and affects 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. RP typically manifests in young adulthood as night blindness or a loss of peripheral vision and in many cases progresses to legal blindness by age 40.

22 Jul 2010