Blood Disorder News and Research

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Nose job gone horribly wrong

A case presented to the Southwark Coroner’s Court heard that doctors continued operating on Kelly McLure, 31, after she suffered her cardiac arrest at the private Belvedere Hospital, in Kent. The paramedics were kept waiting for 45 minutes despite insisting on taking her straight to A&E. However her surgeons Dr Edward Latimer-Sayer and Dr Ahmed el Sayed Moustafa, the anaesthetist, continued with the routine nose and chin procedure after stabilizing her.

19 Dec 2010

Smoking cessation products available on PBS

Australia’s federal government has announced that it will subsidize the cost of nicotine patches to help smokers quit. The announcement was made by Health Minister Nicola Roxon on Thursday who said that concession card holders would be able to access Nicorette, Nicabate P and Nicotinell under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) from February 1, 2011. She said, “Cancer scars the lives of too many Australians and we know that reducing the smoking rate is one of the most effective ways to reduce the rate of death from this terrible disease.” Anti-smoking drug Varenicline (Champix) would also be available for willing quitters.

8 Dec 2010

New analysis of Soliris in patients with PNH presented at ASH Annual Meeting

Independent investigators reported today that patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria who were treated long-term with Soliris (eculizumab) achieved survival comparable to that of an age- and gender-matched normal population. Findings from this investigator-led analysis were reported in an oral presentation today at the 52nd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando.

7 Dec 2010

New analysis evaluates association between hemolysis, mortality in patients with PNH

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of an analysis from the National Data Registry in South Korea that evaluated the association between hemolysis and mortality in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

7 Dec 2010

Research highlighting treatment for pediatric SCD, malaria presented at ASH 2010

Red blood cells have the very important role of carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body; therefore, disorders that affect RBCs can have a significant impact on quality of life. Sickle cell disease and malaria are two common RBC diseases that affect a significant portion of the U.S. and global populations. Sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that causes deformed and dysfunctional red blood cells, affects an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 Americans, while malaria affects approximately 1,500 Americans annually and 190 to 311 million people worldwide.

6 Dec 2010

Alexion's Soliris Phase 2 clinical study for aHUS meets primary, secondary endpoints

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that a Phase 2 clinical study investigating Soliris (eculizumab) as a treatment for patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) who are resistant to plasma therapy met primary and key secondary endpoints with high levels of statistical and clinical significance, according to results presented today at the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) annual meeting in Denver.

21 Nov 2010

Emerging blood thinners to prevent stroke

As blood thinners emerge in the market for stroke prevention many experts believe is still too early to predict how they will stack up in the $15 billion a year market.

15 Nov 2010

New data on Soliris for PNH treatment to be presented at ASH Annual Meeting

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that researchers are scheduled to present new data relating to Soliris (eculizumab) as a treatment for patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), to be held December 4 - 7, 2010 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

9 Nov 2010

Georgia Tech hosts symposium to discuss sickle cell disease

Georgia Tech will host the Sickle Cell Disease Symposium bringing together researchers, policy experts and community advocates to discuss the latest research and strategies for future success in combating this complex and debilitating blood disorder. The symposium begins at Georgia Tech's Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on November 4 and concludes the evening of November 5.

4 Nov 2010

GSK's Revolade receives Japanese approval for treatment of chronic ITP

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced its partner GlaxoSmithKline was granted approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for Revolade® (eltrombopag) for the treatment of the blood disorder, chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

2 Nov 2010

Systemic amyloidosis patient to receive triple organ transplant

In 2005, then 40-year-old Walt McGuire was playing hockey twice a week, working full-time and chasing his young daughter. Then one day, he noticed after one trip up the stairs to catch her, he couldn't catch his breath. A few days later his legs were swollen. After numerous trips to different doctors, McGuire finally was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder called amyloidosis.

28 Oct 2010

Alexion 2010 third quarter revenue increases from $102.6 to $141.6 million

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

21 Oct 2010

Patients' right to be involved in own medical care

Twelve years ago, then 28-year-old graduate student Brian Zikmund-Fisher was forced into the toughest choice of his life: Die from a blood disorder within a few years or endure a bone marrow transplant that could cure him or kill him in weeks.

29 Sep 2010

bluebird bio publishes LentiGlobin gene therapy clinical trial data results

bluebird bio an emerging leader in the development of innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders, today announced publication in the journal Nature of its promising Phase 1/2 data highlighting positive results of LentiGlobin gene therapy treatment in a young adult with severe beta-thalassemia, a blood disorder that is one of the most frequent inherited diseases.

16 Sep 2010

FDA approves Alexion's Rhode Island manufacturing facility as commercial supply source for Soliris

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Alexion's Rhode Island manufacturing facility (ARIMF) in Smithfield, Rhode Island as a second source of commercial supply for Soliris® (eculizumab).

23 Aug 2010

International conference to discuss research, unresolved issues of sickle cell disease

Carlton Haywood Jr., Ph.D., an associate faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, will mark the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of sickle cell anemia on Wednesday, Aug. 4, with a talk on the impact that race has had on the history of research and treatment of the inherited blood disorder.

4 Aug 2010

Long term decline in hemoglobin may announce onset of colorectal cancer

Anemia, a common blood disorder characterized by low hemoglobin levels, has long been associated with those suffering from colorectal cancer. But researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered that, more than a symptom of active disease, low hemoglobin levels can actually indicate a potential for colon cancer years before it's diagnosed.

4 Aug 2010

Taoist Tai Chi internal arts of health celebrates 40 years

Dimitri Granovski, a Russian immigrant to Canada, says that after 20 years of chronic migraines, he's become painkiller-free by practising these arts for only three months. Samantha Albert of Stratford, Ontario, says they help her deal with the effects of a critical blood disorder called amyloidosis. Helen Gaunt a wine producer in Margaret River, Australia, attributes her smooth recovery from thyroid and breast cancer to their practice.

31 Jul 2010

New drug to treat chronic pain in SCD patients

A University of Minnesota Medical School research team led by Kalpna Gupta, Ph.D., has discovered that cannibinoids offer a novel approach to ease the chronic and acute pain caused by sickle cell disease.Using a mouse model of SCD, Gupta and University of Minnesota colleagues studied the pain mechanisms by observing animals that exhibited both musculoskeletal pain and temperature sensitivity, symptoms similarly experienced by humans with SCD. The team compared two classifications of drugs in their ability to manage pain sensed by the animals, the traditionally prescribed classification of drugs, opioids, with a new therapeutic approach, cannabinoids, a synthetic compound based on marijuana derivatives. Currently, the only approved treatment for management of severe pain in SCD is opioids.

23 Jul 2010