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Scientists to develop enzyme that protects against nerve agents

Protection against nerve gas attack is a significant component of the defense system of many countries around the world. Nerve gases are used by armies and terrorist organizations, and constitute a threat to both the military and civilian populations, but existing drug solutions against them have limited efficiency.

25 Jan 2011

Glioblastoma's molecular flexibility helps resist nearly all treatment efforts

Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer and the disease that killed Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, resists nearly all treatment efforts, even when attacked simultaneously on several fronts. One explanation can be found in the tumor cells' unexpected flexibility, discovered researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers discover new treatment for difficult-to-control high blood pressure

Researchers were surprised to discover what may be a potential new treatment for difficult-to-control high blood pressure, according to a case report published in the January 25, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 Jan 2011

RRD enters partnership with NIH Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program

RRD International, a strategy-driven biotech and pharmaceutical product development company, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program as a regulatory support and development partner.

25 Jan 2011

New study finds unrealistic optimism prevalent among participants in early-phase cancer trials

Can optimism be ethically problematic? Yes, according to a new study, which found unrealistic optimism prevalent among participants in early-phase cancer trials and suggested that it may compromise informed consent.

25 Jan 2011

ASA concerned over non-availability of sodium thiopental

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and its members are extremely troubled to learn that the anesthetic drug, sodium thiopental (Pentothal®), will no longer be available to patients in the U.S. or any other country due to the unfortunate circumstances in Italy that led the sole manufacturer, Hospira, to cease production of the drug.

25 Jan 2011

SNM commends FDA Advisory Committee recommendation for florbetapir approval

The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee on its recent recommendation for conditional approval of a new imaging agent, florbetapir.

25 Jan 2011

New investigative tool may explore intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity

Nongjian Tao and his colleagues at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have pioneered a new technique capable of peering into single cells and even intracellular processes with unprecedented clarity.

25 Jan 2011

Bax factor that promotes cell death is also involved in regulating mitochondria behavior

New research led by UC Davis scientists provides insight into why some body organs are more susceptible to cell death than others and could eventually lead to advances in treating or preventing heart attack or stroke.

24 Jan 2011

Blocking rogue gene may stop cancer spread: Study

In a new breakthrough British scientists have discovered a “rogue gene” which helps cancer spread around the body and add that this could mean specific therapy, if developed against the gene, could stop cancer spread.

24 Jan 2011

Weighty matters

The Dieticians Association of Australia (DAA) has launched the “Healthy Weight Week”. The DAA says that 61 per cent of Australian adults and 25 per cent of Australian children are either overweight or obese. At present there are really no drugs that provide long term weight loss. The only resort is surgery.

24 Jan 2011

Unrealistic optimism appears common in early cancer trials

24 Jan 2011

NBC News examines drug-resistant malaria along Thai-Cambodian border

NBC News' "World Blog" reports on the emergence of drug-resistant malaria along the border between Thailand and Cambodia. "The Pailin area [in Cambodia] is now the epicenter of a fight to contain a growing resistance to Artemisinin, which is the world's main anti-malarial drug," the blog writes before noting the global health community's efforts to contain the spread of drug-resistant malaria.

24 Jan 2011

Furiex's MuDelta for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome receives FDA Fast Track designation

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its novel diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome treatment called MuDelta, now in Phase II clinical trials, has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

24 Jan 2011

Viewpoints: Reps. Ryan, kind on repeal; Opinions on what's next for health reform

The health-care law enacted by the last Congress is enormous—more than 2,000 pages—and full of provisions that will expand government control of health care and limit what individuals and employers can do. ... in the end the Senate, House, and White House will have to come together and agree on some health-care changes.

24 Jan 2011

CenterWatch quadruples size of Clinical Trials Listing Service

CenterWatch—a leading publisher of clinical trials information—announced that it has more than quadrupled the size of its Clinical Trials Listing Service™ (CTLS). The service now lists more than 80,000 active clinical trials across a wide range of disease conditions, making it the largest online and dynamic database of global clinical trials involving new drugs and devices regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services.

24 Jan 2011

FDA accepts Optimer's fidaxomicin NDA for filing

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for fidaxomicin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and for reducing the risk of recurrence when used for treatment of initial CDI.

24 Jan 2011

Rogue gene blocked by right drugs could stop cancer

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered a rogue gene which - if blocked by the right drugs - could stop cancer in its tracks.

24 Jan 2011

KineMed's fibrosis research program featured in Nature Medicine

KineMed Inc.'s fibrosis research program, which aims to advance the discovery and development of drugs to treat this major disease, is featured in the January edition of Nature Medicine.

24 Jan 2011

Positive interim data from ongoing V5 Phase IIb imm01 trial against tuberculosis

Immune Network, a company in the business of development and commercialization of immune therapies, announced today that its newly acquired business, Immunitor, has published interim data from the ongoing Phase IIb imm01 clinical trial of V5 in tuberculosis conducted at its second site in Ukraine.

24 Jan 2011