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Study reveals information about molecular structure of prions

A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab.

6 Oct 2009

NIH awards $2 million grant to fight Neurofibromatosis type 2 disease

University of Central Florida Associate Professor Cristina Fernandez-Valle just landed two federal grants worth $2 million to research a disease that can leave children and young adults deaf, partially paralyzed or brain damaged.

6 Oct 2009

Gene therapy to improve ailing heart's contractions of muscle cells

Scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota show in a research report published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) that gene therapy may be used to improve an ailing heart's ability to contract properly. In addition to showing gene therapy's potential for reversing the course of heart failure, it also offers a tantalizing glimpse of a day when "closed heart surgery" via gene therapy is as commonly prescribed as today's cocktail of drugs.

6 Oct 2009

Vivaldi receives US patent for live attenuated influenza vaccines

Vivaldi Biosciences Inc. (Vivaldi), a biotechnology company focused on development of vaccines for influenza, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 7,588,768 covering live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs) with modifications to the viral NS1 gene, and methods for producing the vaccines in cell culture systems.

6 Oct 2009

Survival rates for multivisceral transplants increase with new treatment strategies

Data from the largest single-center experience of adult and pediatric intestinal and multivisceral transplantation show that survival rates have improved with the advent of innovative surgical techniques, novel immunosuppressive protocols and better post-operative management, said researchers at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute in a study published in the October issue of Annals of Surgery.

6 Oct 2009

EP-100 membrane-disrupting peptide drug for cancer being tested at TCRS

A new drug designed to "seek and destroy" common cancers such as breast, prostate, endometrial, pancreatic, ovarian, skin and testicular cancers is being tested at TGen Clinical Research Services (TCRS) at Scottsdale Healthcare.

6 Oct 2009

Reform effort could expand drug coverage, affordability

One impact of health insurance exchanges, proposed by Democrats as part of the health care overhaul, could be better prescription drug coverage for some consumers, the Los Angeles Times explains. The exchanges would require drug coverage as part of a minimum benefits package. The flip side is that some people may be forced to buy drug coverage they don't want.

6 Oct 2009

Schering-Plough receives FDA recommendation approval for PEGINTRON

Schering-Plough Corp. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended approval by a vote of six to four for PEGINTRON® (pegylated interferon alfa-2b) in the adjuvant treatment of patients with Stage III malignant melanoma.

6 Oct 2009

FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee recommends approval of GlaxoSmithKline's VOTRIENT

GlaxoSmithKline today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) voted unanimously in support of the approval of VOTRIENT(TM) (pazopanib). Specifically, the panel voted that the benefit-to-risk profile is acceptable for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Pazopanib is an investigational, oral treatment for patients with advanced RCC.

6 Oct 2009

Kevetrin reduces tumor volume by 72%: Cellceutix

October is breast cancer awareness month with many supporters touting pink ribbons, but in health stocks investors are watching the market closely for news of new drugs in various stages of testing. Recently, Cellceutix announced its pharmaceutical compound Kevetrin reduced tumor volume by 72%, giving new hope for breast cancer patients.

6 Oct 2009

Group Health Research Institute to receive federal stimulus funds from ARRA

Group Health Research Institute, formerly Group Health Center for Health Studies, will receive more than $15 million in federal stimulus funding from ARRA, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

6 Oct 2009

YM BioSciences to acquire Cytopia

Cytopia Limited has today announced that Cytopia and Toronto-based YM BioSciences Inc. ("YM") have signed an exclusive and binding Implementation Agreement ("Agreement") in which it is proposed that YM will acquire all of the issued shares and options in Cytopia.

6 Oct 2009

GE Healthcare announces FDA clearance of CARESCAPE Monitor B850

GE Healthcare today announced the FDA-cleared CARESCAPE™ Monitor B850, which provides caregivers with a unique level of integration between patient monitoring data and hospital information systems. Unlike traditional patient monitors, CARESCAPE Monitor B850 directly links hospital networks, electronic medical records (EMRs), diagnostic images, lab results and third-party devices with real-time patient monitoring data, to support efficient clinical decision-making.

6 Oct 2009

MSF calls on drug companies to pool HIV patents

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) recently launched an e-mail campaign calling on nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to "release their patents on specific HIV drugs into a collective pool that will increase access and affordability to treatment in developing countries," Inter Press Service reports (Borde, 10/1).

5 Oct 2009

Eleventh-hour lobbying campaigns hope to lower costs to industry

As the Senate Finance Committee finalizes its health reform proposal, medical-device makers are hoping to convince lawmakers to make one last change, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The Advanced Medical Technology Association, or AdvaMed, the trade group for the larger device manufacturers, wants [Committee Chair Max Baucus of Montana] to reduce $40 billion in fees over the next decade to $15 billion, according to people close to the negotiations. But industry was told that offer is too low.

5 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: World Bank budget concerns; Ethiopia prepares for malaria surge; malnutrition in Yemen; malaria prevention in Africa

Before the start of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund World Bank on Friday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that the international lender expects to "face serious constraints" by the middle of next year unless developed nations provide the bank with more resources, the Associated Press reports.

5 Oct 2009

AVI BioPharma receives $11.5M DTRA fund to develop AVI-7012 for treating Junin virus infection

AVI BioPharma, Inc. a developer of RNA-based drugs, announced today that it has received expanded contract funding of approximately $11.5 million from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) Transformational Medical Technologies Initiative (TMTI) to support development of the Investigational New Drug (IND) data package for its candidate drug, AVI-7012, to treat Junin virus infection.

5 Oct 2009

LA BioMed granted $1.3M for investigating ESAI's KRONOS IV in correcting erectile dysfunction

Las Vegas-based Endogenous Stem Cells Activators Inc. (ESAI) announced today that it will award a $1.3 million grant to Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LABioMed) for pre-clinical studies aimed at activating penile endogenous (adult) stem cells with the company's drug, KRONOS IV.

5 Oct 2009

Preclinical study results of AVL-181 protease inhibitor presented

Avila Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel covalent drugs that treat diseases through protein silencing, presented results of preclinical studies on its highly selective, pan-genotype, small molecule Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) protease inhibitor, AVL-181.

5 Oct 2009

Theraclone and Zenyaku Kogyo sign multi-year research and development agreement

Theraclone Sciences, Inc., a Seattle-based biotechnology company, and Zenyaku Kogyo Co., Ltd., a pharmaceutical company based in Tokyo, today announced that they have entered into a multi-year research and development agreement.

5 Oct 2009