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PNP reaches several major objectives in cancer therapeutic product development

PNP Therapeutics, Inc. — an early-stage Birmingham-based biopharmaceutical company created from research conducted at Southern Research Institute and The University of Alabama at Birmingham — today announced that several major objectives have been reached in the development of its therapeutic technology platform and proprietary products for the treatment of cancer.

11 Mar 2011

Discovery: VPS4A enzyme plays a key role in release of HIV particles

Human Immunodeficiency Virus - which causes AIDS - invades human immune cells and causes them to produce new copies of the virus, which can then infect new cells.

11 Mar 2011

Eisai, Epizyme partner to develop and commercialize EZH2 epigenetic enzyme

Epizyme, Inc. announced today a worldwide partnership with Eisai Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics targeting EZH2, an epigenetic enzyme, for the treatment of lymphoma and other cancers in genetically-defined patients.

11 Mar 2011

FRSQ, NSFC announce funds for genomic research on male infertility

The Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec, Génome Québec and the National Natural Science Foundation of China are pleased to announce the funding of a first project as part of their joint program for research on genomics and diseases, which was launched in July 2010.

10 Mar 2011

Scientists identify chemical compound that may lead to cancer-fighting drugs

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a chemical compound that may eventually lead to a drug that fights cancers that are dependent on a particular anti-viral enzyme for growth.

10 Mar 2011

Caspase inhibition can prevent brain inflammation in neurological diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are partly attributable to brain inflammation. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now demonstrate in a paper published in Nature that a well-known family of enzymes can prevent the inflammation and thus constitute a potential target for drugs.

10 Mar 2011

Novel sortase-based techniques allow modification of a large variety of different proteins

Whitehead Institute scientists have created a method that site-specifically modifies proteins to exert control over their properties when administered therapeutically. The technique should be useful to increase potency, slow metabolism, and improve thermal stability of therapeutically useful proteins, such as interferon alpha 2 (IFN-alpha 2), which is used to treat variety of diseases, including leukemia, melanoma, and chronic hepatitis C.

10 Mar 2011

First disease-specific biomarker for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease identified

Neena Singh, MD, PhD and colleagues at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have identified the first disease-specific biomarker for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), a universally fatal, degenerative brain disease for which there is no cure. sCJD is one of the causes of dementia and typically leads to death within a year of disease onset.

10 Mar 2011

CRT, ICR sign deal with ZoBio to discover and develop cancer drugs

Cancer Research Technology and The Institute of Cancer Research have signed a deal with Dutch drug discovery company, ZoBio BV, to discover and develop drugs to block a DNA repair target which may play a role in cancer cell survival.

10 Mar 2011

Cedars-Sinai earns excellence in 2010 adult heart transplants

The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Comprehensive Transplant Center performed the most adult heart transplants of any U.S. medical center in 2010, according to government statistics released today.

10 Mar 2011

ERYtech Pharma completes patient enrollment in GRASPA Phase II trial against ALL

ERYtech Pharma announces the early completion of the enrollment and safety follow-up a Phase II clinical trial for GRASPA. This open-labeled trial introduced GRASPA in a first-line treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in patients older than 55 years.

9 Mar 2011

Research shows how tubercle bacterium manages to survive inside body's macrophage cells

Tuberculosis kills two million people each year and is once again gaining ground also in Sweden and other Western countries. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are now presenting new findings that show how the tubercle bacterium manages to survive inside the body's macrophage cells in order eventually to blow them up and spread their infection.

9 Mar 2011

Variation in exposure to sunlight may affect sensitivity of individuals to drugs

A study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has shown that the body's ability to break down medicines may be closely related to exposure to sunlight, and thus may vary with the seasons.

9 Mar 2011

'Cross-talk' between two major biological pathways may hold a clue for chronic pain treatment

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have discovered a "cross-talk" between two major biological pathways that involve pain-research that may pave the way to new approaches to understanding and controlling chronic pain.

9 Mar 2011

Sanfilippo syndrome compromises blood-brain barrier, leads to brain damage

A study into the effects of Sanfilippo Syndrome type B (MPS III B) has found that the barrier responsible for protecting the brain from the entry of harmful blood-borne substances is structurally and functionally damaged by the devastating disease. University of South Florida researchers identified damage in specific brain structures involved in the pathology of MPS III B, one of four Sanfilippo syndromes, all of which are inherited diseases of metabolism.

9 Mar 2011

FDA removes clinical hold for Amicus' AT2220 IND for treatment of Pompe disease

Amicus Therapeutics today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold for the AT2220 (1-deoxynojirimycin HCI) Investigational New Drug Application (IND). AT2220 is a pharmacological chaperone in development as a treatment for Pompe disease.

9 Mar 2011

Chemotherapy drugs also kill malaria parasite

A group of researchers from EPFL's Global Health Institute (GHI) and Inserm (Institut National de la Sant- et de la Recherche M-dicale, the French government agency for biomedical research) has discovered that a class of chemotherapy drugs originally designed to inhibit key signaling pathways in cancer cells also kills the parasite that causes malaria. The discovery could quickly open up a whole new strategy for combating this deadly disease.

9 Mar 2011