Insulin News and Research

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Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert glucose, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Insulin allows cells to use glucose for fuel and is secreted by beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. The release of insulin from the pancreas is stimulated by increased blood glucose, vagal nerve stimulation, and other factors. Insulin is obtained from various animals and available in a variety of preparations. Commercial insulin preparations differ in a number of ways, including differences in the animal species from which they are obtained; their purity, concentration, and solubility; and the time of onset and duration of their biologic action. An oral hypoglycemic agent is not a form of insulin therapy.

Neuroscientists prevent memory loss in fruit flies by blocking activity of PI3 kinase signaling protein

By blocking the cellular signaling activity of a protein, a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has prevented memory loss in fruit flies caused by brain plaques similar to those thought to cause Alzheimer's disease in humans. The study also resolves a long-standing controversy about the role of this protein, PI3 kinase, which was previously thought to have a protective function against the disease.

30 Mar 2010

Insight into scorpion venom may help understand diseases like pancreatitis

A Brazilian scorpion has provided researchers at North Carolina State University and East Carolina University insight into venom's effects on the ability of certain cells to release critical components. The findings may prove useful in understanding diseases like pancreatitis or in targeted drug delivery.

30 Mar 2010

GSK re-submits sNDA for Avodart to FDA

GlaxoSmithKline announced today that it has re-submitted the supplemental New Drug Application for Avodart® (dutasteride) for prostate cancer risk reduction among men at increased risk of developing the disease to the US Food and Drug Administration.

30 Mar 2010

LCT receives approval for New Zealand Phase II human trial of DIABECELL

Living Cell Technologies Limited, a global company pioneering the development of a cell implant to treat diabetes, today announced that it has received approval to advance to the next phase of its New Zealand Phase II human clinical trial with its groundbreaking DIABECELL®. The approval follows a positive assessment from the New Zealand Data Safety and Monitoring Board of the first four patients to receive its DIABACELL® implants.

30 Mar 2010

Generex Biotechnology announces FDA Expanded Access Treatment IND Program for Generex Oral-lyn

Generex Biotechnology Corporation, the leader in drug delivery for metabolic diseases through the inner lining of the mouth, today announced that it has expanded its plans for its United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Expanded Access Treatment IND Program for its flagship product, Generex Oral-lyn™, to include licensed and qualified Nurse Practitioners in the United States.

29 Mar 2010

JumpStart Ventures invests $250,000 in Thermalin Diabetes

JumpStart Ventures, which invests in and partners with innovative, early-stage companies in Northeast Ohio, announced an investment commitment of $250,000 in Thermalin Diabetes Incorporated. The young biopharmaceutical company is developing new insulin treatments for patients with diabetes.

29 Mar 2010

ER stress response is major driver of insulin resistance, say researchers

Biologists have long known that an enzyme called the PI 3-kinase is a crucial actor in the main molecular pathway for insulin signaling in cells. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center now have uncovered startling evidence that one of the proteins in this enzyme also drives a pathway with an opposite result-triggering a stress response that leads to insulin resistance.

29 Mar 2010

New approach may circumvent lost response in insulin due to obesity

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have identified a new strategy for treating type 2 diabetes, identifying a cellular pathway that fails when people become obese. By activating this pathway artificially, they were able to normalize blood glucose levels in severely obese and diabetic mice. Their findings will be published online by Nature Medicine on March 28.

29 Mar 2010

New scientific discoveries show that Canadian maple syrup can be good for health

The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers is pleased to report on two new scientific discoveries which show that Canadian maple syrup can be good for you. These studies build on recent findings on the nutritional value of maple products, which have revealed both the antioxidant properties of maple syrup as well as the discovery of substantial quantities of abscisic acid.

27 Mar 2010

Enrollment ceremony held to sign revised Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Leaders, Committee Chairs and newer Members of Congress held an enrollment ceremony in the Rayburn Room of the Capitol this morning to sign the revised Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act and send it to President Obama for his signature into law.

27 Mar 2010

READ 3 study for DME begins enrolling participants

A Phase II clinical trial for a promising treatment for diabetic eye disease has begun enrolling participants.

27 Mar 2010

FDA Advisory Committee to review VIVUS' NDA for Qnexa

VIVUS, Inc. today announced that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is tentatively scheduled to review the Company's New Drug Application for Qnexa® for the treatment of obesity on July 15, 2010.

26 Mar 2010

SENSIMED Triggerfish developed to diagnose and treat patients with glaucoma

STMicroelectronics, the world's leading supplier of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) devices for consumer and portable applications, has announced that it will develop and supply a wireless MEMS sensor that acts as a transducer, antenna and mechanical support for additional read-out electronics in a breakthrough platform developed by Swiss company Sensimed AG.

26 Mar 2010

New topical drug may help treat diabetic eye disease

Early-stage human clinical trials showed that a new topical drug was safe and had biological effects in a type of diabetic eye disease, and may offer researchers a new approach to prevent and treat diabetic macular edema.

26 Mar 2010

Insulin receptor vital for keeping neural stem cells alive

University of California, Berkeley, biologists have found a signal that keeps stem cells alive in the adult brain, providing a focus for scientists looking for ways to re-grow or re-seed stem cells in the brain to allow injured areas to repair themselves.

26 Mar 2010

Oramed Pharmaceuticals completes Phase 2b study of ORMD-0801 oral insulin capsule

Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the completion of its' pivotal Phase 2b clinical study of its oral insulin capsule, ORMD-0801. The Company expects to report results from this study within the coming weeks.

26 Mar 2010

Independent DMC recommends continuance of enrollment in Eisai's Phase III ACCESS trial

Eisai Inc. announced today that the Phase III ACCESS (A Controlled Comparison of Eritoran and Placebo in Patients with Severe Sepsis) trial of the investigational compound eritoran (E5564) will continue enrolling to the preset goal of 2,000 patients. As part of a planned interim analysis, an independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) has evaluated efficacy and safety data on the first 1,500 subjects to complete the 28-day follow-up in the Phase III ACCESS trial.

26 Mar 2010

EVMS researchers awarded $1,076,250 grant to develop functional cure for Type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the Eastern Virginia Medical School Strelitz Diabetes Center have been awarded a $1,076,250 grant by the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program to develop new ways of reversing the underlying causes of Type 1 diabetes.

26 Mar 2010

JCOM receives approval from KFDA to commercialize MuGard in Korea

ACCESS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced that JCOM Co., Ltd., its Korean licensee for both MuGard™ and ProLindac™, has received approval from the Korean Food and Drug Administration of its Registration Dossier for MuGard, an oncology supportive-care treatment for the management of oral mucositis.

26 Mar 2010

Findings suggest adipose inflammation is necessary for fat cell turnover

It has been a common opinion that inflammation in adipose tissue may cause insulin resistance, and thereby type 2 diabetes. However, recent research from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, question the theory that inflammation in the body fat is only pernicious.

25 Mar 2010