Phosphatase News and Research

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Pivotal Phase 3 IMPACT study results of PROVENGE published in New England Journal of Medicine

Dendreon Corporation announced today the publication of data from the pivotal Phase 3 IMPACT study in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing that PROVENGE (sipuleucel-T) demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared to control in men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer. The manuscript is published in the July 29, 2010 issue of the journal.

29 Jul 2010

LLS awards two new grants through prestigious Marshall A. Lichtman SCOR research initiative

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today announced it has awarded two new grants through its prestigious Marshall A. Lichtman Specialized Center of Research research initiative, bringing the program's total funding to $210.5 million since its inception in 2000.

13 Jul 2010

Enobia reports positive interim data from ENB-0040 enzyme replacement therapy study for children with HPP

Enobia Pharma today announced positive interim data from a clinical study of ENB-0040, a bone targeted enzyme replacement therapy, under investigation for the treatment of hypophosphatasia (HPP). After 12 weeks of treatment with ENB-0040, children with HPP showed marked improvements in bone mineralization and function including increases in strength, endurance and mobility and reduction in pain. These findings were presented by Dr. Michael Whyte at ENDO 2010, the 92nd Annual Meeting of The Endocrine Society.

22 Jun 2010

Quintiles announces comprehensive suite of PI3K biomarker assays

Quintiles today announced a comprehensive suite of biomarker assays to help biopharmaceutical companies investigate the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) cancer survival pathway, the focus of numerous anti-cancer therapies under development. Understanding the PI3K pathway is essential in developing new medicines to inhibit or block this pathway, thereby cutting off a metabolic function needed for certain cancers to survive.

8 Jun 2010

Highlights from June 2010 issue of American Journal of Pathology

Dr. Kanneboyina Nagaraju and colleagues at the Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC demonstrate that affected muscle may directly contribute to inflammation in muscular dystrophy. Their report can be found in the June 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

26 May 2010

New study reveals PTPN2 gene loss causes bone cancer

In patients with leukemia, the formation of white blood cells in the bone marrow is disrupted. This makes leukemia patients particularly susceptible to infections, because properly functioning white blood cells ensure protection against intruders such as viruses and bacteria.

21 May 2010

Researchers determine how cells regulate chromosome/microtubule interface

Whitehead Institute researchers have determined a key part of how cells regulate the chromosome/microtubule interface, which is central to proper chromosomal distribution during cell division.

14 May 2010

PROVENGE receives FDA approval for treatment of CRPC

Dendreon Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved PROVENGE (sipuleucel-T), an autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic, castrate-resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer.

30 Apr 2010

New theory on muscle and bone diseases

Traditionally, doctors and clinicians thought diseases that affect muscles or bones affected those areas specifically. For example, bone diseases only affect bones, or muscle diseases only concerned muscles. But recent evidence supports the notion that bones and muscles are more interconnected than previously thought.

29 Apr 2010

Study: Cigarette smoking, fructose consumption can worsen NAFLD

Recent studies suggest that modifiable risk factors such as cigarette smoking and fructose consumption can worsen nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. With NAFLD, fat accumulates in the liver of overweight individuals despite drinking little alcohol, causing in some cases liver scarring that can lead to liver failure.

27 Apr 2010

ADDF grants Signum Biosciences $270,000 for evaluating PP2A-modulatory compounds as AD therapeutics

The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced today that it is providing a grant of $270,000 to Signum Biosciences, Inc. (Princeton, NJ) to evaluate small-molecule, orally delivered Protein Phosphatase 2a (PP2A)-modulatory compounds as disease-modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.

1 Apr 2010

Working of master regulator protein phosphatase 1

Protein phosphorylation is a process by which proteins are flipped from one activation state to another. It is a crucial function for most living beings, since phosphorylation controls nearly every cellular process, including metabolism, gene transcription, cell-cycle progression, cytoskeletal rearrangement and cell movement.

26 Mar 2010

TB's mechanism to evade body's immune system identified

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have identified a mechanism used by the tuberculosis bacterium to evade the body's immune system and have identified a compound that blocks the bacterium's ability to survive in the host, which could lead to new drugs to treat tuberculosis.

16 Feb 2010

Study could lead to non-surgical alternatives for tonsillectomies

Children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may one day be able to have an injection or use a throat spray instead of getting their tonsils removed to cure their snoring, according to a new study from the University of Chicago, which found that a specific gene product may be responsible for the proliferation of adenotonsillar tissue that can cause pediatric OSA.

4 Feb 2010

Breakthrough findings could lead to new treatments for prostate, brain and skin cancers

Researchers at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital and McGill University in Montreal have discovered a previously unsuspected link between two different genetic pathways which suppress the growth of cancer tumours.

8 Jan 2010

GIVI scientists discover anti-HIV molecule that enhances infection, reduces transmission

Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have discovered a new agent that might inhibit the infectivity of HIV. The agent, surfen, impairs the action of a factor in semen that greatly enhances the viral infection.

5 Jan 2010

Phosphatases can prevent inflammation and formation of blood clots

Polyphosphate from blood platelets plays a key role in inflammation and the formation of blood clots, scientists from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown. The study, which is presented in the prestigious scientific journal Cell, describes how this mechanism can be used in treatment.

11 Dec 2009

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announces positive data from AEGIS study of Soliris

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced positive data from the 26-week extension of the AEGIS study, an open-label registration study examining Soliris® (eculizumab) for the treatment of Japanese patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).

7 Dec 2009

Enobia Pharma initiates study of bone-targeted enzyme replacement therapy for hypophosphatasia

Enobia Pharma announced today the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical study of ENB-0040, a bone-targeted enzyme replacement therapy, under investigation for the treatment of hypophosphatasia (HPP). The six-month study will assess the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of ENB-0040 in up to 12 children with HPP.

4 Nov 2009

Positive results from Phase II clinical trial of INT-747 announced

Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced positive results from a 165 patient, placebo controlled, double-blind Phase II clinical trial of INT-747 in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

27 Oct 2009