Plasmapheresis News and Research

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Better medical care for kidney failure in Germany

In complex cases of kidney failure, medical care in Germany evidently operates better than in the US. Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to show that German patients who have an increased risk of rejection reactions due to prior immunization have better survival rates than people with diseases of similar severity in the US.

3 Dec 2011

FDA approves Abbott's new Chagas in vitro diagnostic test

Abbott received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a new Chagas in vitro diagnostic test.

21 Nov 2011

Novel blood-cleaning procedure allows receipt of transplant from different blood type donor

St. Michael's Hospital today became the first in North America to use a novel blood-cleaning procedure for a kidney patient that will allow him to receive a transplant from a donor with a different blood type.

27 Jul 2011

FTC accepts Grifols and Talecris' Consent Agreement for public comment

Grifols, S.A. and Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. announced today that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has accepted for public comment a Consent Agreement that outlines the conditions necessary for Grifols' acquisition of Talecris to proceed.

1 Jun 2011

Eculizumab effective for treating hemolytic-uremic syndrome from EHEC

In the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians and scientists in Heidelberg, Montreal, and Paris reported on the successful treatment of three young children who were suffering from a severe hemolytic-uremic syndrome after an infection with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli.

1 Jun 2011

Pending merger transaction between Grifols, Talecris has been extended

Grifols S.A. and Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. today announced that the outside date under their merger agreement for closing their pending merger transaction has been extended to June 30, 2011 (from March 6, 2011).

5 Mar 2011

$Grifols to start construction of new plant in Spain for plasma fractionation$

Grifols to start construction of new plant in Spain for plasma fractionation

Grifols, the Spanish group which specializes in the hospital-pharmaceutical sector and is one of the world's leading producers of plasma products, will shortly start construction of a new plant representing an investment of 20 million euros that will employ about 100 people, as soon as it obtains local permits and licenses.

19 Feb 2011

New guideline recommends plasmapheresis usage to treat people with severe relapses in MS, neuropathies

A new guideline from the American Academy of Neurology recommends using plasma exchange to treat people with severe relapses in multiple sclerosis and related diseases, as well as those with certain kinds of nerve disorders known as neuropathies.

18 Jan 2011

Researchers develop new therapy to overcome tissue incompatibility in kidney transplantation

Donor kidneys can be successfully transplanted even if there is strong tissue incompatibility between donor and recipient. An interdisciplinary working group headed by Dr. Christian Morath, senior consultant at the Department of Nephrology at Heidelberg University Hospital (Medical Director: Professor Dr. Martin Zeier) and Professor Dr. Caner S-sal, head of antibody laboratory in the Department of Transplantation Immunology, showed in a study of 34 sensitized high-risk patients that the success rate in these patients was not different from the success rate of patients with a low immunological risk.

13 Oct 2010

NIH awards three grants to explore novel treatment strategies for muscular dystrophy

Three grants totaling more than $4.5 million, from agencies of the National Institutes of Health, will be used to explore novel treatment strategies for muscular dystrophy.

30 Sep 2010

British, Austrian scientists awarded K. J. Zülch Prize for basic neurological research

British and Austrian scientists receive award for basic neurological research. Alastair Compston and Hans Lassmann are this year's recipients of the K. J. Zülch Prize for basic neurological research. In bestowing this award, the Gertrud Reemtsma Foundation is honouring two scientists who have made crucial contributions to research on multiple sclerosis. Alastair Compston's work has provided important insights into the genetics and treatment of multiple sclerosis.

7 Sep 2010

Octapharma completes clinical development of Uniplas human pooled plasma

Octapharma AG, one of the largest private manufacturers of plasma products in the world, announced today that the clinical development for Uniplas® has been successfully completed. The product has been filed for registration in Europe and will be submitted later in the USA.

26 Aug 2010

Grifols to acquire Pharmalink's Xepol programme for post-polio syndrome

Pharmalink AB, today announced that it has closed its agreement with Grifols SA for the acquisition of Pharmalink's Xepol(R) programme for the treatment of post-polio syndrome (PPS). The parties had previously announced reaching an agreement whereby Grifols would acquire all know-how and global intellectual property rights related to the use of human immunoglobulin for the treatment of (PPS) - the concept at the heart of the Xepol programme.

30 Jun 2010

Grifols reaches agreement with Pharmalink to acquire PPS drug development project

Today, Grifols SA announced that it has reached an agreement with the Swedish company Pharmalink AB to acquire various forms of intellectual property associated with the treatment of post-polio syndrome. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks and will include documentation, know-how, and Swedish regulatory approvals under the trade name Xepol.

20 May 2010

ABBOTT PRISM Chagas test receives FDA approval

Abbott received Biologic License Application (BLA) approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the ABBOTT PRISM Chagas test. The test is a fully automated blood screening assay that can detect antibodies to Trypansoma cruzi (T. cruzi), a parasite found only in the Americas and most commonly acquired through contact with the blood-sucking triatomine or "kissing bug."

19 May 2010

6 transplant surgeons perform 16 surgeries over 3 days in landmark domino paired kidney exchange

Chicago resident Maria Isho had been waiting for over nine years for a kidney transplant. Her body was highly sensitized, meaning that her body had built up antibodies in the blood, which made it difficult for her to find a match. To stay healthy, she endured a grueling dialysis regimen which diminished her quality of life and left her feeling physically drained.

29 Apr 2010

U.S. prescribing information for PLAVIX revised

Sanofi-aventis U.S. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced revisions to the U.S. prescribing information for PLAVIX® (clopidogrel bisulfate), which include a boxed warning. The boxed warning concerns the diminished effectiveness of PLAVIX in patients who have a genetic variation leading to reduced formation of the active metabolite.

15 Mar 2010

New treatment strategies for multiple sclerosis

The drawback in the new immunotherapies in multiple sclerosis (MS) includMe severe infections that can be fatal. For example, treatment with natalizumab, which reduces the immune surveillance of the brain, can lead to the development of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a typically fatal form of viral encephalitis.

10 Sep 2009

New insights into identifying children at risk for autoimmune brain disorders

A new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity indicates that pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome and/or tic disorder may develop from an inappropriate immune response to the bacteria causing common throat infections.

11 Aug 2009

Protein from tick saliva shows potential for myasthenia gravis treatment

Looking for a better treatment for the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis, researchers have found that a protein in tick saliva shows promise in limiting the severity of the disease in an animal model in a study published in the Annals of Neurology.

29 Mar 2009