Platelet News and Research

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Discovery challenges understanding of blood cell development

University of Utah researchers led an international team of scientists that is the first to report on the previously undescribed ability of platelets to reproduce themselves in the circulation. Their revolutionary findings were published online Jan. 19, 2010, in the journal Blood.

27 Jan 2010

Researching treatments shows paths to health savings

An orthopedic surgeon in Sacramento became suspicious of a new therapy that helps tendons heal by injecting platelet-rich plasma into joints, The Sacramento Bee reports. So, he decided to do a test. It turned out, his patients outcomes were no different when he used the platelet-rich plasma therapy as when he didn't. The plasma treatment costs hundreds of dollars more per patient.

27 Jan 2010

Emerging Healthcare Solutions and ThromboVision complete due diligence process under new option agreement

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. and ThromboVision have completed phase one of their due diligence process under their new option agreement.

21 Jan 2010

Statins may protect SCD children from pneumococcal infection

New research suggests a family of widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs might help protect individuals from serious illness following bacterial infection, including the pneumococcal infections that pose a deadly threat to those with sickle cell disease.

20 Jan 2010

Cerus' INTERCEPT platelets therapeutically effective even after seven days of storage

Cerus Corporation announced today that INTERCEPT-treated platelet components were found to be effective for patient support following extended six and seven day storage in a clinical study conducted at four sites in Europe. These data further confirm the safety and therapeutic efficacy of platelets treated with the INTERCEPT Blood System, a pathogen inactivation treatment designed to protect against transfusion-transmitted diseases.

18 Jan 2010

PRP injections are ineffective for treating Achilles tendon disorder

An apparently increasingly used treatment method for a type of Achilles tendon disorder that includes injection of platelet-rich plasma into the tendon does not appear to result in greater improvement in pain or activity compared to placebo, according to results of a preliminary study published in the January 13 issue of JAMA.

13 Jan 2010

PDGFR's role in new blood vessel formation may explain cardiovascular side effects

A growth factor that is a common target of cancer drugs also plays an important role in the heart's response to stress, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report online this week in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

12 Jan 2010

Emerging Healthcare Solutions seeks business opportunities with new, patented T-Guide Platelet Function Analyzer

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. under their exclusive option agreement with Thrombovision, has begun due diligence to aggressively seek the establishment of business opportunities with the new patented T-Guide Platelet Function Analyzer.

8 Jan 2010

Eisai acquires AkaRx for approximately $255 million

Eisai Inc. (Headquarters: Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, Chairman and CEO: Hajime Shimizu, "Eisai") today announces the successful completion of its acquisition of the biopharmaceutical company, AkaRx, Inc. (Headquarters: Bridgewater, New Jersey, CEO: Robert E. Desjardins), for approximately $255 million.

6 Jan 2010

Emerging Healthcare Solutions to execute option agreement with ThromboVision

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. is pleased to announce the execution of an exclusive option agreement with ThromboVision, Inc. ThromboVision, a Houston-based healthcare diagnostics company committed to enabling people to lead longer and healthier lives, has developed and patented T-Guide®, a new cutting-edge diagnostic test to assist medical professionals with the treatment of heart disease.

29 Dec 2009

PGxHealth, DHZ announce collaboration in genetic variant study with response to clopidogrel

PGxHealth, a division of Clinical Data, Inc., today announced that it has established a research collaboration with Deutsches Herzzentrum (DHZ), Munich, Germany, to evaluate the predictive value of genetic markers, including PGxHealth proprietary markers, for response to clopidogrel (Plavix®).

22 Dec 2009

GSK receives European CHMP positive opinion for Revolade

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that its partner GlaxoSmithKline has received a positive opinion for Revolade® (eltrombopag/Promacta®) from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for the oral treatment of thrombocytopenia (reduced platelet count) in adults with the blood disorder chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).

18 Dec 2009

Regado Biosciences announces completion of Series D financing

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a privately held company leading the development of antithrombotic therapeutic aptamers with active control agents, today announced the completion of a $40 million Series D financing.

18 Dec 2009

Treprostinil drug reduces breathlessness in PAH patients, says study

Patients with a rare, deadly disease that mostly affects young women felt a dramatic reduction in breathlessness using an approved drug, according to study results published online today in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

18 Dec 2009

Landmark study provides new insight into congenital heart defects

Researchers from the UC San Diego, School of Medicine and colleagues have identified a new gene, ETS-1, that is linked to human congenital heart defects. The landmark study, recently published online in the journal of Human Molecular Genetics, provides important insights into some of the most prevalent forms of congenital heart defects in humans, including ventricular septal defects and potentially hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a uniformly fatal heart abnormality.

18 Dec 2009

Synthetic platelets halt blood-clotting time

Blood loss is a major cause of death from roadside bombs to freeway crashes. Traumatic injury, the leading cause of death for people age 4 to 44, often overwhelms the body's natural blood-clotting process.

17 Dec 2009

FDA grants approval to market InterSol platelet additive solution

Fenwal Inc., a global medical technology company focused on improving blood collection, separation, safety and availability, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fenwal approval to market InterSol® platelet additive solution.

15 Dec 2009

New antibody-drug compound halts growth of metastatic breast tumors

A new antibody-drug compound shrank or halted the growth of metastatic breast tumors in almost half of a group of patients whose HER2-positive cancer had become resistant to standard therapies, according to early data from a multicenter Phase 2 clinical trial led by a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researcher.

14 Dec 2009

Zevalin clinical data presented at 2009 ASH meeting

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a commercial stage biotechnology company with a primary focus in oncology, today announced that clinical data on ZEVALIN (ibritumomab tiuxetan) was presented at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), which was held December 5-8, 2009 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

11 Dec 2009

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