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Acceleron Pharma commences Phase 2 clinical trial of ACE-031 protein therapeutic in DMD patients

Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues including muscle, bone, fat, red blood cells and the vasculature, today announced the initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial with ACE-031 in patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a fatal neuromuscular disease. ACE-031 is an investigational protein therapeutic that builds muscle and increases strength by inhibiting signaling of a cell surface receptor called the activin receptor type IIB (ActRIIB).

5 May 2010

LightLab Imaging granted FDA clearance for C7-XR Imaging System and C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter

LightLab Imaging, Inc., the pioneer and leader in the development of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technology for vascular and other imaging applications, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the C7-XR Imaging System and companion C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter.

5 May 2010

Researchers receive NIDDK grant to identify pre-diabetes symptoms

A Biodesign team of researchers, led by Randall Nelson, PhD, has received a new five-year, $3.1 million award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health. Their goal is to discover and validate telltale molecular signs to learn how to predict who will develop the disease long before any symptoms of diabetes appear.

5 May 2010

Micronics receives FDA marketing clearance for ABORhCard

Micronics, Inc., a medical device development company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the company 510(k) clearance to market its ABORhCard, a qualitative in vitro test that provides a simultaneous determination of an individual's ABO blood group and Rh factor status. It is not for use for blood bank processing of blood products, for determining RHD status for the purpose of administration of Rh immunoglobulin, or for screening purposes prior to transfusion.

4 May 2010

Rice students' Sally Centrifuge could help diagnose anemia globally

A simple salad spinner will save lives this summer, if everything goes as planned by two Rice University undergraduates.

4 May 2010

Manipulating physiology of "kissing bug" may help prevent transmission of Chagas' disease

It makes your skin crawl-a bug that crawls onto your lips while you sleep, drawn by the exhaled carbon dioxide, numbs your skin, bites, then gorges on your blood. And if that's not insult enough, it promptly defecates on the wound-and passes on a potentially deadly disease.

30 Apr 2010

Ago2 protein helps generate microRNAs: CSHL researchers

MicroRNAs are small bits of RNA within cells that wield enormous power. They influence virtually every biological process by controlling the "expression" of genes. Helping them in exerting this control is a unique class of proteins called Argonautes.

29 Apr 2010

New study reinforces urgent need for life-saving vaccines in Africa

A new study released this week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases finds that African children who contract pneumococcus - a bacterial infection that causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis - are 36 times as likely to have sickle-cell disease, a blood disorder prevalent in African children that increases the risk for infectious diseases and early death.

29 Apr 2010

Study: Lower blood oxygen levels can lead to heart abnormalities in children with sickle cell disease

Children with sickle cell disease who also have lower blood oxygen levels while both asleep and awake are likely to have heart abnormalities, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions have found.

28 Apr 2010

Black children with chronic kidney disease have severe anemia than white children: Study

Black children with chronic kidney disease have more severe anemia than white children even when they receive the same treatment, according to a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center to be published in the May issue of the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

27 Apr 2010

ThermaCor 1200 Rapid Thermal Infusion System used successfully in multiple clinical cases

Smisson-Cartledge Biomedical LLC, an innovator in life saving cardiovascular devices, announced today that its ThermaCor 1200 Rapid Thermal Infusion System has been used successfully in multiple clinical cases in the United States and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

26 Apr 2010

World's smallest and lightest microscope for telemedicine applications

Aydogan Ozcan, whose invention of a novel lensless imaging technology for use in telemedicine could radically transform global health care, has now taken his work a step further ― or tinier: The UCLA engineer has created a miniature microscope, the world's smallest and lightest for telemedicine applications.

23 Apr 2010

Human lymphocytes produce hepcidin that regulate iron levels in the body: Study

For some years now a small group of scientists have been pioneering a revolutionary idea - that the vertebrate immune system could have a role in the regulation of iron in the body. And now, a work soon to be published in the journal Immunology, shows that human lymphocytes (white blood cells) actually produce hepcidin, the most important protein in the regulation of iron levels in the body.

22 Apr 2010

Positive results from preclinical EP-302 program presented at AACR 2010

Drug discovery and development company Esperance Pharmaceuticals today presented positive results from their preclinical EP-302 program that support the initiation of IND enabling studies. EP-302 is a targeted membrane-disrupting peptide designed to selectively kill cells that express nucleolin on their surface. Nucleolin is a protein that is over-expressed in a wide range of cancers and tumor endothelial cells.

22 Apr 2010

Magnetically guided nanoparticles for delivering DNA, cells and drugs

Scientists and engineers have used uniform magnetic fields to drive iron-bearing nanoparticles to metal stents in injured blood vessels, where the particles deliver a drug payload that successfully prevents blockages in those vessels. In this animal study, the novel technique achieved better results at a lower dose than conventional non-magnetic stent therapy.

20 Apr 2010

Patel trial testimony by anesthetist: bleeding and kidney damage may have led to early death

In the Jayant Patel manslaughter case new testimony has surfaced. Dr. Patel has been accused of causing the deaths of three Queensland patients and permanently injuring another when he performed operations as director of surgery at the Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005. He had pleaded not guilty.

20 Apr 2010

Alexion Pharmaceuticals' Soliris NDA for PNH receives approval in Japan

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alexion Pharma International Sàrl today announced that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has approved the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for the use of Soliris® (eculizumab) as a treatment for patients in Japan with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).

16 Apr 2010

Study finds variation in H1N1 infection risks and antibody levels: JAMA

An analysis of blood samples taken before, during and after an epidemic wave of influenza A(H1N1) in Singapore in 2009 finds variation in infection risks and antibody levels, with younger age groups and military personnel having higher infection rates than other groups, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

15 Apr 2010

New medical imaging technique using pulsed laser and nanocages

New research findings suggest that an experimental ultrasensitive medical imaging technique that uses a pulsed laser and tiny metallic "nanocages" might enable both the early detection and treatment of disease.

13 Apr 2010

Actual cost of blood 37% higher than previously estimated

A new blood transfusion cost analysis study published in the April 2010 issue of Transfusion, a peer-reviewed academic journal, shows that when all of the complex cost factors leading up to and after a red blood cell (RBC) transfusion are considered, the actual cost of blood is substantially higher than previously estimated.

7 Apr 2010