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Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association opposes reduction in reimbursements to private Medicare Advantage plans

Alissa Fox, vice president of legislative and regulatory policy for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, on Friday said that additional reductions in reimbursements to private Medicare Advantage plans "would be a disaster" for the program, CQ HealthBeat reports.

7 Feb 2007

FDA clears MammaPrint test for marketing

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing a test that determines the likelihood of breast cancer returning within five to 10 years after a woman's initial cancer. It is the first cleared molecular test that profiles genetic activity.

6 Feb 2007

Scientists find molecular cause for form of deafness

Scientists exploring the physics of hearing have found an underlying molecular cause for one form of deafness, and a conceptual connection between deafness and the organization of liquid crystals, which are used in flat-panel displays.

5 Feb 2007

Can non-medical use of ultrasound be justified?

Expectant parent' desire to see images of their unborn children has given rise to commercial companies offering keepsake ultrasound scans without medical supervision, often referred to as "boutique ultrasonography."

5 Feb 2007

Odyssey Thera granted U.S. patents for protein-fragment complementation assays

Odyssey Thera announced today that on January 9, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 7,160,691. On January 23, 2007, the USPTO also granted U.S. Patent No. 7,166,424.

5 Feb 2007

Self-assembling nanostructures of DNA

Wouldn't it be great if we could get computer chips to grow on trees? Or at least use the specific bonds of DNA molecules to get nanostructures to grow themselves right in the test tube?

5 Feb 2007

Nano-microscopy reveals collective transport of gold atoms in real-time

Researchers at Delft University of Technology used a High Resolution Electron Microscope to observe in real-time the collective transportation of gold atoms in a thin layer.

5 Feb 2007

Antipodean Pharma commences phase 2 trial in hepatitis C

Antipodean Pharmaceuticals has announced it has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of its lead compound MitoQ (mitoquinone) to investigate the drug's efficacy to reduce liver damage in patients with raised liver enzymes associated with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

5 Feb 2007

Cancer Research Technology grants Waypharm option to novel platinum agents

Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT), the cancer-focused development and commercialisation company, today announce that Waypharm S.A.S (Waypharm) has secured rights to evaluate Thioplatin a novel hypoxia-responsive platinum-based cancer therapy, from CRT.

5 Feb 2007

Effects of acute oral antioxidants on diving-induced alterations in cardiovascular function

A new study, published in The Journal of Physiology, shows that acute oral intake of largely accepted antioxidants Vitamin C and E prior to a scuba dive can reduce alterations in cardiovascular function, particularly acute endothelial dysfunction, that are caused by a single field air dive.

4 Feb 2007

Novel approach to synthesizing nanowires

A novel approach to synthesizing nanowires (NWs) allows their direct integration with microelectronic systems for the first time, as well as their ability to act as highly sensitive biomolecule detectors that could revolutionize biological diagnostic applications, according to a report in Nature.

31 Jan 2007

Natural fibre may help overweight achieve a healthy body weight

It sounds almost too good to be true, but Dr. Raylene Reimer, a researcher at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Kinesiology, believes she may have found an important weapon in the war against obesity.

31 Jan 2007

World's largest particle physics accelerator tackles malaria

Malaria kills more than one million people each year, most of them young children living in Africa. Now physicists in the UK have shared their computers with biologists from countries including France and Korea in an effort to combat the disease.

31 Jan 2007

FDA and VA to share information on safe use of medical products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to share information and expertise related to the review and use of FDA-regulated drugs, biologics and medical devices (medical products).

30 Jan 2007

FDA commits to safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today outlined a comprehensive commitment to the safety of drugs and other medical products.

30 Jan 2007

Magnetic resonance angiography of supraaortic arteries

A novel type of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography is highly accurate in identifying blockages in the arteries that carry blood to the brain, according to a study in the February issue of Radiology.

30 Jan 2007

Merck Serono launches growth hormone injection device

Merck Serono has announced the launch of a unique growth hormone injection device, easypod, for the once-daily administration of Saizen (somatropin), the company's recombinant growth hormone deficiency therapy. easypod is the first of its kind in this therapeutic area and was designed to improve patients' ease of daily use, reliability and convenience.

30 Jan 2007

Scientists tackle huntingtin protein

McMaster scientists are very close to defining small molecule drugs that should be able to redirect the huntingtin protein from accumulating in the wrong place within brain cells, which could potentially translate to a therapy for Huntington's Disease (HD).

29 Jan 2007

GlaxoSmithKline's new influenza vaccine accepted for review in Europe

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that its new generation H5N1 split antigen pre-pandemic influenza vaccine has been accepted for review by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in Europe.

29 Jan 2007

Bush promotes health care proposals

Initiatives that encourage U.S. residents to purchase health insurance through the private insurance market are the best way to expand coverage and reduce health care costs, President Bush said Thursday while visiting a Missouri hospital to promote the health care proposals he outlined earlier this week in his State of the Union address, the Washington Post reports

28 Jan 2007