Therapeutics News and Research

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Gene silencer and quantum dots reduce protein production to a whisper

More than 15 years ago, scientists discovered a way to stop a particular gene in its tracks. The Nobel Prize-winning finding holds tantalizing promise for medical science, but so far it has been difficult to apply the technique, known as RNA interference, in living cells.

9 Jul 2008

Nanoparticles detect telomerase activity

Telomerase, an enzyme that prevents chromosomes from shortening when they divide, is widely suspected of playing a key role in making cancer cells immortal.

9 Jul 2008

Nanocantilevers image nanoparticles in cells

Borrowing from a Nobel Prize-winning technique credited with starting the nanotechnology revolution, a team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Northwestern University's Nanomaterials for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics has developed a method for imaging nanoparticles inside of cells.

9 Jul 2008

Discovery of new function for an old enzyme in sialidosis

The lack of a single protein usually thought of as a run-of-the-mill enzyme that helps to recycle molecules in cells causes an incurable and often fatal disease of children, according to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators.

7 Jul 2008

Jefferson scientists discover way to immunize mice against metastatic disease

Taking advantage of the fact that the intestines have a separate immune system from the rest of the body, scientists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia have found a way to immunize mice against the development of metastatic disease.

24 Jun 2008

Quantum dots stop RNA interference in living cells

More than 15 years ago scientists discovered a way to stop a particular gene in its tracks. The Nobel Prize-winning finding holds tantalizing promise for medical science, but so far it has been difficult to apply the technique, known as RNA interference, in living cells.

24 Jun 2008

New hope for patients with breast cancers resistant to tamoxifen

Researchers have found a new family of therapeutic agents that interferes with the ability of estrogen to stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells. The results of the new study will be presented by Nicole Patterson at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

16 Jun 2008

Computer predicts anti-cancer molecules

A new computer-based method of analyzing cellular activity has correctly predicted the anti-tumour activity of several molecules.

16 Jun 2008

VistaGen Therapeutics announces new broad composition of matter patent protection for its ES Cell-derived pluripotent precursor cells

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company using leading-edge embryonic stem cell (ES Cell) technologies for predictive toxicology and drug discovery, has announced new broad composition of matter patent protection for its ES Cell-derived pluripotent precursor cells. VistaGen has exclusive rights for commercial use in its ES Cell-based tools platform for drug discovery and development.

16 Jun 2008

Compugen announces discovery of novel drug targets for cancer antibody therapeutics

Compugen Ltd. announced today the discovery of more than ten novel targets of antibody therapy for various types of solid and hematopoietic cancer.

11 Jun 2008

Without increased funding, California's dominance and public health are threatened, according to new report

The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today released a report, "The National Institutes of Health: Fueling Healthcare Innovation in California," urging legislators to support increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - the backbone of the biomedical industry in California, which employs more than 267,000 people in high wage jobs.

11 Jun 2008

Boehringer, Gilead freeze antiretroviral prices for some U.S. agencies

Pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Gilead Sciences are freezing the prices of their antiretroviral drugs for select agencies in the U.S., the AIDS Healthcare Foundation announced on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports.

8 Jun 2008

Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead to freeze AIDS drug price

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today applauded decisions by Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. to freeze prices on antiretroviral medications purchased by government agencies.

3 Jun 2008

CSL Behring study shows extended half-life recombinant VIIa leads to longer biologic activity

CSL Behring today presented results of a pre-clinical study that not only demonstrates the feasibility of genetically fusing factor VIIa to human albumin, but that this therapeutic protein with a prolonged half-life can lead to a longer biologic effect.

3 Jun 2008

Paclitaxel Poliglumex/Capecitabine regimen well tolerated and active in metastatic breast cancer

At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), data were presented from a phase II investigator-sponsored trial paclitaxel poliglumex (Opaxio, CT-2103) in combination with capecitabine in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

3 Jun 2008

Arana and Greenovation in anti-cancer co-development deal

Arana Therapeutics Limited and Germany-based greenovation Biotech GmbH have entered into a collaborative agreement to develop next generation anti-cancer antibodies.

2 Jun 2008

Celldex Therapeutics vaccine may double survival in patients with deadly brain tumors

A vaccine aimed at inducing immunity to the most common and deadly type of brain tumor may stave off recurrence and more than double survival in patients, according to a new study led by researchers in Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.

2 Jun 2008

U.S. Patent Office confirms second of four Viread patents

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) has completed the second of four reexamination proceedings and has confirmed the patentability of U.S. Patent No. 5,922,695, which covers the composition of matter for Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). On May 20, Gilead announced that the U.S. PTO confirmed the patentability of U.S. Patent No. 6,043,230.

2 Jun 2008

New cancer stem cell identified behind metastatic tumors

The molecular profile of cancer stem cells that initiate metastatic colon tumors is significantly different from those responsible for primary tumors, according to new research from a team at Weill Cornell Medical College.

28 May 2008

First patient enrolled in phase III study of Bevacizumab and Trastuzumab in early breast cancer

A new international study for women with HER2-positive breast cancer is open for enrollment. The pivotal BETH (BEvacizumab and Trastuzumab Adjuvant Therapy in HER2-positive Breast Cancer) study is a Phase III clinical research trial that is investigating the benefits of combining two monoclonal antibodies, the anti-angiogenic, bevacizumab (Avastin) and the targeted therapy trastuzumab (Herceptin), together with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer.

27 May 2008