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LA BioMed to receive $9.7M federal grant for construction of new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center

With a goal of creating jobs and enhancing chronic disease studies, the federal government is awarding a $9.7 million grant of stimulus funds to the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) for the construction of a new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center on its campus, David I. Meyer, PhD, the institute's president and CEO, announced today.

9 Apr 2010

Ribavirin Biopartners 200mg film-coated tablets granted EU marketing approval

Biopartners GmbH has announced that it has received EU marketing authorization from the European Commission for Ribavirin Biopartners 200mg film-coated tablets. The product is intended for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection as part of a combination regimen with peginterferon alfa-2b or interferon alfa-2b.

9 Apr 2010

Cubist Pharmaceuticals initiates dosing in Phase 2 trial with CB-183,315 for diarrhea due to CDAD

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading acute care therapeutics company, today announced the enrollment and dosing of the first subject in its Phase 2 trial with CB-183,315, an antibacterial drug candidate intended to treat patients with a severe and sometimes life-threatening diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile known as C. difficile-associated diarrhea, or CDAD. The trial is expected to enroll more than 200 subjects at 28 sites in the United States and Canada.

8 Apr 2010

Phase 1 SAD study of PSI-938 for HCV initiated

Pharmasset, Inc. announced today that dosing has initiated in a phase 1, single ascending dose study in healthy volunteers with PSI-938, a third generation purine nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor of hepatitis C virus. Pharmasset recently filed an Investigational New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration.

8 Apr 2010

Allergy flare-ups due to indoor allergens

Spring is here and allergy flare-ups are often attributed to the allergens outside your front door. However, did you know that the same allergens are found on surfaces inside 75 million homes across America? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some of the most common indoor allergens include dust mites, mold and household pets.

8 Apr 2010

Pittsburgh managing diabetes more cost effectively than other states

Pittsburgh is treating diabetes more cost effectively than the rest of the state and nation, and its efforts to help people better manage their disease are paying dividends. Still, a gap exists between the region and the nation's top performers, according to the third annual Pittsburgh Business Group on Health Type 2 Diabetes Report.

8 Apr 2010

Hospital TV remotes are potential reservoir of bacteria

According to RID (Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths) over thirty billion dollars is spent each year in the US on hospital-acquired infections. (Infections caught while hospitalized). These very preventable infections cost an additional $15,000.00 on average per patient infected and kill more people in this country than AIDS, breast cancer and car accidents combined.

8 Apr 2010

Telaprevir-based regimens increase rates of SVR in patients with genotype 1 HCV infection

In a clinical trial known as PROVE 3 published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, treatment with telaprevir-based regimens significantly increased rates of sustained viral response (SVR) in patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who did not achieve SVR with at least one prior course of pegylated-interferon and ribavirin therapy.

8 Apr 2010

Xhale Innovations wins 2010 Medical Design Excellence Award for HyGreen hand hygiene system

HyGreen™, developed by Xhale Innovations, Inc., has been selected as a winner in the 2010 Medical Design Excellence Awards competition, one of the most prestigious awards in the medical device industry. The announcement comes on the heels of winning the 2009 Popular Science Best of What's New Award, and is the latest success for this market-defining product.

8 Apr 2010

Cempra Pharmaceuticals announces schedule of poster presentations at ECCMID 2010

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced its schedule of poster presentations at the 20th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ECCMID) in Vienna, Austria, on April 10-13, 2010.

8 Apr 2010

Single vaccine for anthrax and plague: iBio confirms grant of rights

iBio, Inc. confirmed today the grant of rights to use iBio's proprietary technology, the iBioLaunch™ platform, in support of a $5.3 million government-funded project for the development of a single vaccine to protect against both anthrax and plague. The project will be managed by Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB) pursuant to the long-term agreement between iBio and CMB for advancement of the iBio technology.

8 Apr 2010

Hepatitis C infection increases risk for developing kidney cancer

Physicians at Henry Ford Hospital have found that infection with the hepatitis C virus increases the risk for developing kidney cancer.

8 Apr 2010

Cities, leaders worldwide mark World Health Day

Cities throughout the world are marking World Health Day today by promoting urban health, as part of the WHO's "1,000 cities, 1,000 lives" campaign, CNN reports (Shaikh, 4/7).

8 Apr 2010

Men test positive for chlamydia twice as much as women: survey

From the survey 13% men and 6% women were found infected. These results show that men are twice more likely to test positive for this infection than women. Further findings show that 13% men had unprotected sex with more than one partner over the last 5 years making them more prone to this infection. Only 7% women displayed such risky sexual behavior.

8 Apr 2010

Cepheid to launch GeneXpert Infinity-48 in Europe at 20th ECCMID

Cepheid will initiate European launch of its newest addition to the GeneXpert® family of molecular diagnostic testing systems, the GeneXpert Infinity-48, at the 20th annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Vienna, Austria. The GeneXpert Infinity-48 System is the world's first and only fully-automated, random-access system designed for management of the entire molecular testing workflow — from sample data, cartridge loading and unloading, to final reporting of test results and disposal of cartridges.

7 Apr 2010

DNA barcoding-sequencing of gene in sand flies identifies two species carrying Leishmania naiffi

In the first survey of sand flies in Panama to use genetic barcoding, scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Gorgas Memorial Laboratories identified 20 sand fly species from Barro Colorado Island. Two species carried Leishmania naiffi, a parasite that causes cutaneous leishmaniasis: persistent, itchy skin lesions. Three species carried Wolbachia, a bacterial parasite of insects that could contribute to a strategy to control the flies and limit disease transmission.

7 Apr 2010

CBOs implement proven HIV/STD risk-reduction intervention with adolescents

An approach designed to reduce HIV/STDs previously used exclusively by academic researchers has successfully been implemented by community-based organizations (CBOs), an important component in national strategies to curtail the spread of HIV, meaning far more "at risk" youths can be reached.

7 Apr 2010

Major social science study to accompany Bovine TB BVDP

A major social science study to accompany the Government's Bovine TB Badger Vaccine Deployment Project, to be launched this summer [2010], will be led by a researcher from the University of the West of England, with colleagues from the Countryside and Community Research Institute, in collaboration with Exeter and Cardiff Universities, Drew Associates Limited, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Food and Environment Research Agency.

7 Apr 2010

Antigens of both influenza B virus strains can improve influenza vaccines

Vaccines likely would work better in protecting children from flu if they included both strains of influenza B instead of just one, Saint Louis University research has found.

7 Apr 2010

Measure of blood flow in lungs could help identify smokers at risk of emphysema

Using CT scans to measure blood flow in the lungs of people who smoke may offer a way to identify which smokers are most at risk of emphysema before the disease damages and eventually destroys areas of the lungs, according to a University of Iowa study.

7 Apr 2010