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InflaRx completes IFX-1 phase I study on acute inflammatory diseases

InflaRx announced today the successful completion of its recent clinical phase I study investigating its lead drug candidate IFX-1, a new first in class monoclonal antibody inhibiting complement driven inflammation. The trial reached its anticipated endpoints, demonstrating that IFX-1 is safe and well tolerated while displaying desirable PK and PD parameters.

18 Jan 2012

EMA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Ceptaris' chlormethine gel for treatment of CTCL

Ceptaris Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Ceptaris' investigational drug, chlormethine gel, for the treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.

18 Jan 2012

Vitamin D could prevent age related eye degeneration: Study

A new study showed that increased vitamin D intake can help to prevent age-related diseases, in particular loss of vision and blindness.

18 Jan 2012

Cangrelor allows stent patients to be 'bridged' to cardiac surgery

New findings from a research study led by physicians at Scripps Health reveal that the investigational drug cangrelor has the unique properties of achieving very fast blood thinning effects when needed to protect from heart attacks, but also dissipates rapidly so patients can undergo surgery without the excessive bleeding often associated with blood thinning medications.

18 Jan 2012

Melanoma drug makes pre-existing cells with RAS mutation grow into skin squamous cell cancers

Patients with metastatic melanoma taking the recently approved drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf) responded well to the twice daily pill, but some of them developed a different, secondary skin cancer.

18 Jan 2012

Minimally invasive renal denervation performed for the first time in Canada

Doctors at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre today performed a minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat high blood pressure, called renal denervation, for the first time in Canada.

18 Jan 2012

Slow-wriggling alpha-synuclein proteins cause Parkinson's disease

Imagine if doctors could spot Parkinson's disease at its inception and treat the protein that triggers it before the disease can sicken the patient.

18 Jan 2012

Memory retraining using mSMT increases cerebral activation in MS patients

Neuroscientists at Kessler Foundation have documented increased cerebral activation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) following memory retraining using the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT).

18 Jan 2012

Converted umbilical cord stem cells hold hope for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis

For the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases.

18 Jan 2012

Reverse integration and wheelchair athletes playing basketball

Wheelchair basketball: It's a fast, skillful game, dazzling to watch, gruelling to play. It's also a sport that in Canada has become one of the most inclusive, welcoming athletes with disability and able-bodied athletes alike to its leagues and teams. And athletes like it that way.

18 Jan 2012

New pathways in battle against obesity and other lifestyle diseases

The world is encountering an epidemic of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. In the west it is already widespread and it is now exploding in the developing world with the rapid change in the lifestyles of recent generations.

18 Jan 2012

Peter Munk Cardiac Centre doctors perform renal denervation in first Canadian patient

Doctors at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre today performed a minimally invasive surgical procedure to treat high blood pressure, called renal denervation, for the first time in Canada. The procedure can significantly reduce high blood pressure in patients who cannot effectively treat their hypertension through drugs. These patients, numbering approximately 250,000 Canadians, have to endure an especially high risk of heart attacks and stroke, which continues to kill thousands of Canadians every year.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers identify critical cellular, molecular events that lead to esophageal adenocarcinoma

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified the critical early cellular and molecular events that give rise to a type of esophageal cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma, the fastest-rising solid tumor in the United States.

18 Jan 2012

Defects in mitochondria lead to devastating neurodegenerative disease

A devastating neurodegenerative disease that first appears in toddlers just as they are beginning to walk has been traced to defects in mitochondria, the 'batteries' or energy-producing power plants of cells. This finding by a team of researchers, led by investigators from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital - The Neuro- at McGill University, was published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

18 Jan 2012

Scientists identify pathway that activates hepsin on the surface of breast tumor cells

Scientists from the University of Helsinki and from UCSF have exposed a cell pathway that breast tumor cells use to destruct local tissue neighborhood. Cancer cells may use this pathway to free themselves from mammary epithelial tissue architecture, to spread to surrounding tissues. The cell pathway, the researchers found, is a biochemical chain of events leading to activation of a protein-cleaving enzyme on the surface of the tumor cells.

18 Jan 2012

Chan faces financing challenges in second term as WHO director-general

The expected re-appointment of Margaret Chan as the WHO's director-general "comes at a perilous moment for WHO," a Lancet editorial states.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers discover changes that cause tumor progression and metastasis

Researchers at the Centro de Gen-mica e Investigaci-n Oncol-gica (GENYO) -of which the University of Granada, Pfizer and the Andalusian Regional Government are members- have identified the genetic and phenotypic changes that cause tumor progression and metastasis.

18 Jan 2012

St. Baldrick's Foundation awards $47,000 to help kids with cancer

It takes life-saving research and access to clinical trials to help children with cancer. The St. Baldrick's Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an infrastructure grant of $47,000 to the Biopathology Center (BPC), housed in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

18 Jan 2012

Study examines effect of MELD score-based allocation on post-liver transplant kidney failure

Research from the University of Michigan Health System shows the risk for kidney failure among liver transplant recipients is higher following the implementation of Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), a policy change in 2002 that altered how liver transplant allocation is decided.

18 Jan 2012

Bioengineers receive $2 million NIH grant to develop new toxicology tests

Chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs can obviously save lives. But as more and stronger chemicals have been introduced, our basic knowledge of the broader health impact of all these chemicals has not kept up with the rapid pace of innovation. There is exceptionally little information on how chemicals in our drugs and also in the environment around us, including on the food we eat, impact some of the most important cells in our body: stem cells. Without basic knowledge and tests on the impact of chemicals on our stem cells, we may be unwittingly damaging essential regenerative functions in our body.

18 Jan 2012