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EMA PDCO grants specific waivers for Gamida Cell-Teva JV's StemEx study in paediatric patients

The Gamida Cell-Teva Joint Venture (JV) announced today that the Paediatric Committee (PDCO) of the EMA has granted product specific waivers for StemEx for all subsets of the paediatric population (birth to 17 years of age) in all conditions. The PDCO emphasized that the granting of the waivers should not prevent the JV from considering developing StemEx for children with conditions where there is a need. StemEx is being developed by a joint venture equally owned and operated by Gamida Cell and Teva Pharmaceuticals ( TEVA).

18 Jan 2010

HHMI: Distinct cancer-causing mutations in neighboring cells can cooperate to produce tumors

According to modern biology textbooks, a single genetic mutation is rarely enough to cause cancer. It is generally thought that cells must accumulate a series of mutations that work together to trigger tumor development.

18 Jan 2010

Researchers uncover novel genetic markers for diabetes-related traits

In two major studies published in Nature Genetics today, researchers use biological understanding to dissect the genetics of diabetes. An international team comprising researchers from more than 100 institutions analysed vast suites of genetic data from more than 100,000 people of European descent to uncover the associations.

18 Jan 2010

Three proteins that lead to memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease identified

A scientific group led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have identified three kinases, or proteins, that dismantle connections within brain cells, which may lead to memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

18 Jan 2010

Findings could pave way for new therapeutic approaches for Friedreich's ataxia

Elevated levels of DNA damage have for the first time been found in the cellular mitochondria and nuclei of patients with the inherited, progressive nervous system disease called Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), says a multicenter research team led by an expert from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI).

18 Jan 2010

Researchers identify ways to predict patients with small-cell lung cancer

Researchers for TGen Clinical Research Services at Scottsdale Healthcare (TCRS) have identified a way to predict which patients with small-cell lung cancer may be resistant to first-line chemotherapy.

18 Jan 2010

Researchers discover potential treatment for blinding disease

The discovery of an inflammatory mediator key to the blinding effects of diabetic retinopathy is pointing toward a potential new treatment, Medical College of Georgia researchers said.

18 Jan 2010

Alterations in intestinal microbiota may lie behind IBS aetiology

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal functional disorder that can greatly affect the patient's well being. Multiple interacting mechanisms, including alterations in the intestinal microbiota, are suspected to lie behind IBS aetiology.

18 Jan 2010

Study reveals interaction of genetic and environmental factors in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

"Our study reveals the interaction of genetic and environmental factors such as dietary habits in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease," explained Dr. Matthias Elstner of the Neurological Clinic of LMU and Helmholtz Zentrum M-nchen, lead author of the study.

18 Jan 2010

Study provides strong evidence that intense neural activity underlies the experience of seeing

How do the visual images we experience, which have no tangible existence, arise out of physical processes in the brain? New research at the Weizmann Institute of Science provided evidence, for the first time, that an 'ignition' of intense neural activity underlies the experience of seeing.

18 Jan 2010

IGC scientist wins ERC grant for neuroscience research

Zachary Mainen, coordinator of the Champalimaud Foundation Neuroscience Programme at the IGC, has become one of the most recent winners of the prestigious and highly competitive European Research Council grants, to the value of 2.3 million euro, for a period of five years.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists discover potential biomarkers to predict the spread of colon cancer

Scientists in China are reporting discovery of two proteins present in the blood, of people with colon cancer that may serve as the potential biomarkers for accurately predicting whether the disease will spread.

18 Jan 2010

M. D. Anderson researchers discover mechanism that helps glioblastomas evade immune attack

Cancer-initiating cells that launch glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal type of brain tumor, also suppress an immune system attack on the disease, scientists from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in a paper featured on the cover of the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

18 Jan 2010

New findings may yield novel therapies for chronic neurodegenerative diseases

We all have at one time or another experienced the typical signs of an infection: the fever, the listlessness, the lack of appetite. They are orchestrated by the brain in response to circulating cytokines, the signaling molecules of the immune system. But just how cytokines' reach extends beyond the almost impenetrable blood-brain barrier has been the topic of much dispute.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists discover new links between inherited blindness and AHI1 gene

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered new links between a common form of inherited blindness affecting children and a gene known as Abelson helper integration site-1 (AHI1).

18 Jan 2010

New class of drugs could help prevent skin cancer

A new study by Loyola University Health System researchers could lead to alternative treatments that would shrink skin cancer tumors with drugs. The drugs would work by turning on a gene that prevents skin cells from becoming cancerous, said senior author Mitchell Denning, Ph.D.

18 Jan 2010

Androgen replacement therapy may ward off heart damage, says study

A man's male hormones may ward off heart damage by helping vessels around the heart regenerate, suggest Australian researchers in a report posted January 13 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org).

18 Jan 2010

Studies show treatment success for chronic hepatitis C may be predicted by rapid virological response

The likelihood of treatment success of 48 wk peg-interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) therapy for chronic hepatitis C may be predicted by viral kinetics on therapy. In particular, recent studies have shown that sustained virological response (SVR) can be predicted by a rapid virological response (RVR), and an early virological response (EVR).

17 Jan 2010

Genomic and Personalized Medicine Conference in USA

Elsevier announced today the Genomic and Personalized Medicine Conference in Arlington, VA, USA from May 16-18, 2010, which is, supported by The Lancet and organized in association with the book 'Genomic and Personalized Medicine.

13 Jan 2010

Scripps Research scientists produce chemically complex compound

In 1993 researchers discovered a chemical compound in a sponge off Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, that has shown anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal pharmaceutical promise. But that wasn't its greatest allure, at least not for chemists.

13 Jan 2010