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Ivabradine could save thousands of heart failure patients

Researchers behind a major trial of Procoralan believe the pill could save 10,000 lives a year in Britain alone. Ivabradine works by slowing the beating of the heart, helping it to pump blood more efficiently.

7 Mar 2012

VBC files patent applications related to beneficial health effects of S-ABA

Valent BioSciences Corporation announced today it has filed worldwide patent applications claiming beneficial health effects of abscisic acid (S-ABA) in humans and animals. S-ABA is a naturally occurring substance found in all plants, including fruits and vegetables.

7 Mar 2012

Are Americans overdosing on cholesterol lowering statins?

Eric Topol, Chief Academic Officer for Scripps Health and cardiologist, wrote an ‘op-ed’ in the New York Times Opinion Page addressing the risk of cholesterol-reducing statins such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor.

7 Mar 2012

Many Ethiopians coming to camp in search of traditional cure for HIV turn to ARVs, WSJ reports

The Wall Street Journal examines how many HIV-positive Ethiopians coming to a "squatter's camp" at Ethiopia's Entoto Mountain in the hopes that a spring believed to contain holy water would cure HIV instead begin treatment with antiretrovirals.

7 Mar 2012

Pten gene can also fight against obesity, ageing process

This result, obtained after five years' research, is published in leading journal Cell Metabolism. The authors, led by Manuel Serrano (CNIO), believe it will open the door to new therapeutic options not only against cancer, but against obesity and even the ageing process.

7 Mar 2012

Researchers reveal how melanoma develops resistance to Zelboraf

Cancer is tough to kill and has many ways of evading the drugs used by oncologists to try and eliminate it. Now, researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered how an advanced form of melanoma gets around an inhibitor, Zelboraf, which targets the mutated BRAF gene.

7 Mar 2012

FDA issues Complete Response Letter to Eisai for Dacogen sNDA

Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a Complete Response Letter to partner Eisai for their supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Dacogen (decitabine) for Injection for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults 65 years of age or older who are not considered candidates for induction therapy.

7 Mar 2012

Intellect Neurosciences receives U.S. patent allowance for ANTISENILIN to treat AD

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases announced today that it received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for patent claims covering the company's ANTISENILIN monoclonal antibody platform technology for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

7 Mar 2012

FDA approves Discovery Labs' SURFAXIN to prevent Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Discovery Laboratories, Inc., a specialty biotechnology company dedicated to advancing a new standard in respiratory critical care, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved SURFAXIN (lucinactant) for the prevention of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) in premature infants at high risk for RDS.

6 Mar 2012

Neutra names new erectile dysfunction supplement as Pure Plus Powermax

Neutra Corp. announced today that its new all-natural erectile dysfunction supplement will be named Turbocharged Pure Plus Powermax.

6 Mar 2012

SSRIs appear to reduce depressive symptoms, fetal head growth during pregnancy

Treating pregnant women with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) appears to be associated with fewer depressive symptoms, reduced fetal head growth and a higher risk for preterm birth, but not with a delay in fetal body growth, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

6 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Statins and diabetes; Frightening tobacco warnings; The U.S. dental crisis

We're overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. This past week, the Food and Drug Administration raised questions about the side effects of these drugs and developed new labels for these medications that will now warn of the risk of diabetes and memory loss.

6 Mar 2012

Children's academic achievement test scores not affected by intrauterine drug exposure

Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health along with Boston Medical Center have found children's academic achievement test scores not affected by intrauterine exposure to cocaine, tobacco or marijuana.

6 Mar 2012

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

Why have effective, "simple tools such as Medication Assisted Therapy and clean needle-exchange services" -- methods that are "very effective in decreasing drug abuse and reducing risk of infection with HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases" – "had so little impact on the policies and programs of the Russian Federation?" Bertrand Audoin, executive director of the International AIDS Society, and Chris Beyrer, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write in this New York Times opinion piece.

6 Mar 2012

Cenderitide may preserve cardiac function after heart attack

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Mayo Clinic's Cardiorenal Research Laboratory to conduct a highly innovative research project, "Cardiovascular Peptides and Myocardial Infarction."

6 Mar 2012

Microneedle vaccine patches may effectively protect against flu

Recent research found that microneedle vaccine patches are more effective at delivering protection against influenza virus in mice than subcutaneous or intramuscular inoculation. A new, detailed analysis of the early immune responses by the Emory and Georgia Tech research team helps explain why the skin is such fertile ground for vaccination with these tiny, virtually painless microneedles.

6 Mar 2012

Young children more likely to be diagnosed and treated for ADHD

The youngest children in the classroom are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - and prescribed medication - than their peers in the same grade, according to a study just published in CMAJ.

6 Mar 2012

Prazosin drug shows promise against PTSD-related nightmares

Mayo Clinic researchers this week will announce the use of the blood pressure drug prazosin as an effective treatment to curb post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related nightmares.

6 Mar 2012

ADHD medication use more prevalent among school-age children

A new study from the Universit- de Montr-al shows an increase in prevalence of Canadian children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in the use of medications associated with ADHD in school-age children.

6 Mar 2012

FDA accepts Eisai's resubmission of perampanel NDA for review

Eisai Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Eisai's resubmission of the New Drug Application (NDA) for perampanel (E2007), an investigational drug, for the treatment of partial-onset seizures associated with epilepsy.

5 Mar 2012