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Artesunate more effective against severe malaria

Quinine should no longer be the drug of choice for treating severe malaria, according to an updated systematic review by Cochrane researchers. It is now evident that the antimalarial drug artesunate, which is derived from herbs used in Chinese medicine, is more effective at preventing death in patients with severe malaria.

16 Mar 2011

Study investigates physiological changes within brain due to Prozac treatment

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) such as Prozac are regularly used to treat severe anxiety and depression. They work by immediately increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain and by causing long term changes in brain function. However it can take weeks of treatment before a patient feels any effect and both beneficial effects and side effects can persist after treatment is stopped.

16 Mar 2011

Millennium, SGEN expand ADC collaboration

Seattle Genetics, Inc. announced today that Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, has paid an undisclosed fee to exercise an option to designate a second antigen target under the parties' existing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration.

16 Mar 2011

Gadavist approved by FDA for use in central nervous system MRI scans

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gadavist (gadobutrol), a gadolinium-based contrast agent, for use in patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the central nervous system.

16 Mar 2011

NMS announces license agreement with Novartis

Nerviano Medical Sciences, the largest pharmaceutical R&D facility in Italy and one of the leading oncology-focused, integrated discovery and development companies in Europe, today announced a license agreement with Novartis.

16 Mar 2011

Apeiron in antitumor substances deal with Cleveland Clinic

APEIRON Biologics AG announced that it has entered into an exclusive option to license from the Cleveland Clinic a number of novel compounds. These compounds are currently in development at Cleveland Clinic as drug candidates for treatment of various cancers, designed to fight cancer based on stimulation of the immune system. In preclinical models, they have shown anti-cancer activity and a favourable toxicity profile as orally available agents.

15 Mar 2011

Anavex to commence phase I clinical trial in Alzheimer’s disease

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. (“Anavex”) (OTCBB: AVXL) has announced that its clinical trial application (CTA) for ANAVEX 2-73, the company’s lead compound for Alzheimer’s disease, has been approved by the German regulatory health authority, BfArM. The Phase I trial of ANAVEX 2-73, which includes testing in healthy human volunteers, will commence immediately. In this Phase I program Anavex will assess the safety, maximally tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ANAVEX 2-73.

15 Mar 2011

Raymond Associates, BioNeutral enter global sales and distribution agreement for Ygiene antimicrobial technology

BioNeutral Group, Inc., a specialty life science technology-based company, today announced that it has entered into a global sales and distribution agreement with Raymond Associates LLC, a Service Connected Certified Disabled Veteran-Owned Business and executive management consulting firm.

15 Mar 2011

Chelsea uses PHT's LogPad, SitePad Tablet for clinical study to treat Parkinson's patients with NOH

PHT Corporation announced that Chelsea Therapeutics is using PHT's LogPad System and SitePad Tablet for its ongoing clinical study in Parkinson's disease patients with symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension.

15 Mar 2011

InhibOx and COSMIC discoveries align to deliver full service drug discovery offering

InhibOx Ltd (spin-out of Oxford, UK) and the COSMIC Discoveries (the independent service arm of the Institute of Life Sciences, Hyderabad, India) today announce that they have formed a close strategic partnership to deliver a full service drug discovery service offering, incorporating expert computational, medicinal and synthetic chemistry design capabilities. Both commercial organizations, linked to world-leading academic institutes, have built their services on advanced proprietary science and technology. Together, they offer unique capabilities that are able to address the most demanding drug discovery challenges on behalf of biotech and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

15 Mar 2011

OncoSec signs agreement with Inovio to purchase non-DNA cancer vaccine technology

OncoSec Medical Inc., a developer of innovative and proprietary medical approaches to treat solid tumor cancers with unmet medical needs, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. providing for the purchase by OncoSec of certain non-DNA vaccine technology and intellectual property relating to electroporation technology useful for electrochemical and cytokine based immune therapies for treating solid tumors.

15 Mar 2011

Type 2 diabetes drug less likely to cause weight gain, raise cholesterol levels

An inexpensive type 2 diabetes drug that has been around for more than 15 years works just as well and has fewer side effects than a half-dozen other, mostly newer and more expensive classes of medication used to control the chronic disease, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

15 Mar 2011

Argentum responds to recent decision in patent lawsuit against Noble Biomaterials

Argentum Medical, LLC today issued a response to the recent decision in their patent infringement litigation versus Noble Biomaterials, Inc.

15 Mar 2011

Study evaluates potential national savings from discount generic medication programs

If all eligible patients filled their prescriptions through a $4 generic drug program, the societal savings could amount to nearly $6 billion, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study.

15 Mar 2011

New study: Two peptide agent combination might block tumor growth

A new study suggests that combining two experimental anticancer peptide agents might simultaneously block formation of new tumor blood vessels while also inhibiting the growth of tumor cells.

15 Mar 2011

USPTO grants second patent to Angiochem's EPiC drugs

Angiochem, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, today announced that its second patent has been granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Patent number 7,902,156, is entitled "Aprotinin Polypeptides for Transporting a Compound Across the Blood-Brain Barrier".

15 Mar 2011

New findings may open doors for vaccine development against HIV, tuberculosis

Alum is an adjuvant used in many common vaccines, and Canadian researchers have now discovered how it works. The research by scientists from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine is published in the March 13 online edition of Nature Medicine.

15 Mar 2011

EC grants marketing authorization for Taiho's Teysuno to treat gastric cancer

Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and its parent company, Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd., announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Teysuno, a novel oral anti-cancer agent indicated for the treatment of adults with advanced gastric cancer when given in combination with cisplatin.

15 Mar 2011

Study: Statin use may reduce risk of high-grade prostate cancer

Men who take a certain class of cholesterol-lowering medicine, otherwise known as statins, may be 60 percent less likely to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer.

15 Mar 2011

Bayer receives FDA approval for Gadavist Injection

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Gadavist Injection, a macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agent, for intravenous use in diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging in adults and children to detect and visualize areas with disrupted blood brain barrier and/or abnormal vascularity of the central nervous system.

14 Mar 2011