Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

Latest Cardiovascular Disease News and Research

POZEN reports $16.2M net income for second-quarter 2010

POZEN Inc., a pharmaceutical company committed to transforming medicine that transforms lives, today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

3 Aug 2010

Toxic protein in bee venom improves liposome encapsulated drug effectiveness

The next time you are stung by a bee, here's some consolation: a toxic protein in bee venom, when altered, significantly improves the effectiveness liposome-encapsulated drugs or dyes, such as those already used to treat or diagnose cancer. This research, described in the August 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal, shows how modified melittin may revolutionize treatments for cancer and perhaps other conditions, such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease, and serious infections.

3 Aug 2010

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals receives patent for drug formulation

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a clinical-stage drug-development company, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted it patent no. 7,759,506 entitled "Bipolar Trans Carotenoid Salts and Their Uses." This patent includes drug formulation and use claims relating to Diffusion's entire family of first-in-class new chemical entities. Diffusion Pharmaceuticals is commercializing this family of first-in-class drug candidates to treat serious or life-threatening medical conditions characterized by hypoxia or oxygen deprivation at the cellular level.

3 Aug 2010

miRagen Therapeutics develop MicroRNA based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease

miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by developing innovative microRNA-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced today the publication of data demonstrating the essential role of microRNA-451 (miR-451) in the regulation of erythropoiesis, the process of red blood cell production in the body.

3 Aug 2010

FDA approves N30 Pharma's NDA for N6022 GSNOR

N30 Pharmaceuticals, LLC today announced the approval of its Investigational New Drug Application for N6022 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. N6022, a first-in-class inhibitor of s-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR), has the potential to be an important new treatment for acute exacerbations of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

3 Aug 2010

Healthy heart may slow down aging of brain: Study

Keep your heart healthy and you may slow down the aging of your brain, according to a new study reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.In the study, people whose hearts pumped less blood had brains that appeared older than the brains of those whose hearts pumped more blood. Decreased cardiac index, the amount of blood that pumps from the heart in relation to a person's body size, was associated with decreased brain volume using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

3 Aug 2010

Vanguard signs definitive agreement to acquire Arizona Heart Institute

Vanguard Health Systems and Arizona Heart Institute (AHI) announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement for Vanguard to acquire Arizona Heart Institute, one of the world's leading providers of cardiovascular care. Through this agreement, AHI will align with Abrazo Health Care, a Phoenix-based subsidiary of Vanguard, to become part of its distributive cardiovascular network of community-based physicians, providing future opportunities to greatly expand cardiovascular services and patient base throughout the region.

3 Aug 2010

Disparities in cardiovascular disease risk linked to socioeconomic differences between races: Study

A new UCLA study suggests that disparities in cardiovascular disease risk in the United States are due less to race or ethnicity than to socioeconomic status.

2 Aug 2010

Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals achieves positive results in first clinical study of CXL-1020 for ADHF

Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, today announced that it has achieved positive safety and tolerability results in the first clinical study of its lead drug candidate, CXL-1020, for the treatment of patients with acute decompensated heart failure. Each year in the United States, more than one million patients are hospitalized with acute heart failure.

2 Aug 2010

Osteologix grants Servier Research Group exclusive license to develop, commercialize NB S101

Osteologix, Inc. through its wholly owned Irish subsidiary Osteologix Limited and the Servier Research Group, the leading French independent pharmaceutical company, today announced that Osteologix has granted Servier an exclusive royalty bearing license to develop and commercialize NB S101 (strontium malonate) to treat post menopausal osteoporosis, other bone and joint disorders and dental indications worldwide, except in the U.S. NB S101 is an innovative molecule acting on both bone formation and bone resorption.

2 Aug 2010

HDL does not predict heart attack risk after dramatic statin therapy: Study

People with high levels of "good cholesterol," HDL-C, tend to have fewer heart attacks, but HDL-C may offer little protection to people who take statins to lower harmful LDL cholesterol, researchers reported July 21. At Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Dr. Paul Ridker and colleagues analyzed a large study of healthy people who took the statin CRESTOR® (rosuvastatin calcium) to prevent heart attacks. They found that in this group, having high HDL-C was a bad predictor of heart attack risk.

2 Aug 2010

Abnormal sleep duration adversely affects cardiovascular health

A study in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Sleep suggests that regularly sleeping for more or less than seven hours per day is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

2 Aug 2010

Sodium Working Group recommends reducing sodium intake among Canadians

The federally-mandated Sodium Working Group has released the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada. The three-pronged strategy contains six over-arching and 27 specific recommendations for a population health strategy for reducing sodium intake among Canadians.

31 Jul 2010

NewCardio enters new line of credit with existing shareholders

NewCardio, Inc., a cardiac diagnostic technology provider, today announced that it has entered into a new line of credit with three of its existing shareholders, one of which is represented on the Board of Directors, to strengthen its financial position. This will allow the company further time to fully commercialize its lead solution, QTinno™.

30 Jul 2010

Study on link between SNP and concentrations of serum creatinine

Scientists at deCODE genetics and colleagues at Radboud University in the Netherlands today describe how the impact of a single letter variation in the sequence of the human genome conferring risk of kidney disease varies with age and with the onset of other diseases. The study provides independent confirmation of the association made in an earlier study between a version of the the SNP, located on chromosome 16p12, and risk of chronic kidney disease. It also confirmed the link between the SNP and concentrations of serum creatinine, a key indicator of kidney function.

30 Jul 2010

Medtronic launches Defeat-HF clinical trial to evaluate SCS for heart failure

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the global launch of the Defeat-HF (Determining the Feasibility of Spinal Cord Neuromodulation for the Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure) clinical trial. It is the industry's first prospective, randomized study evaluating the clinical feasibility of spinal cord stimulation, or neurostimulation, to improve clinical signs and symptoms of heart failure.

30 Jul 2010

Anthera initiates PEARL-SC Phase 2b study of A-623 for lupus

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat serious diseases associated with inflammation, today announced it has initiated PEARL-SC, the Phase 2b study of A-623, a novel inhibitor of B-Cell Activating Factor, or BAFF, for the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (lupus). Lupus patients suffer from a chronic autoimmune disease, which often leads to severe skin rash, fatigue, joint pain, major organ complications, and cardiovascular disease.

30 Jul 2010

Orexigen's Contrave COR-I trial results published online in journal Lancet

Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. announced that results from its COR-I trial of Contrave® were published online today in the journal Lancet. COR-I was the largest of the four, 56-week, Phase 3 trials supporting the New Drug Application for Contrave, currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Results show that patients taking Contrave were two to three times more likely to lose at least 5% or 10% of their body weight compared to those taking placebo, on both an intent-to-treat (ITT) and completers basis.

30 Jul 2010

BCBSNC receives CEO Cancer Gold Standard certification

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has received CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation, recognizing the organization's commitment to reducing the risk of cancer for employees and their families by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment.

29 Jul 2010

EMA recommends orphan medicinal product designation for XOMA 052 in treatment of Behcet's disease

XOMA Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced that the Committee for Orphan Medical Products of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion and recommends the granting of orphan medicinal product designation for XOMA 052, an antibody to interleukin-1 beta, for the treatment of Behcet's disease. Positive opinions are submitted to the European Commission for decision and are generally adopted within 30 days of receipt.

29 Jul 2010