Diarrhea News and Research

Latest Diarrhea News and Research

Vertex reports interim data from VX-809 and KALYDECO combination Phase 2 study for cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today an interim analysis of data from an ongoing Phase 2 study of VX-809 and KALYDECO (ivacaftor) that showed significant improvements in lung function (FEV1) among adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have two copies.

7 May 2012

Hot water pasteurisation reduces amount of E. coli on meat

Following the E. coli case in Norway in 2006, when 17 people fell ill and one child died after eating mutton sausages, the meat industry introduced a number of measures in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning from meat. Clean animals and good hygiene during slaughtering are essential preconditions for food safety.

7 May 2012

CSL Behring commences C1-INH phase I/II study in hereditary angioedema

CSL Behring announced today that it has initiated an international phase I/II study of a volume-reduced, subcutaneous formulation of C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) concentrate in patients with hereditary angioedema.

4 May 2012

Lexicon first quarter revenues decrease 50% to $0.3 million

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering breakthrough treatments for human disease, today updated its drug development progress and reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2012.

3 May 2012

SC formulation of Genentech’s ACTEMRA shows promise against RA

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that the SUMMACTA study met its primary endpoint, showing comparable efficacy (non-inferiority) of the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) 162mg weekly compared to 8 mg/kg ACTEMRA intravenous (IV) formulation every four weeks.

3 May 2012

'Taboo' surrounding toilets, sanitation hindering progress toward improved access

"Governments are failing to fund projects to improve access to toilets and other sanitation services in poor countries because the subject remains 'taboo,' a director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Monday," Reuters reports. "About 1.1 billion people across the world still defecate in the open because they have no toilets, according to the United Nations," Reuters writes.

2 May 2012

FDA clears Great Basin’s first C. diff molecular diagnostic test

Great Basin Corporation, a privately-held life sciences company developing sample-to-result molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for its first molecular diagnostic test for Clostridium difficile.

2 May 2012

Antibiotic effective for plague gets FDA nod

Federal regulators – The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), have approved use of an antibiotic to treat plague, an extremely rare, sometimes-fatal bacterial infection.

30 Apr 2012

Amoxicillin-clavulanate may improve small bowel function in children experiencing motility disturbances

The common antibiotic, amoxicillin-clavulanate, may improve small bowel function in children experiencing motility disturbances, according to a study appearing in the June print edition of the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition from Nationwide Children's Hospital.

30 Apr 2012

FDA approves Levaquin for plague

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Levaquin (levofloxacin) to treat patients with plague, a rare and potentially deadly bacterial infection. The agency also approved the drug to reduce the risk of getting plague after exposure to Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes the disease.

30 Apr 2012

New research challenges recommendation to restrict soothers in breastfeeding infants

Binkies, corks, soothers. Whatever you call pacifiers, conventional wisdom holds that giving them to newborns can interfere with breastfeeding.

30 Apr 2012

MDGHA, CHAI and Mylan partner to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea

Mylan Laboratories Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Mylan Inc., today announced that it has entered into a partnership with the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Health Alliance (MDGHA) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea.

30 Apr 2012

World must extend access to life-saving vaccines to all children

"For too long, there has been an unwritten rule that it can take 15 years or more before children in the poorest nations benefit from new life-saving vaccines in use in rich countries," Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, writes in this post in the Independent's "Notebook" blog.

27 Apr 2012

Ghanaian vaccination campaign hopes to prevent up to 14,000 child deaths

In a Huffington Post Blog opinion piece, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), describes watching the suffering of an infant with severe pneumonia and his parents while in Ghana on Thursday, writing that the experience was "a personal reminder as to why our work to prevent disease is so perilous, and why disease control so promising in Africa."

27 Apr 2012

Ghana launching childhood immunization campaign for rotavirus, pneumococcal disease

"Starting this week, Ghana will vaccinate the first babies in a new campaign against rotavirus -- a cause of severe diarrhea -- and pneumococcal disease, which causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis," Reuters reports.

27 Apr 2012

FDA approves Novartis’ Afinitor for treatment of renal angiomyolipomas and TSC

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Afinitor (everolimus) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with kidney tumors known as renal angiomyolipomas and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), who do not require immediate surgery.

27 Apr 2012

GSK receives FDA approval for Votrient to treat advanced soft tissue sarcoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Votrient (pazopanib) to treat patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma who have previously received chemotherapy. Soft tissue sarcoma is a cancer that begins in the muscle, fat, fibrous tissue, and other tissues.

27 Apr 2012

Positive top-line results from Shire’s Vyvanse Phase 2 study on binge eating disorder

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced positive top-line results from a Phase 2 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) Capsules, (CII) in adults with binge eating disorder.

27 Apr 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Afinitor to treat renal angiomyolipomas caused by TSC

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Afinitor (everolimus), the first drug approved specifically to treat non-cancerous kidney tumors (renal angiomyolipomas) not requiring immediate surgery in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex.

27 Apr 2012

Ghana rolls out vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea

Ghana has become the first African country to introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines at the same time, simultaneously tackling the leading causes of the world’s two biggest childhood killers – pneumonia and diarrhoea.

26 Apr 2012