Diarrhea News and Research

Latest Diarrhea News and Research

CONFIRMS trial demonstrates efficacy of ULORIC for treating hyperuricemia in patients with gout

Data presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology highlight effects of baseline characteristics on achievement of serum uric acid (sUA) levels to <6.0 mg/dL and the frequency of flares with ULORIC® (febuxostat) treatment.

19 Oct 2009

WHO, UNICEF publish plan to reduce childhood diarrhea deaths

The WHO and UNICEF have released a seven-point treatment and prevention plan to reduce the number of children around the world who die from diarrhea, the BBC reports (10/14). BMJ News writes, "Every year 1.5 million children aged under 5 years die from diarrhoea, more than 80% of them in Africa and south Asia" (Zarocostas, 10/14).

19 Oct 2009

FDA grants marketing approval for Elitek

Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for Elitek (rasburicase) to be used for the initial management of plasma uric acid (PUA) levels in adult patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and solid tumor malignancies who are receiving anti-cancer therapy expected to result in tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) and subsequent elevations of plasma uric acid.

19 Oct 2009

Over 80 countries mark world handwashing day

VOA News reports that more than 80 countries marked Global Handwashing Day Thursday. The news service writes that "[d]iarrhea is the third cause of death in West and Central Africa, which is responsible for 30 percent of the world's deaths of children under the age of five."

19 Oct 2009

CVS Caremark's seasonal flu shot clinics to run through October 22

CVS/pharmacy announced today that its seasonal flu shot clinics will run through October 22, in light of manufacturer delays in delivery of seasonal flu vaccine affecting all health care providers. However, MinuteClinic will continue to administer seasonal flu vaccines at its 500 locations in 25 states throughout the flu season with the supply of vaccine replenished as frequently as possible.

19 Oct 2009

Soligenix commences enrollment in its Phase 3 Orbec clinical trial for acute GI GVHD

Soligenix, Inc., formerly known as DOR BioPharma, Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today that it has initiated enrollment in its confirmatory Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial evaluating orBec(®) for the treatment of acute gastrointestinal Graft-versus-Host disease (GI GVHD).

15 Oct 2009

UNICEF and WHO call for an urgent plan to control diarrheal disease

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) released a joint report today demonstrating the urgent need to focus attention on diarrheal disease, a neglected illness responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children under 5 each year. This unacceptable loss of life can be stopped.

15 Oct 2009

Study shows type 2 diabetes patients treated with ACTOplus met experience blood sugar reduction

A study, published online in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, showed that a greater percentage of patients with type 2 diabetes treated with the fixed-dose combination ACTOplus met® (pioglitazone HCl and metformin HCl) as initial therapy reached the study goal of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) of less than or equal to 7 percent compared to either component alone.

15 Oct 2009

Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals sign license agreement

Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth under which Progenics is regaining all worldwide rights to the RELISTOR® franchise from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which Progenics had previously licensed to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

14 Oct 2009

Research scientists develop bioengineered treatment for targeting pancreatic cancer

Research scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, have developed a novel bioengineered treatment that has shown promise in targeting pancreatic cancer without causing damage to healthy noncancer cells, a typical problem of chemotherapy.

14 Oct 2009

SCID infants who receive early bone marrow transplants are likely to have fewer complications

Mention the words "bubble boy" and many will recall David Vetter, the kid with big eyes and a thick thatch of dark hair who died 25 years ago after spending almost the entire 12 years of his life in a germ-free, plastic bubble. David was born with severe combined immune deficiency, or SCID, a condition that robbed him of an immune system.

14 Oct 2009

NIH awards UNC researcher $507,000 for rotavirus vaccine study

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has been awarded a four-year, $507,000 grant from the National Institute of Health's Fogarty International Center to study the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in the Central American nation of Nicaragua.

14 Oct 2009

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals announces results of Zenvia double-blind Phase III STAR trial

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced detailed results from the confirmatory double-blind Phase III STAR trial evaluating two doses of the investigational drug Zenvia™ (dextromethorphan/quinidine) compared to placebo in the treatment of pseudobulbar affect (PBA) in patients with underlying multiple sclerosis (MS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

14 Oct 2009

Used hotel soaps help prevent disease in developing countries

The Associated Press/Washington Post profiled the efforts of Atlanta-based Derreck Kayongo, a Ugandan "anti-poverty advocate." Kayongo has launched "the Global Soap Project, an effort to help his country's poorest - one used bar of hotel soap at a time," the AP/Washington Post writes.

14 Oct 2009

Human milk oligosaccharides protect infants against infection

Human milk oligosaccharides - an important ingredient in human breast milk - play a central role in protecting infants against infection. An innovative process developed by Jennewein Biotechnologie GmbH allows for the first time ever the production of these scarce sugar molecules for use as an ingredient in baby food and in additional food products.

13 Oct 2009

Merck Frosst Canada's JANUMET receives Notice of Compliance in Canada

Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. announced today that its new diabetes treatment, JANUMET(TM) (sitagliptin/metformin HCI, MSD), has received Notice of Compliance (NoC) in Canada.

13 Oct 2009

News outlets examine efforts to improve sanitation worldwide

The Washington Post examines how the "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign in India is helping to increase access to home toilets in rural India. According to the newspaper, "About 665 million people in India -- about half the population -- lack access to latrines." Yet, since the campaign launched two years ago, "1.4 million toilets have been built here in the northern state of Haryana, some with government funds, according to the state's health department" - a movement that women's rights activists hail as "a revolution."

12 Oct 2009

FDA grants marketing approval for CSL Behring's Berinert C1-Esterase Inhibitor

CSL Behring announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for Berinert® C1-Esterase Inhibitor, Human for the treatment of acute abdominal or facial attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare and serious genetic disorder, in adult and adolescent patients. Berinert is the first and only therapy approved for this indication in the U.S.

12 Oct 2009

Synta Pharmaceuticals updates its Phase 3 SYMMETRY trial results at the Melanoma XIII Conference

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced that additional results from its Phase 3 trial (SYMMETRYSM) of elesclomol in combination with paclitaxel in metastatic melanoma was presented at the Perspectives in Melanoma XIII Conference by Steven O’Day, M.D., principal investigator and Chief of Research and Director of the Melanoma Program at the Angeles Clinic in Santa Monica, California.

12 Oct 2009

Santarus and Norgine enter into a licensing agreement for ZEGERID products

Santarus, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, and Norgine B.V., a European specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that they have entered into a licensing agreement granting exclusive rights to Norgine to develop, manufacture and commercialize prescription immediate-release ZEGERID® products incorporating the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole in combination with one or more buffering agents in specified markets in Western, Central and Eastern Europe.

12 Oct 2009