Graft Versus Host Disease News and Research

Latest Graft Versus Host Disease News and Research

Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Prochymal as a treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. The FDA instituted the Orphan Drug Act to promote the development of treatments for underserved patient populations. To be eligible for Orphan Drug designation, the treatment must target a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 new patients per year in the United States.

5 May 2010

ATIR shows better clinical results in patients receiving mismatched bone marrow transplantation

Kiadis Pharma today provided an update on its cell therapy product ATIR™ developed for mismatched bone marrow transplants.

29 Apr 2010

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals proposes common stock public offering

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of a novel therapeutic peptide, Thymosin beta 4, for tissue and organ protection, repair and regeneration in cardiovascular diseases, central nervous system injuries, ophthalmic indications and dermal wounds, announced today that it intends to offer units consisting of shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase shares of its common stock in a public offering.

17 Apr 2010

Soligenix's revenues for 2009 increase by 22%

Soligenix, Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced its financial results for 2009.

1 Apr 2010

Gentium presents abstract on Defibrotide at EBMT Annual Meeting

Gentium S.p.A.today announced that the abstract titled, "Defibrotide prevents hepatic VOD and reduces significantly VOD-associated complications in children at high risk: final results of a prospective phase II/III multicenter study," was presented on Sunday, March 21, 2010, at the opening session of the European Blood and Marrow Transplantation 36th Annual Meeting in Vienna. The abstract received the esteemed Van Bekkum Award for the best abstract submitted to the physician's program. Dr. Selim Corbacioglu, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Regensburg (Germany) and Principal Investigator of the Pediatric Prevention trial, accepted the award and presented the final results of the study.

24 Mar 2010

Researchers develop sensitive measuring system for cGVHD

Researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new assessment tool to measure the severity of symptoms that can complicate stem cell transplantation. The tool assesses symptoms resulting from chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), and was presented with supporting research at the 2010 Bone and Marrow Transplant Tandem Meeting.

2 Mar 2010

Phase III trial results of Osiris Therapeutics' Prochymal for GvHD to be presented at BMT Tandem Meeting

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that results from the Phase III trial evaluating Prochymal for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute graft vs. host disease (GvHD) will be presented by Paul Martin, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Paul Szabolcs, M.D., of Duke University Medical Center at the 2010 BMT Tandem Meeting. The meeting is being held February 24-28 in Orlando, Florida.

24 Feb 2010

Transition through hemogenic endothelial intermediate necessary for hematopoietic stem cell formation

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified the specific region in vertebrates where adult blood stem cells arise during embryonic development.

14 Feb 2010

Safer bone marrow transplants

If a team of American scientists are right, bone marrow transplants may become safer and more available to people in need of donations. In a new research paper appearing in the February 2010 print edition of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org), they explain how an anti-inflammatory agent called "ATL146e" may significantly improve the likelihood of success for bone marrow transplants by preventing or halting the progression of graft-versus-host disease, a complication of bone marrow transplants in which the donor marrow attacks the host. Although very rare, graft-versus-host disease can also occur after blood transfusions.

2 Feb 2010

Biomarker may enable personalized GVHD treatment for bone marrow transplant patients

University of Michigan researchers have identified the first biomarker of graft-versus-host disease of the skin. The discovery makes possible a simple blood test that should solve a treatment dilemma facing doctors with patients who frequently develop rashes after bone marrow transplants.

9 Jan 2010

Modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen reverses sickle cell disease

A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

13 Dec 2009

Gentium presents evaluation results of Defibrotide for VOD at the ASH conference

Gentium S.p.A. today announced final clinical trial results from the Company’s Phase II/III Pediatric Prevention trial and Phase III Treatment trial for Defibrotide of Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease (VOD), which were presented at the American Society of Hematology Conference (ASH) in New Orleans.

8 Dec 2009

Abstracts on very small embryonic-like stem cells presented at ASH annual meeting

NeoStem, Inc., which is pioneering the pre-disease collection, processing and long-term storage of adult stem cells for future medical need and holds the exclusive, worldwide license to VSEL(TM) technology that uses very small embryonic-like stem cells isolated from peripheral blood, announced today that an abstract authored by NeoStem-affiliated scientists was presented in a poster presentation at the prestigious American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans on December 5, 2009.

8 Dec 2009

New bone marrow transplantation technique shows prompt immune recovery

Although bone marrow transplants have long been standard for acute leukemia, current treatments still rely on exact matches between donor and patient. Now, scientists at the University of Perugia, Italy, and the Weizmann Institute of Science have improved on a method of transplanting bone marrow-based stem cells from a mismatched donor, making it safer for use when no exact match exists.

8 Dec 2009

Bortezomib can improve control of GVHD and immune system recovery

A drug that has become a mainstay of multiple myeloma treatment may outperform alternative therapies in re-establishing the immune system of patients who have received stem cell transplants from unrelated, partially matched donors, according to early clinical trial results to be presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators at the American Society of Hematology's (ASH) annual meeting on Sunday, Dec. 6 (Abstract 48, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Room 243-245, 5:45 pm CT).

6 Dec 2009

Statins may protect against GVHD complications

Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are among the most prescribed medicines in the U.S. Now a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center indicates that statins may protect stem cell transplant patients from one of the most serious complications of the life-saving cancer therapy: graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD.

5 Dec 2009

Statins may help protect stem cell transplant patients from GVHD

5 Dec 2009

Gene deletion can increase common complication of bone marrow transplants

A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.

23 Nov 2009

Third quarter 2009 financial results announced by Soligenix

Soligenix, Inc., (Soligenix or the Company) (OTC Bulletin Board: SNGX), formerly known as DOR BioPharma, Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today its financial results for the third quarter of 2009.

13 Nov 2009

Genetix Pharmaceuticals develops a gene therapy product to treat ALD

Genetix Pharmaceuticals, a leader in gene therapy of somatic stem cells, announced today the company’s clinical program to treat Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). The company is developing a gene therapy product in collaboration with Professor Patrick Aubourg and Doctor Nathalie Cartier of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM).

7 Nov 2009