Lupus News and Research

Latest Lupus News and Research

Questcor's H.P. Acthar Gel sNDA for infantile spasms receives FDA approval

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Questcor's supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in the treatment of infantile spasms (IS), an ultra-rare orphan disorder affecting approximately 2,000 American children annually. IS is a devastating and potentially life-threatening form of epilepsy seen in infancy and early childhood.

15 Oct 2010

LFA announces award of new grants for lupus research

The Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. (LFA) today announced the awarding of six new research grants to address gaps in the science and understanding of key areas of lupus research, including pediatric lupus, reproductive health issues in people with lupus, lupus nephritis (kidney involvement), and neuropsychiatric lupus, which affects the brain and nervous system.

14 Oct 2010

NIH awards La Jolla Institute $12.6M to develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening

The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology will develop San Diego's first Center for RNAi screening -- a breakthrough genomics technology that will further enhance San Diego's reputation as a national research leader and provide the local biomedical community ready access to the Nobel-Prize winning technology.

11 Oct 2010

Myrexis to present MPI-0485520 preclinical data at Annual Scientific Meeting

Myrexis, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for cancer, today announced it will present a poster at the 74th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP), to be held November 7-11, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.

7 Oct 2010

New report focuses on management of renal anemia amongst dialysis, later stage CKD patients

BioTrends Research Group, Inc. recently published its TreatmentTrends: Renal Anemia in China report. This report is based on survey results from 150 nephrologists in clinical practice in China and qualitative interviews conducted with ten thought leaders in nephrology. The report examines the demographics of nephrology practice in China and focuses specifically on the management of renal anemia amongst dialysis and later stage chronic kidney disease patients.

7 Oct 2010

Researchers identify new type of cell that protects from immune system attack

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston have identified a new type of cell in mice that dampens the immune system and protects the animal's own cells from immune system attack.

5 Oct 2010

NIEHS awards grant to study environmental impact on genetic information

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has awarded $2.27 million to Indiana University researcher Joseph Shaw for a five-year study of how the environment alters genetic information through mutation and natural selection.

5 Oct 2010

Merck's boceprevir Phase III studies for HCV to be presented at 61st AASLD

Merck today announced that final results from two pivotal Phase III studies of boceprevir, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented in oral plenary sessions at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), which is taking place from Oct. 29 through Nov. 2 in Boston. Results for boceprevir in response-guided therapy strategies, which evaluated treatment durations shorter than current standard therapy, will be presented during the meeting.

4 Oct 2010

Researchers discover new diagnostic test for prostate cancer

Researchers in England say they have discovered a set of biomarkers that can distinguish prostate cancer from benign prostate disease and healthy tissue with 90 percent accuracy.

From Oxford Gene Technology 29 Sep 2010

Further trials needed to determine clinical application of Abatacept in SLE

Results from a 12-month multi-center clinical trial did not show therapeutic benefit of abatacept over placebo in patients with non-life threatening systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Abatacept failed to prevent new disease flares in SLE patients tapered from corticosteroids in an analysis where mild, moderate and severe disease flares were evaluated together. Full details of the phase IIb clinical trial are published in the October issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).

29 Sep 2010

Anthera Pharmaceuticals closes financing transaction

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with certain accredited investors in connection with a private placement, or PIPE, financing transaction pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Regulation D promulgated thereunder.

23 Sep 2010

Health Canada issues license for IgX PLEX Celiac test kit

SQI Diagnostics Inc., a medical systems automation company focused on evolving laboratory-based biomarker testing, announced today that Health Canada has issued a medical device license for its automated IgX PLEX Celiac(TM) microarray test kit that runs on the Company's automated SQiDworks(TM) platform. The license allows the Company to market and sell the IgX PLEX Celiac product in Canada.

21 Sep 2010

Multinational study demonstrates positive effects of laquinimod in patients with RRMS

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Active Biotech today announced results from a 36-week active extension study evaluating two doses of laquinimod, an investigational, once-daily oral immunomodulator, for the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

21 Sep 2010

Scientists identify new pathway to control immune balance

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified a new pathway that helps control the immune balance through reciprocal regulation of specialized T lymphocytes, which play very different inflammatory roles.

21 Sep 2010

Arrayit installs microarray platform at NIH

Arrayit Corporation has completed installation and technical training of its proprietary microarray platform at the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, in Rockville, Maryland. In 2010, the NIH will invest more than $31.2 billion in medical research for the American people through 50,000 competitive grants to 325,000 researchers at 3,000 universities, hospitals, companies, medical schools and scientific institutions in the United States and around the world.

21 Sep 2010

Pollution increases risk for sudden cardiac arrest

The fine particles of pollution that hang in the air can increase the risk for sudden cardiac arrest, according to a new study conducted by a team from Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research.

21 Sep 2010

Researchers identify risk gene for schizophrenia

An international team of researchers has identified a risk gene for schizophrenia, including a potentially causative mutation, using genome-wide association data-mining techniques and independent replications.

15 Sep 2010

Questcor Pharmaceuticals provides update on sNDA for H.P. Acthar Gel

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has informed Questcor that the FDA will require additional time beyond the current action date of September 11, 2010 to complete its review of Questcor's supplemental new drug application for H.P. Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in the treatment of infantile spasms.

9 Sep 2010

Scientists discover molecular gatekeeper for arthritis

Elimination of a molecular gatekeeper leads to the development of arthritis in mice, scientists report in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The newly discovered gatekeeper is a protein that determines the fate survival or death of damaging cells that mistakenly attack the body's own tissues and lead to autoimmune disorders such as arthritis.

9 Sep 2010

La Jolla Pharmaceutical seeks clinical product for lupus treatment

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company provided an update today that the Company is actively seeking and evaluating potential pharmaceutical products for in-licensing or acquisition and has engaged consultants to determine whether there is any potential for the further development of Riquent for the treatment of lupus.

8 Sep 2010