Toxicology News and Research

Latest Toxicology News and Research

Breast cancer updates

According to the latest research human breast milk holds the potential to assess a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

5 Apr 2011

USPTO issues patent to Asterand's BioMAP technology

Asterand plc, a leading provider of human tissue-based services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies engaged in drug discovery research, and its subsidiary BioSeek LLC today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent Nos. 7,908,089 entitled "Patient classification" and 7,912,651 entitled "Function homology screening."

1 Apr 2011

VBL's VB-111 preclinical data against metastatic cancer to be presented at AACR meeting

VBL Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to the development of novel treatments for immune-inflammatory diseases and cancer, today announced two upcoming presentations of preclinical data from the company's VB-111 program at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting.

1 Apr 2011

Merck's VICTRELIS phase III study results against HCV presented at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced results from several new data analyses from the pivotal Phase III studies evaluating the addition of its investigational oral protease inhibitor VICTRELIS to peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin in adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection.

1 Apr 2011

RXi Pharmaceuticals to acquire Apthera

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a recognized leader in RNAi-based therapeutic discovery and development, and Apthera, Inc., a private biotechnology company developing a pipeline of peptide-based immunotherapies for the adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive breast and other cancers, announced today the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which RXi will acquire Apthera.

31 Mar 2011

Positive top-line data from Inhibitex INX-189 Phase 1b trial against HCV

Inhibitex, Inc. today reported positive top-line safety and antiviral data from its multiple ascending dose Phase 1b clinical trial of INX-189, an oral nucleotide polymerase inhibitor being developed to treat chronic infections caused by hepatitis C virus.

31 Mar 2011

Foundation for nationwide consensus on access to genetic information

Health privacy is a serious concern, but as genetic testing becomes more common, access to your genetic information raises questions the healthcare industry has never faced before. It is particularly important that we begin to address these questions now that genomic information is being collected to improve the diagnosis and treatment of children.

31 Mar 2011

Mucus may play a key role in penetration of hydrophobic substances into cells

Are our bodies vulnerable to some pollutants whose lack of solubility in water, or "hydrophobicity," has always been thought to protect us from them? New Tel Aviv University research has discovered that this is indeed the case.

31 Mar 2011

FDA panel to decide regarding food dyes and hyperactivity

A Food and Drug Administration panel is opening a two-day meeting on the link between artificial food dyes and hyperactivity in children. These dyes are used to color the cereals and snacks for children.

30 Mar 2011

FDA grants orphan drug status to America Stem Cell's ASC-101

America Stem Cell, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to ASC-101 to improve homing to bone marrow in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

30 Mar 2011

Researchers identify enzyme biomarker that can diagnose early colon cancer

A research team at the University of Colorado Cancer Center has identified an enzyme that could be used to diagnose colon cancer earlier. It is possible that this enzyme also could be a key to stopping the cancer.

28 Mar 2011

Study identifies unique adult animal stem cells that can turn into neurons

A group of scientists at Marshall University is conducting research that may someday lead to new treatments for repair of the central nervous system.

25 Mar 2011

Mercury in fish may not increase heart disease risk: Study

According to a new study Americans' level of exposure to mercury from sources such as fish is not associated with a higher risk of heart disease, stroke or other cardiovascular disease. This is in spite of the repeated proofs of neurological deficits in children and unborn babies due to mercury exposure.

24 Mar 2011

New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.

24 Mar 2011

NephRx receives new U.S. patent for NX002 to treat oral mucositis

NephRx Corporation today announced issuance of a new U.S. patent for its novel peptide NX002, which currently is in preclinical development for the treatment of oral mucositis.

23 Mar 2011

AACP to honor UW professor with Volwiler Research Achievement Award

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy will honor Sidney D. Nelson, Ph.D., from the University of Washington for his outstanding research and contributions to the field of pharmaceutical sciences.

22 Mar 2011

FDA accepts Arisaph's ARI-3037MO IND for phase I human clinical trial

Arisaph Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held drug discovery biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted the Company's recently submitted Investigational New Drug application to evaluate ARI-3037MO in a phase I human clinical trial in healthy volunteers.

22 Mar 2011

Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of children becoming smokers too

New research has revealed that prenatal exposure to nicotine increases the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice. The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure are more likely to start smoking earlier than their peers and that they are also more susceptible to the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as a result of stress and peer pressure.

21 Mar 2011

New tool for studying microRNA expression in zebrafish

A new research tool for studying microRNA expression in zebrafish will help researchers study the effects of miRNA on the early development of this model organism and better understand developmental and disease mechanisms in humans, as described in Zebrafish, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

18 Mar 2011

New study on how epoxyeicosatrienoic acids protect kidneys

Researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University are studying whether inhibiting an enzyme that reduces levels of a protective metabolite could halt the progression of diabetic nephropathy, or kidney disease resulting from diabetes.

16 Mar 2011