Toxicology News and Research

Latest Toxicology News and Research

Scientists suggest targeting ion channels could offer effective pain relief

University at Buffalo neuroscience researchers conducting basic research on ion channels have demonstrated a process that could have a profound therapeutic impact on pain.

20 Dec 2010

Asbestos removal from schools poorly handled

Queensland government’s builder - QBuild’s handling of asbestos at a north Queensland school is inappropriate says a report. After a painter at the Mackay West State School identified asbestos in December 2009, the QBuild workers came in to decontaminate the area but they did not wear protective clothing and removed dust with a domestic vacuum cleaner.

16 Dec 2010

DARPA awards Pulmatrix $5.7 million grant to advance iCALM therapies

Pulmatrix, a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing a new class of therapies for the prevention, treatment and control of respiratory diseases, today announced that it has been awarded a grant for $5.7 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a component of the Department of Defense (DOD), focused on identifying and advancing novel technologies to support defense of our nation's soldiers and civilian population.

14 Dec 2010

Bionovo reports positive Menerba clinical program meeting with FDA

Bionovo, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for women's health and cancer, today announced that it had received the minutes from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Clinical Guidance meeting that took place on November 8, 2010. In that meeting, the FDA agreed with the Company's proposed overall clinical development plan.

13 Dec 2010

Vical's Vaxfectin adjuvant boosts immune response of DNA-based vaccines against cancer

Vical Incorporated announced today that the company's Vaxfectin® adjuvant has significantly boosted the immune response of DNA-based vaccines against a range of pathogens and cancer in preclinical models from rodents to non-human primates. Vaxfectin® has demonstrated similar effects with protein- and peptide-based vaccines in preclinical models.

13 Dec 2010

New challenges to FDA's 'no risk' classification of mercury fillings

FDA Device Division, still concerned about mercury toxicity in American dentistry, is convening yet another professional panel review regarding safety issues. A nationwide convergence of scientists, dental and medical professionals, lead by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) are provoking new challenges to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) July'09 "no risk" classification of mercury fillings .

10 Dec 2010

Clinical, preclinical results of ISF35 in CLL patients presented at ASH 2010

Memgen, LLC announced the presentation of clinical and preclinical results for its lead product, ISF35, during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Orlando, Florida. The research and clinical development of ISF35 announced today was led by Januario Castro, MD, and Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, both at the University of California, San Diego.

10 Dec 2010

Estrogen receptor beta inactivates critical genes, arrests cancer cell growth

Bionovo, today announced the publication of a study demonstrating that ERb causes cancer cell growth arrest by inactivating critical genes and enzymes responsible for cell growth. These results provide evidence that drugs that stimulate the production of or activate ERb are potential new therapies to prevent breast cancer.

9 Dec 2010

Bisphenol A tainted money and receipts

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been found in many household items and other common objects and is known to be an endocrine disruptor linked to infertility, genital abnormalities, cancer and more. Now it has been detected on ‘cash’. Since BPA is used to make plastic, manufacturers use about 8 billion pounds of BPA that is moulded, cooked or poured into toys, baby products and other merchandise each year. On these products BPA is chemically bonded but it is simply applied in a powdery film to paper, making it easy to rub off with a touch.

8 Dec 2010

OXIS introduces ErgoFlex for relief of joint pain

OXIS International, Inc. announces the market launch of ErgoFlex™, a unique new dietary supplement for the relief of joint pain. It is the first in a series of commercial products planned by OXIS. ErgoFlex is the only joint health complex containing the powerful antioxidant Ergothioneine (ERGO), and is specifically formulated to help the body fight the pain of joint inflammation and maintain optimal joint health.

7 Dec 2010

Bright-colored toys can pose a dangerous health risk to children

The right toy can make the Christmas season the most wonderful time of the year for children and their parents.But the wrong toy can make this season a time of pain, grief and regret for families with children who suffer severe injuries or death from toys they never should have been given in the first place, according to medical experts at Loyola University Health System in Maywood, Ill.

7 Dec 2010

NCI director ignorant of cancer prevention, says coalition

On October 22, 2010, Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Dr. Harold Varmus, who was appointed director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) by President Obama three months previously. The Senator raised questions on the amount of "sponsored travel," sometimes a dozen or more trips a year and almost exclusively to international conferences paid for by outside organizations or companies, taken in recent years by "numerous NCI employees, notably senior leadership."

4 Dec 2010

3M announces availability of TLR compounds for nonvaccine use in pharmaceutical industry

3M announces the availability of immune response modifier compounds for nonvaccine use in the pharmaceutical industry. The toll-like receptor (TLR) compounds, that activate through TLR7 and TLR8, show promise for the treatment of conditions including cancer, dermatologic diseases and atopic diseases, such as allergy and asthma.

3 Dec 2010

FDA accepts IND application to initiate human clinical trial to evaluate BNC

QR Pharma, Inc., a developer of novel drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Investigational New Drug application (IND) to begin human clinical trials and evaluate the safety and efficacy of the company's second product, bisnorcymserine (BNC).

3 Dec 2010

Research may lead to new treatment strategies for Graves' disease

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified a compound that prevents overproduction of thyroid hormone, a finding that brings scientists one step closer to improving treatment for Graves' disease.

2 Dec 2010

Exposure to BPA during perinatal development impairs reproductive capacity of female offspring

Exposure to a ubiquitous environmental chemical during pregnancy may impair reproductive capacity of female offspring, according to a study published online in advance of print on December 2 in Environmental Health Perspectives. Fertility decreased over time in female mice that had been exposed during fetal and neonatal (perinatal) development to doses of bisphenol-A (BPA) that were lower than or equal to human environmental exposure levels.

2 Dec 2010

Metabolon announces publication of diabetes study in PLoS ONE journal

Metabolon, Inc., leaders in global metabolomics, biomarker discovery and biochemical analysis, announces the publication of "Metabolic Footprint of Diabetes: A Multiplatform Metabolomics Study in an Epidemiological Setting" in PLoS ONE.

1 Dec 2010

Merck announces initial results from ISENTRESS Phase III study in HIV-1

Merck today reported initial results from the Phase III study investigating the efficacy and safety of a treatment regimen including ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) Tablets once daily in treatment-naïve adult patients infected with HIV-1. ISENTRESS is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced adults.

29 Nov 2010

Mercury from dental fillings exceeds Reference Exposure Level: Report

A new risk assessment report submitted by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology this month to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that mercury from dental fillings is estimated to cause 67.2 million Americans to exceed the Reference Exposure Level (REL) of 0.3 ug/m3 established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in 1995.

25 Nov 2010

Agilent's GeneSpring Bioinformatics Solution integrated with GeneGo's MetaCore

GeneGo, Inc., a leading provider of databases, software and services in systems biology and chemistry, and Agilent Technologies, Inc., the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications, announced today that they have integrated Agilent's GeneSpring Bioinformatics Solution with MetaCore.

22 Nov 2010