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FDA approves Mylan's Tranexamic Acid Injection ANDA

Mylan Inc. today announced that its business Mylan Institutional has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Tranexamic Acid Injection, 100 mg/mL, packaged in 1,000 mg/10 mL Single-dose Vials.

3 Dec 2011

Dye derived from Canary Island lichens may help treat Alzheimer's disease

A red dye derived from lichens that has been used for centuries to color fabrics and food appears to reduce the abundance of small toxic protein aggregates in Alzheimer's disease. The dye, a compound called orcein, and a related substance, called O4, bind preferentially to small amyloid aggregates that are considered to be toxic and cause neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment in Alzheimer's disease.

3 Dec 2011

Promising new agent against sarcomas affecting children

MK 1775, a small, selective inhibitor molecule, has been found to be active against many sarcomas when tested by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. Their findings, recently appearing in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, published by the American Association for Cancer Research, suggest that a badly needed new agent against sarcomas - especially sarcomas affecting children - may be at hand.

3 Dec 2011

Multipronged approach needed to conquer malaria

"A malaria vaccine could be a powerful new tool," but "[c]ontrolling mosquitoes and diagnosing malaria remain essential. Among the highest priorities now is to develop new methods to do both," a Bloomberg editorial states.

3 Dec 2011

Oncolytics REOLYSIN-Gemzar combination Phase 2 pancreatic cancer clinical trial meets primary endpoint

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. today announced that interim data from a Phase 2 clinical trial using intravenous administration of REOLYSIN® in combination with gemcitabine (Gemzar) in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (REO 017) indicated that the clinical study had successfully reached its primary endpoint, and that the drug combination is active.

3 Dec 2011

NIAAA awards Rutgers $10M grant to explore genetic links to alcoholism

Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) has received a $10 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to provide DNA extraction, basic genetic testing, and repository services for more than 46,000 saliva samples, in support of national research efforts to determine the genetic and environmental factors that lead to alcoholism.

3 Dec 2011

State Department, USAID, MCC announce first major update of Foreign Assistance Dashboard

The Department of State, USAID, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) on Thursday "announce[d] the first major update of the Foreign Assistance Dashboard," according to a State Department media note.

3 Dec 2011

University of Illinois Hospital prescribes Tumor Treating Fields therapy for recurrent GBM

The University of Illinois Hospital is the first center in North America to prescribe a new FDA-approved treatment for patients with the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM.

3 Dec 2011

Comprehensive assessment on climate change to be presented at Mountain Day

Scientists from the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and eight Asian countries that make up the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region will present the most comprehensive assessment to date on climate change and the first authoritative accounting of snow cover and glacier extent in Asia's mountainous HKH region on Sunday, 4 December at Mountain Day on the sidelines of COP17 in Durban.

3 Dec 2011

South African President introduces National Strategic Plan on HIV, STIs, TB

South African President Jacob Zuma in a speech on Thursday to mark World AIDS Day introduced a new five-year National Strategic Plan on HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and tuberculosis (TB), which "calls for stepped-up prevention efforts to halve new infections of HIV and tuberculosis by 2016 and to put 80 percent of eligible patients on antiretroviral drugs to fight AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Dec 2011

'Sin tax' on sugary goods may not be efficient, effective

A 'sin tax' applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary, according to Iowa State University research.

3 Dec 2011

HHS unveils MLR rule

The Department of Health and Human Services today released its final medical loss ratio rule. According to an HHS press release, the rule will ensure that health insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of consumers' health insurance premiums on medical care rather than on income, overhead and marketing expenses.

3 Dec 2011

Institutional discrimination and people's attitudes affect disabled children

Many disabled children fail to reach their full potential because they continue to be marginalised in schools, health and social care, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

3 Dec 2011

Pfizer acquires Excaliard

Pfizer Inc. announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately owned biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drugs for the treatment of skin fibrosis, more commonly referred to as skin scarring.

3 Dec 2011

Berwick's CMS exit

Today is Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick's last day. News outlets offer views on the agency's work during his tenure at its helm.

3 Dec 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Tibotec partner to evaluate daclatasvir-TMC435 combination for HCV

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced today that it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals to evaluate the utility of daclatasvir (BMS-790052), Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational NS5A replication complex inhibitor, in combination with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals' investigational NS3 protease inhibitor, TMC435, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

3 Dec 2011

Women for Positive Action comments on research into prevention strategies for sexual transmission of HIV

To mark World AIDS Day (December 1, 2011), Women for Positive Action has released a commentary which discusses recent and ongoing research on prevention strategies for the sexual transmission of HIV. With expert opinion from Teresa Branco, Margaret Johnson, Karine Lacombe, Anne-Mette Lebech, Mona Loutfy, Angelina Namiba, Maria Jesús Pérez Elías and Sharon Walmsley, the article is focused on the potential clinical relevance of these studies.

3 Dec 2011

MK 1775 shows promise against sarcomas

MK 1775, a small, selective inhibitor molecule, has been found to be active against many sarcomas when tested by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla.

3 Dec 2011

Baby boomers more likely to develop HCV

Experts at Montefiore Medical Center urge the general public to be tested for the Hepatitis C virus, especially baby boomers, adults born between 1946-1964, who could be most at risk for this disease. Baby boomers are more likely to have been exposed to dangerous risk factors decades ago, such as sharing a drug needle, being tattooed or pierced with unsterilized tools or receiving a tainted blood transfusion.

2 Dec 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tibotec partner for TMC435 Phase II combination study in HCV

Medivir AB, the research-based speciality pharmaceutical company focused on the development of high-value treatments for infectious diseases, announces that its development partner, Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, has entered into an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

2 Dec 2011