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FDA approves Novartis' Amturnide for treatment of high blood pressure

Today Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amturnide (aliskiren, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets for the treatment of high blood pressure. Amturnide combines the only approved direct renin inhibitor worldwide, Tekturna (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

23 Dec 2010

Immunomedics announces additional claim for RS7 antibodies patent family

Immunomedics, a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today announced that additional claims for the patent family, "RS7 antibodies," were issued as Patent No. 1,002,443 in Korea.

23 Dec 2010

Today's Opinions: Congressional funding vote leaves out health law; Price controls on health; Tough choices in Washington State

The Senate passed the Continuing Resolution 79-16 this afternoon. Another way of saying that: The Senate voted to defund the implementation of both health-care reform and financial-regulation reform.

23 Dec 2010

Minorities with MS may face risk of developing depressive symptoms

Multiple sclerosis can cause significant physical impairment, including fatigue, pain, muscle spasms, tremors and dizziness. For many with MS, the disease wreaks havoc with emotional well-being, too, and according to a new study, minorities might especially be at risk for developing depressive symptoms.

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Watson's novel oral contraceptive

Watson Pharmaceuticals today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a novel oral contraceptive product – the first and only low dose oral contraceptive to combine 0.8 mg norethindrone and 0.025 mg ethinyl estradiol in chewable form, with four 75 mg ferrous fumarate (iron) placebo tablets. Taken orally, once daily, the product is proven effective in lowering the risk of pregnancy.

22 Dec 2010

Novel method to analyze fatigue through speech

What can scientists learn from watching a group of people sitting around, chatting, playing movies, reading, and happily making new friends? Quite a lot, says University of Melbourne, Australia acoustician Adam Vogel, who carefully observed this sort of group in a fatigue management study he and his colleagues describe this month in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

22 Dec 2010

People with high RBC folate levels more likely to have two tumor-suppressing genes

People with higher levels of folate in their red blood cells were more likely to have two tumor-suppressing genes shut down by methylation, a chemical off switch for genes, researchers report in the December issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

22 Dec 2010

FDA joins Abbott Diabetes Careto to recall 359 glucose test strips

The test strips being recalled may give falsely low blood glucose results. False results may lead patients to try to raise their blood glucose unnecessarily, or they may fail to treat elevated blood glucose because of a false, low reading. Both scenarios pose risks to a patient's health.

22 Dec 2010

Researchers identify class of drugs that can promote RBC formation in anemic patients

By determining how corticosteroids act to promote red blood cell progenitor formation, Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a class of drugs that may be beneficial in anemias, including those resulting from trauma, sepsis, malaria, kidney dialysis, and chemotherapy.

22 Dec 2010

Tekmira begins patient dosing in TKM-PLK1 phase 1 trail for cancer

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a leading developer of RNA interference therapeutics, announced today it has initiated patient dosing in a Phase 1 human clinical trial for its lead oncology product, TKM-PLK1. TKM-PLK1 targets polo-like kinase 1, or PLK1, a cell cycle protein involved in tumor cell proliferation and a validated oncology target.

22 Dec 2010

Study finds specially designed probiotic can prevent obesity

Specially designed probiotics can modulate the physiology of host fat cells say scientists writing in Microbiology. The findings could lead to specialised probiotics that have a role in the prevention or treatment of conditions such as obesity.

22 Dec 2010

New nanoparticle-based diagnostic platform provides rapid detection of sepsis

Blood poisoning can be fatal. If you suffer from sepsis, you used to have to wait as much as 48 hours for laboratory findings. A new diagnostic platform as big as a credit card will now supply the analysis after as little as an hour. This system is based on nanoparticles that are automatically guided by magnetic forces.

22 Dec 2010

Researchers perform cord blood cell transplantation to treat child with ischemic brain injury

In three monthly injections, researchers transplanted neurally-committed, autologous cord blood derived cells tagged with iron oxide nanoparticles into the lateral cerebral ventricle of a 16-month old child with severe global hypoxic ischemic brain injury.

22 Dec 2010

Antares Pharma submits NDA for Anturol Gel in patients with overactive bladder

Antares Pharma, today announced the filing of a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Anturol Gel in patients with overactive bladder.

22 Dec 2010

Gene changes during brain development can lead to male genitalia formation in female embryo

Australian scientists have discovered that changes to a gene involved in brain development can lead to testis formation and male genitalia in an otherwise female embryo.

22 Dec 2010

New era for anticoagulant therapy

In a Guest Editorial published in the new publication Clinical Investigation, Dr Jeffrey Weitz and Dr John Eikelboom of McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada highlight the importance of the approval in October by the FDA of dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa®; Boehringer Ingelheim). This new oral thrombin inhibitor provides an alternative to warfarin for long-term stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

22 Dec 2010

New cough suppressant from cocoa

People suffering from persistent cough may soon have a remedy that is derived from cocoa. At present researchers are carrying out the final stages of clinical trials of a drug that contains theobromine, an ingredient found in chocolate and cocoa. The drug could be in the market in another two years.

22 Dec 2010

Ketamine tried on college students in experiments sparks outrage

Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University designed experiments to investigate treatment methods for schizophrenia. Like schizophrenics who sometimes believe that external objects have become part of their body, injection of ketamine – an anesthetic agent also produces similar feelings. Ketamine is a hallucinogenic drug.

22 Dec 2010

Children with autism may have problem with visual skills: Study

A new study suggests that children with autism may lack certain visual skills needed to be independent in adulthood. Researchers at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom said they might find it difficult to spot something.

22 Dec 2010

Teen birth rate at a seven decade low: Report

Figures reveal that fewer teenagers are giving birth and the numbers are a seventy year low. Reasons are not specified but two decades of public-health initiatives to curb teenage pregnancy may be paying off feel experts. Report co author Brady Hamilton, a statistician at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics said, “One of the biggest highlights is the continuing decline in teen births -- down to record lows.”

22 Dec 2010