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Bevacizumab effective for treatment of wet AMD: Study

An inexpensive, but unlicensed drug to help prevent severe sight loss in older people has been shown to be safe and effective, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

11 Jun 2010

Sharron Davies unveils new Nottingham Respiratory BRU Clinical Trials Unit

Olympic swimmer and television personality Sharron Davies MBE was in Nottingham this week to open a new clinical trials unit that will take treatments for respiratory illnesses such as asthma from laboratory bench to bedside.

11 Jun 2010

Botox reduces short-term pain in thoracic outlet syndrome patients

Made popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, Botox - a toxin known to weaken or paralyze certain nerves and muscles - may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic.

11 Jun 2010

Women Deliver conference concludes

The Women Deliver conference concluded on Wednesday, as attendees "celebrated benchmark achievements in reducing maternal and infant mortality and faced stubborn failures at the same time," Womens eNews reports.

11 Jun 2010

Type 2 diabetes doubles risk of cancer in women

Type 2 adult-onset diabetes causes insulin-like hormones to circulate through the body. A new study finds this has a surprisingly positive effect on reducing the rate of prostate cancer in men, but is bad news for women: Type 2 diabetes may double the risk of female genital and other cancers.

11 Jun 2010

AFREZZA non-inferior to standard therapy insulin lispro in reducing HbA1c levels of Type 1 diabetics

MannKind Corporation today announced that results of a new 16-week trial show that the investigational ultra rapid acting mealtime insulin, AFREZZA™ (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder, combined with basal insulin, is clearly non-inferior to standard therapy insulin lispro, a rapid acting insulin, also combined with basal insulin, in reducing HbA1c levels in subjects with inadequately controlled Type 1 diabetes.

11 Jun 2010

Study identifies mechanism that interrupts normal p53 gene function leading to tumor development

The p53 gene has been a well-documented player in the prevention of tumors. It is considered the most frequently mutated gene in human tumors with more than half harboring p53 mutations (Bennett et al., 1999). These mutations often can be caused by disruption in normal p53 function.

11 Jun 2010

APP Pharmaceuticals to commence marketing of Oxaliplatin Injection in U.S

Fresenius Kabi Pharmaceuticals Holding, Inc., announced today that APP Pharmaceuticals will immediately begin marketing Oxaliplatin Injection (liquid) in the U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to market Oxaliplatin Injection in two dosage strengths to Fresenius Kabi Oncology Limited. APP Pharmaceuticals and Fresenius Kabi Oncology Limited are members of the Fresenius Kabi Group of companies. APP currently markets the lyophilized product, Oxaliplatin for Injection, 50 mg and 100 mg.

11 Jun 2010

Bevacizumab increases risk for proteinuria in cancer patients

Cancer patients treated with the chemotherapy agent bevacizumab (Avastin) may be at an increased risk of severe loss of protein from the kidney into the urine that can lead to significant kidney damage and can compromise the efficacy of cancer treatment. This conclusion stems from a study of more than 12,000 patients by Shenhong Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator, and colleagues at Stony Brook University Medical Center. Their findings are reported in online June 10 in the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).

11 Jun 2010

iCAD to supply CAD technology for mammography to VA, Department of Defense Hospitals

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis and workflow solutions for the early identification of cancer, today announced it has signed an agreement with the Defense Supply Center to provide federal healthcare facilities including Veteran's Administration (VA) and Department of Defense Hospitals with its Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) technology for mammography.

11 Jun 2010

WHO Director-General responds to criticisms over agency's H1N1 response

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan on Tuesday rejected recent criticisms that her decisions to declare H1N1 (swine flu) a pandemic were impacted by her advisers' link to the pharmaceutical industry, the Associated Press reports.

11 Jun 2010

Medidata extends Rave EDC platform with Targeted SDV

Medidata Solutions, a leading global provider of SaaS-based clinical development solutions, today introduced Rave Targeted SDV, the newest extension to its Medidata Rave® electronic data capture (EDC) and clinical data management (CDM) solution. Rave Targeted SDV provides clinical research sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) with an auditable and scalable partial source document verification (SDV) solution that supports risk-based site monitoring strategies.

11 Jun 2010

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology forms joint venture with SiriCell Technologies

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd., China's leading stem cell research and regenerative medicine company, announced the formation of Beike Holdings Limited a joint venture with Bangkok-based SiriCell Technologies, Inc. Beike Holdings, which is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, will focus primarily on the establishment of new international subsidiaries and the development of collaborative hospital partnerships with Southeast Asia's leading healthcare providers.

11 Jun 2010

I-Flow reaches agreement with Apex, Zone to resolve patent infringement, trade secret litigation

I-Flow Corporation, a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement resolving patent infringement and trade secret litigation against Apex Medical Technologies, Inc. and Zone Medical, LLC effective June 10, 2010.

11 Jun 2010

FDA advisory panel to focus on dental amalgam's potential risk to vulnerable populations

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced plans to hold an advisory panel on Dec. 14-15, 2010, to discuss several scientific issues that may affect the regulation of dental amalgam, used for direct filling of carious lesions or structural defects in teeth. The panel meeting will focus particularly on the potential risk to vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women, fetuses, and young children.

11 Jun 2010

Senate Dems point to Medicare rebate checks to improve health law's image

Lawmakers are focusing on different aspects of Medicare policies as Democrats point to Medicare rebates to woo senior citizens and some Republicans are expressing opposition to a targeted Medicare payment provision related to California physicians and included in the Senate's tax extender bill.

11 Jun 2010

Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of apixaban for atrial fibrillation closes early due to clear evidence of efficacy

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer today announced that the companies have agreed to stop the Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of apixaban in patients with atrial fibrillation. The study will be stopped early because a predefined interim analysis by the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) revealed clear evidence of a clinically important reduction in stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation considered intolerant of or unsuitable for vitamin K antagonist therapy who received apixaban as compared to aspirin.

11 Jun 2010

NexMed provides update on Vitaros NDS with Health Canada

NexMed, Inc., a specialty CRO with a pipeline of products based on the NexACT® technology, today provided an update on the status of its New Drug Submission ("NDS") with Health Canada for Vitaros®, the Company's topical treatment for erectile dysfunction.

11 Jun 2010

FDA advisory committee recommends approval of Novartis' FTY720 for relapsing MS

Today, an advisory committee of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended approval of FTY720 (fingolimod) for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease. The FDA has the option of seeking the advice of one of its advisory committees as it reviews and decides whether to approve a new treatment. The committee voted unanimously that FTY720 demonstrated substantial efficacy in treating relapsing remitting MS and that safety of the proposed 0.5 mg dose justified approval.

11 Jun 2010

Report urges Canada to increase foreign aid spending for G8 maternal, child health initiative

The coalition Make Poverty History released a report on Wednesday, which praises Canada's spending on food aid and programs aimed at fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but it also says Canada should spend more on its maternal and child health G8 initiative, the Canadian Press/CTV News reports.

11 Jun 2010