Medical News

RSS

Alcohol addiction drug may help opioid addicts: FDA panel considers reports

A U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) panel, this Thursday agreed that a new drug Vivitrol helps alcoholics and opioid addicts kick the habit. The panel voted 11 to 2 that there was sufficient evidence from a single clinical trial that Vivitrol is effective when it comes to helping people addicted to painkillers.

17 Sep 2010

FDA Advisory Committee recommends approval of Alkermes' VIVITROL for opioid dependence

Alkermes, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 12 to 1 that VIVITROL® (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) should be approved for the treatment of opioid dependence.

17 Sep 2010

Cytori Therapeutics extends distribution agreement with GE Healthcare

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. has extended the term and modified the focus of its current distribution agreement with GE Healthcare. GE Healthcare's sales rights allow its sales force to sell Cytori technology in the research markets in select European markets and the US.

17 Sep 2010

Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation Therapy for severe epilepsy receives CE Mark approval

Medtronic, Inc. today announced that the company has received CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark approval for Medtronic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Therapy in Europe as adjunctive treatment for partial-onset seizures in adults with medically refractory epilepsy. DBS therapy for epilepsy delivers controlled electrical pulses to a target in the brain called the anterior nucleus of the thalamus, which is part of a circuit involved in seizures.

17 Sep 2010

FDA approves CRT-D device to treat heart failure patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new indication for three cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-D) used to treat certain heart failure patients.

17 Sep 2010

AdvaMed fights back against increased FDA scrutiny

A report issued Wednesday by the industry's main trade association Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) "found that there were 101 of the most serious kinds of recalls of medical devices from Jan. 1, 2005 to May 1, 2010, a record that AdvaMed senior executive vice president David Nexon called 'remarkable' considering the number of devices on the market," CQ HealthBeat reports.

17 Sep 2010

China-Biotics files two new patent applications

China-Biotics, Inc., the leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of probiotics products in China, today announced that it has submitted two new patent applications to the State Bureau of Intellect Property.

17 Sep 2010

FDA grants AGTC $1M for Phase II human clinical trial in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company developing novel systems to deliver human therapeutics, announces that it has received a grant of $1 million from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA Orphan Drugs Program) to fund a Phase II Human Clinical Trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment for Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AAT), a genetic disease known to result in serious lung and/or liver disease.

17 Sep 2010

BAC launches CaptureSelect technology for protein depletion from serum

BAC, the leading provider of antibody-based affinity purification technologies, announces the launch of CaptureSelect HumanPlasma14 for highly specific, reproducible depletion of the 14 most abundant proteins from human blood plasma or serum. HumanPlasma14 is designed for single-step, single-use depletion of more than 99% of the abundant proteins.

17 Sep 2010

Researchers identify bacteria responsible for chronic intestinal inflammation

Certain bacteria that inhabit the intestine provide the environmental trigger that initiates and perpetuates chronic intestinal inflammation in individuals who are genetically susceptible to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a study led by Harvard School of Public Health researchers has found.

17 Sep 2010

FDA approves Akorn's Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment USP 1 g

Akorn, Inc. a niche generic pharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval of the Company's Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment USP 1 g as a supplement to the Company's already approved Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment USP 3.5 g. The company has begun shipping the product to its customers.

17 Sep 2010

KHN column: GOP 'Repeal and replace' strategy lacks merit

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums.

17 Sep 2010

Scientists discover protein to regulate blood stem cells’ activity for leukemia treatment

A discovery made by Dr. Tarik Möröy, President and Scientific Director and Director of the IRCM, and his team was recently published in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology. The researchers found that a protein can regulate certain characteristics of blood stem cells, which could lead to a better treatment for leukemia patients.

17 Sep 2010

Solta Medical's Fraxel re:store Dual system for actinic keratosis receives FDA 510(k) clearance

Solta Medical, Inc., the pioneer in fractional resurfacing and non-invasive skin tightening and a market leader in aesthetic skin treatments, today announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance of its Fraxel re:store®Dual for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AKs). The Fraxel re:store Dual system takes the industry leading fractional laser technology to the next level by adding a novel 1927 nm wavelength, the first ever application of a Thulium laser in the aesthetics market.

17 Sep 2010

Abbott to present two drug eluting stents data at TCT symposium

Abbott today announced the company's schedule of key data presentations at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation's 22nd annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C., to be held Sept. 21 – 25.

17 Sep 2010

Today's Opinions: Repeal, constitutionality and the cost curve

And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt. No, I am not talking about the health care reform law. I'm talking about the Republican proposals to repeal it (Jonathan Cohn, 9/16).

17 Sep 2010

Roche Diagnostics introduces STAT immunoassays for cardiac biomarker testing

Roche Diagnostics announced today that it has introduced a complete battery of STAT immunoassays for cardiac biomarker testing on the cobas 6000 analyzer series, an integrated system designed for diagnostic labs with medium testing volumes.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 17 Sep 2010

First Edition: September 16, 2010

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, done in collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn writes: "It will force a lot of people to pay higher premiums. It will lavish subsidies on the private insurance industry. It will put life-and-death decisions in the hands of bureaucrats. And it will add hundreds of billions of dollars to the federal debt" (Kaiser Health News).

17 Sep 2010

Artificial pancreas for diabetics

In another few years diabetics may be treated using an artificial pancreas developed by Professor Joan Taylor professor of Pharmaceutics at De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester. This could mean freedom from daily insulin injections she said.

16 Sep 2010

Severe acne linked to suicidal thoughts in teenagers

According to a new study on Norwegian youth, compared to clear-skinned peers, teens who have bad acne are more than twice as likely to have mental health problems and are at greater risk of having suicidal thoughts.

16 Sep 2010