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States battle budget cuts and recession

Houston Chronicle: "Texas scores high in emergency preparedness during a time when many other states are suffering cuts in state and federal public health funding and losses in medical staff, according to the Ready or Not? report, sponsored by Trust for America's Health, a disease prevention advocacy group, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation." But, economic turmoil has led to a "nationwide backslide in overall emergency preparedness" (Burton, 12/15).

16 Dec 2009

Lieberman assures Democrats of his support but ties with party are fraying

The Wall Street Journal reports that Lieberman's "use of his swing vote to help quash a proposed expansion of Medicare marked the latest act in his deteriorating relationship with the Democratic Party. Cheered nine years ago by Democrats as their vice-presidential nominee, Mr. Lieberman later left the party and now is an object of vilification among many in the party's base because of his positions on health care."

16 Dec 2009

Business concerns focus of Obama's holiday party lobbying

Politico: "President Barack Obama took on the role of health care lobbyist Monday when he pulled Business Roundtable President John Castellani out of a White House holiday party and personally urged him to stick with the reform effort."

16 Dec 2009

Awareness increase program of HIV/AIDS patients on ADAP waiting lists

In response to the growing number of HIV/AIDS patients on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists, the National Minority AIDS Council and the Flowers Heritage Foundation have joined forces to increase awareness of Bridge the Gap, a unique program that provides medication for people currently waiting for ADAP enrollment.

16 Dec 2009

BUSM Pulmonary Center awarded $1.4M grant to derive stem cells and lung progenitors from lung disease patients

Boston University School of Medicine's (BUSM) Pulmonary Center has received a two-year $1.4 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to derive stem cells and lung progenitors from patients with lung disease.

16 Dec 2009

ACI survey: 48% of Americans oppose the Senate bill

Consumers oppose the current Senate Healthcare legislation by a two-to-one margin. In a nationwide survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI), 48% of Americans oppose the Senate bill, while 24% support it.

16 Dec 2009

Cohera Medical announces treatment of first patient in TissuGlu study

Cohera Medical Inc. today announced the treatment of the first patient in a study of its lead surgical adhesive product, TissuGlu®. Initiation of the study marks a major milestone in the company's progression of the lead product toward clinical practice.

16 Dec 2009

Liberals agitated by compromise, but appear to back health reform

Politico reports that liberals are accruing a long list of reasons to be upset about the health reform negotiations: "A single-payer plan, a public option, a state 'opt-out' of the public option, a trigger and a Medicare buy-in — all ideas pushed by Democrats and blessed by [President] Obama at various times but now gone from the bill."

16 Dec 2009

Ivy Foundation awards nearly $10M for new patient-focused brain cancer research projects

Today, the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation (Ivy Foundation), announced that it is funding roughly $10 million for four new patient-focused research projects. As with all Ivy Foundation awards, these projects focus on improving the survival and quality of life for people with brain tumors but also specifically address new strategies to improve treatment development.

16 Dec 2009

Poll: Public cooling to health reform as debate drags on

"As the Senate struggles to meet a self-imposed, year-end deadline to complete work on legislation to overhaul the nation's health-care system, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the public generally fearful that a revamped system would bring higher costs while worsening the quality of their care," The Washington Post reports. "A bare majority of Americans still believe government action is needed to control runaway health-care costs and expand coverage to the roughly 46 million people without insurance."

16 Dec 2009

ChemoCentryx commences enrollment in CCX354 Phase 2 clinical trial for RA

ChemoCentryx, Inc. today announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial of CCX354, an orally-bioavailable, novel, small molecule drug designed to specifically target the CCR1 chemokine receptor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

16 Dec 2009

Tea Party protestors rally against health bills at Capitol protest

The most vocal opponents of the health bills, Tea Party protestors, took to the Capitol yesterday.

16 Dec 2009

Immigrants lose lawsuit against hospital in Atlanta

"Efforts to force the public hospital [in Atlanta, Ga.] to continue providing free dialysis treatment to a group of immigrants, most of them illegal, suffered a setback on Tuesday when a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the recent closing of the hospital's outpatient renal clinic," The New York Times reports.

16 Dec 2009

Makefield Therapeutics to patent applications covering its Hybrid Nanoparticle drug delivery platform

Makefield Therapeutics, Inc., an emerging therapeutics company, today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University to patent applications covering Makefield's biodegradable Hybrid Nanoparticles™, a versatile new drug delivery platform.

16 Dec 2009

EMD Serono, Brigham and Women's Hospital collaborate in MS research

EMD Serono, Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced a strategic collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, to advance basic and clinical research in multiple sclerosis (MS), with the goal of generating new and innovative discoveries that advance treatment for people living with this condition. The multi-faceted agreement will run for up to 5 years, with the potential to renew the alliance thereafter. Both parties decided not to disclose financial details.

16 Dec 2009

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings' Restanza promising against tularemia

Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADLS), today announced positive top-line results from a pivotal, non-human primate study of its novel, once-a-day, oral antibiotic Restanza(TM) (cethromycin) against an inhaled lethal dose of tularemia. A 14-day course of Restanza achieved a 100% survival rate at the doses tested. All of the ten animals in the study that received 16 mg/kg once-a-day of Restanza (approximate to a human dose of 300 mg) within 24 hours after exposure to a lethal dose of inhaled tularemia survived while only one of the ten animals that received placebo survived.

16 Dec 2009

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals initiates Phase 3 registration clinical trial for perifosine

Æterna Zentaris Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and endocrine therapy, today announced the initiation, by its partner Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of a Phase 3 registration clinical trial for perifosine (KRX-0401), the Company's PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitor, in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients.

16 Dec 2009

Amendment to allow drug importation fails in Senate

A bipartisan plan to allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from suppliers in other countries, such as Canada, failed Tuesday in the Senate. The Wall Street Journal reports the two top supporters of the plan, Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and John McCain, R-Ariz., said shopping overseas via the Internet and mail-order companies could save consumers up to $80 billion over a decade if their amendment were added to the health overhaul legislation.

16 Dec 2009

Positive results from Onset Therapeutics' BenzEFoam Emollient Foam skin moisturization study

Onset Therapeutics, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused in dermatology, today announced positive results from a skin moisturization study that compared the Company’s recently launched BenzEFoam™ (benzoyl peroxide 5.3%) Emollient Foam to a market leading combination gel containing clindamycin 1% - benzoyl peroxide 5%. BenzEFoam™ Emollient Foam is indicated for the topical treatment of mild to moderate acne vulgaris and is the first prescription foam formulation containing benzoyl peroxide as the active ingredient.

16 Dec 2009

Xencor's initiation of novel monoclonal antibody human clinical trial triggers milestone payment from Pfizer

Xencor, Inc., a company using Fc engineering for the discovery and development of next-generation antibodies, announced today that the Company received a milestone payment from Pfizer Inc. The amount of the payment was not disclosed. The payment was triggered by the initiation of human clinical trials of a novel monoclonal antibody therapeutic that was optimized using Xencor technologies under a March 2009 technology license agreement.

16 Dec 2009