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International nonproprietary name “auriclosene” approved by WHO for NovaBay’s NVC-422

NovaBay® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NBY), a biotechnology company focused on addressing the large unmet therapeutic needs of the global anti-infective market with first-in-class compounds such as its proprietary Aganocides®, today announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the international nonproprietary name (INN) “auriclosene” (pronounced awr-rih-CLO-zeen) for the Company’s lead Aganocide® compound NVC-422.

21 Feb 2013

Eliminating insurance co-payments can improve medication adherence and management of diabetes

Reducing financial barriers to medication access—a strategy known as value-based insurance design (VBID)—can improve medication adherence and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes.

21 Feb 2013

Two new non-invasive technologies can improve early identification of tumor response to therapy

The research was published early in the January issue of the journal Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment. The article describes experiments using ultrasonic molecular imaging (USMI) and Dynamic Contrast Enhanced-Perfusion Imaging (DCE-PI) to measure response to therapy for pancreatic cancer.

21 Feb 2013

Quest Diagnostics offers access to a new non-invasive prenatal test developed by Natera

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX), the world’s leading diagnostic information services company, and Natera, a leading innovator in prenatal genetic testing, today announced that Quest Diagnostics will offer physicians access to Panorama™, a new non-invasive prenatal test developed by Natera.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Feb 2013

Imatinib can relieve and slow down progression of multiple sclerosis

A drug that is currently used for cancer can relieve and slow down the progression of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS) in rats, according to a new study published in PLOS ONE.

21 Feb 2013

Microbubble-ultrasound method improves cardiac output after heart attack

Scientists from the Bonn University Hospital successfully tested a method in mice allowing the morphological and functional sequelae of a myocardial infarction to be reduced. Tiny gas bubbles are made to oscillate within the heart via focused ultrasound - this improves microcirculation and decreases the size of the scar tissue. The results show that the mice, following myocardial infarction, have improved cardiac output as a result of this method, as compared to untreated animals.

21 Feb 2013

Patients with Barrett's esophagus benefit from endoscope-based therapies

According to a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, patients with Barrett's esophagus and early or pre-cancerous cells have been shown to significantly benefit from minimally invasive therapy delivered through an endoscope - a medical instrument used to look inside an organ or cavity in the body.

21 Feb 2013

Bariatric surgery does not lower overall health care costs linked with obesity

Bariatric surgery is a well-documented treatment for obesity that leads to considerable weight loss and health improvement, but is the surgery successful in the long run in reducing costs associated with medical care for obesity? A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine recently undertook a multi-year analysis of health insurance claims data to examine this question and found that although the procedure's success rate is well documented, it does not have a similar impact on health care costs.

21 Feb 2013

Cancer genetics pioneer, Bert Vogelstein, awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

Bert Vogelstein, M.D., co-director of the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator has been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. He was selected for his landmark work in cancer genomics and tumor suppressor genes.

21 Feb 2013

Sixth death from novel coronavirus recorded in Britain

"A British man infected with a new virus from the same family as SARS has died, health officials said on Tuesday, bringing the worldwide death toll from the previously unknown disease to six," Reuters reports.

21 Feb 2013

Study looks at natural history of cervical spondylolisthesis

Follow-up data on patients with degenerative disease of the upper (cervical) spinal vertebrae show little or no evidence of worsening degeneration over time, according to a study in the February 15 issue of Spine.

21 Feb 2013

Administration sets new rule on essential health benefits

The Obama administration has released the final rule on essential health benefits, which sets the parameters for the types of benefits that must be offered by insurers starting in 2014.

21 Feb 2013

Omega-3 emulsions can decrease brain tissue damage following stroke

Triglyceride lipid emulsions rich in an omega-3 fatty acid injected within a few hours of an ischemic stroke can decrease the amount of damaged brain tissue by 50 percent or more in mice, reports a new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center.

21 Feb 2013

Rising epidemic of obesity in the Asia Pacific region

Over eating, sedentary lifestyles, cultural attitudes, and lack of prevention programmes are to blame for the rising epidemic of obesity in the Asia Pacific region. Overweight and obesity has quadrupled in China and societies still label people of healthy weight as poor.

21 Feb 2013

'Cap-and-trade system' proposal for global health funding

In a PLoS Medicine "Policy Forum" article, Luis Carrasco, Richard Coker, and Alex Cook of the National University of Singapore propose "a cap-and-trade system" for global health funding that is based on "global carbon permit markets to mitigate climate change."

21 Feb 2013

Resveratrol may protect against hearing and cognitive decline

Resveratrol, a substance found in red grapes and red wine, may have the potential to protect against hearing and cognitive decline, according to a published laboratory study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

21 Feb 2013

Opinion pieces address Save the Children breastfeeding report

Save the Children on Monday released a report examining "the four major barriers that prevent mothers from breastfeeding" -- community and cultural pressures, the shortage of health workers, a lack of maternity legislation, and inappropriate promotion of breast-milk substitutes."

21 Feb 2013

Tips to help reduce dry eyes

Some of the last days of winter can be among the worst for your eyes. Winter may be slowly giving way to spring, but the remaining cold days of the season can cause plenty of trouble for the eyes—trouble that is largely avoidable, says a Vanderbilt Eye Institute ophthalmologist.

21 Feb 2013

Reviewing progress on inclusion of NCDs in development goals

In a post in the BMJ Group Blogs, Katy Cooper, senior project manager at C3 Collaborating for Health, describes "what is happening around the global framework on non-communicable diseases, and how NCDs link into discussions on the successors to the Millennium Development Goals (due to expire in 2015) and the proposed new set of Sustainable Development Goals (as proposed at the Rio+20 conference in 2012)."

21 Feb 2013

Antipsychotic drug dispensing on the rise among older people

A study by Queen's University Belfast has found that the dispensing of psychotropic drugs to older people in Northern Ireland increases on entry to care homes.

21 Feb 2013