Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced the publication of detailed 48-week data from two Phase III pivotal clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of its once-daily Viread® (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in adults.
EpiCept Corporation (Nasdaq and OMX Nordic Exchange: EPCT) today announced that new data on the benefits of maintenance therapy with Ceplene® (histamine dihydrochloride) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patients in complete remission will be presented at the 50th American
Symphogen A/S and Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. (TSE: 2202) announced today the advancement of their collaboration for the discovery, development and commercialization of a recombinant polyclonal antibody therapeutic, Sym006, that targets an undisclosed bacterial pathogen. The companies, who initiated the collaboration in December 2006, are moving the program into preclinical development.
Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCMP), a leading international biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has been selected as a finalist for the Scrip Awards 2008 Pharma Company of the Year -- Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Award.
PharmaMar announced today the submission of a registration dossier to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for Yondelis® (trabectedin) when administered in combination with DOXIL®/Caelyx™ (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin) for the treatment of women with relapsed ovarian cancer (ROC).
The Dutch NGO, Text to Change (TTC) and The AIDS Information Centre - Uganda (AIC) have decided to continue their fruitful partnership in fighting HIV/AIDS by using incentive based Mobile Text Messaging. TTC and AIC aim to perform an expansion of the successful and well received Mbarara pilot, executed in February - March 2008, by jointly performing a second program in Arua (Northwest Uganda) targeting an audience of 10,000 mobile subscribers.
Addressing the discrimination against HIV-positive teachers in Africa is a key aim of a new documentary and accompanying book launched in Senegal by the Partnership for Child Development based at Imperial College London. An estimated 122,000 teachers in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV, most of whom have not sought testing and do not know their status.
"If ever there was a case for unvarnished sex education in public schools, the ongoing AIDS epidemic in black America ought to be it," columnist Courtland Milloy writes in a Washington Post opinion piece, adding, "[H]ow can we teach [HIV prevention] if we can't talk frankly?" Milloy writes that he is "focusing on women and AIDS ...
The Los Angeles Times and the Journal of the American Medical Association recently published opinion pieces about male circumcision as a method of HIV prevention. Summaries appear below.
The Arkansas HIV/AIDS Minority Task Force on Monday released its final report and said it will request $3 million in state funding over the next two years to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in minority communities and establish testing sites, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports (Frago, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 12/2).The 19-member task force was formed in January by Gov.
Recent media reports based on a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (27 November 2008 issue) have announced that "noninvasive CT scans cannot replace imaging of coronary artery blockages by conventional invasive angiography". In response, imaging specialist Professor Juhani Knuuti, spokesperson for the European Society of Cardiology and Past-Chair of the ESC Working Group on Nuclear Cardiology and Cardiac CT, emphasizes the following points.
A new release of HeartScore® the interactive tool designed to predict and help manage the risk of heart attack and stroke in Europe created by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) was launched on Tuesday 18 November 2008 at http://www.HeartScore.org. This revised version includes relative risk for younger patients, in addition to patient data history and progress monitoring.
BIOTRONIK announced that the first European patients have been enrolled into the EchoCRT (Echocardiography guided Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy) trial by the team of physicians at Hospital ClÃnic in Barcelona, Spain, led by Professor Dr. Josep Brugada, Director of the Thorax Institute, Chairman of the Cardiology Department, EchoCRT Executive Committee Member and President of the European Heart Rhythm Association.
The highest designation given to hospitals by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), a three-star rating for quality of heart surgery, has been awarded to Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills, N.J. Only ten percent of heart centers throughout the nation attain this level. "We are extremely proud of our entire cardiac team for demonstrating the hard work and dedication that warrants a three-star rating," said Lynn B. McGrath, M.D.
Expanding its angioplasty product portfolio, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today the U.S. market launch of the Sprinter Legend (semicompliant) and the NC Sprinter (noncompliant) balloon dilatation catheters on a rapid exchange delivery system. Recently approved by the U.S.
Itamar Medical, an international medical technology company developing noninvasive diagnostic technology using the Peripheral Arterial Tone (PAT™) Signal, announced today the use of the company's patented Endo-PAT2000 in BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.'s phase 2 study of patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). The Endo-PAT2000 was used to measure endothelial function in a study designed to evaluate whether the drug 6R-BH4 can improve endothelial function in SCD patients.
It is a well-known fact in drug trials that individuals can respond just as well to placebos, sugar pills, as to the active drug. On the other hand, it is difficult to explain why only certain people get better from placebos. A team of researchers from Uppsala University and Gothenburg University have now found gene variants that can impact the placebo effect and a mechanism in the brain that characterizes those who respond to placebos.
Results of a phase III, international randomized clinical trial demonstrate a new standard of care for treating advanced ovarian cancer that significantly reduces side-effects and post-operative deaths compared to the previously established treatment course. The study, presented at the 12th Biennial Meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) in Bangkok in October, has a major impact on many countries where the new standard represents a more practical course of treatment.
Levodopa has long been proven to provide the greatest relief of all available medications in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. It also is the most cost-effective drug for managing the full range of problems associated with this chronic neurological disorder, which affects an estimated one million Americans. In the Dec. 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital neurologist Peter A. LeWitt, M.D.
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the world's leading professional organization of stem cell researchers, released new guidelines for the responsible development of safe and effective stem cell therapies for patients. A Commentary article that summarizes the Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells will be published by Cell Press in the December issue of Cell Stem Cell, the official affiliated journal of the ISSCR.
New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology find a combination of blood tests and other specialized assessments appear to be the most helpful tests for finding the cause of neuropathy. Also known as neuritis or distal symmetric polyneuropathy, this common nerve problem affects people of all ages. The guidelines are published in the December 3, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
ConjuChem Biotechnologies, Inc. (TSX:CJB) announced preliminary results today showing that its Type 2 diabetes product, PC-DAC(TM):Exendin-4, achieved statistically significant reductions in HbA1c and weight in its two Phase II clinical trials. Commenting on the clinical results, Mark Perrin, President and CEO stated, "We are extremely pleased with these results which have met our clinical objectives. Achieving a 1.
Researchers have new evidence to show that the heart beats to its own drummer, according to a report in the December issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. They've uncovered some of the molecular circuitry within the cardiovascular system itself that controls the daily rise and fall of blood pressure and heart rate. The findings might also explain why commonly used diabetes drugs come with cardiovascular benefits, according to the researchers.
After you eat a burger and fries or other fat-filled meal, a protein produced by the liver may send a signal that fat is on the way, suggests a report in the December issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication. Researchers have found in mice that the liver produces a protein called adropin, which rises in response to high-fat foods and falls after fasting.
Vitamin D deficiency - which is traditionally associated with bone and muscle weakness - may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A growing body of evidence links low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to common CVD risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes, as well as major cardiovascular events including stroke and congestive heart failure.
More than half of adults with diagnosed diabetes also have arthritis, a painful condition that can be a barrier to physical activity—an important health strategy for managing diabetes...
Half of the estimated 328,500 infants 12 months of age or younger who were treated for injuries in hospital emergency departments each year from 2001 to 2004 were injured as a result of a fall, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
