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Merrimack initiates MM-121 Phase 2 combination trial in metastatic NSCLC

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 2 clinical trial of MM-121, a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets ErbB3, in combination with erlotinib, a small molecule directed at the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), in three groups of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

18 Nov 2011

HVTN debunks top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, and in commemoration of the occasion, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, debunks the top 10 myths about HIV vaccine research.

18 Nov 2011

Resistance of starved bacteria can be blocked

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

18 Nov 2011

Potential new ways to design vaccines, antibiotics

A University of Louisville scientist has determined for the first time how the bacterium that causes Legionnaires' disease manipulates our cells to generate the amino acids it needs to grow and cause infection and inflammation in the lungs.

18 Nov 2011

First-ever World Prematurity Day honors 13M infants born too soon worldwide

The nation's preterm birth rate slipped under 12 percent for the first time in nearly a decade, the fourth consecutive year it declined, potentially sparing tens of thousands of babies the serious health consequences of an early birth.

18 Nov 2011

Medicaid officials struggle with surge in long-term care needs

The company's naming of David J. McNichols comes as a consulting firm for the state is evaluating the current system of delivering care to Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries in Georgia. WellCare has part of that multibillion-dollar business, along with two other managed care companies. The state pays the three firms a total of more than $2.5 billion a year to serve the Medicaid and PeachCare populations.

18 Nov 2011

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia opens Center for Acute Respiratory Failure

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has officially opened the Center for Acute Respiratory Failure, which offers, among other services, expertise in using lung bypass technology to help adult patients whose lungs are rapidly shutting down.

18 Nov 2011

Chloroquine-chemotherapy combination holds potential for metastatic breast cancer treatment

An anti-malaria drug used for more than 60 years is now being studied for use in breast cancer patients whose disease has not responded to traditional chemotherapy treatment.

18 Nov 2011

Gold nanoparticles help detect lung cancer in exhaled breath

The metabolism of lung cancer patients is different than the metabolism of healthy people. And so the molecules that make up cancer patients' exhaled breath are different too.

17 Nov 2011

Biothera completes enrollment in Imprime PGG Phase II combination study on NSCLC

EBiothera's Phase II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) clinical trial evaluating Imprime PGG administered in combination with cetuximab (Erbitux), carboplatin and paclitaxel has met its goal of 90 patients and is fully enrolled, the company announced today.

17 Nov 2011

VHIO, MGHCC sign tumor biomarker agreement

The President of the BBVA Foundation, Francisco Gonz-lez, Jose Baselga, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGHCC), and Andr-s de Kelety, Managing Director at the Vall d'Hebr-n Institute of Oncology (VHIO) in Barcelona, yesterday signed the agreement creating the BBVA Foundation Tumor Biomarkers Research Program.

17 Nov 2011

Severity of smoke-inhalation injury may play a role in overall pulmonary inflammatory response

A study of burn patients has found that those who suffered the most severe smoke inhalation also had more inflammation and spent more time on ventilators and in intensive care.

17 Nov 2011

Supervised exercise more effective than stenting or medication for PAD

Supervised exercise was shown to be more effective than stenting or medication for improved walking ability in patients with peripheral artery disease. The findings from a national study were reported today at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting.

17 Nov 2011

Cancer cells tap into natural recycling system to obtain energy

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered that cancer cells tap into a natural recycling system to obtain the energy they need to keep dividing. In a study with potential implications for cancer treatments, Einstein researchers used genetic manipulation to turn off this recycling system within the walls of cells and stop both tumor growth and metastasis.

17 Nov 2011

CF Foundation, Genzyme announce new drug research agreement

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Inc., the nonprofit affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, today announced a research agreement to support the discovery of new drugs to treat people with the most common mutation found in patients with CF, Delta F508.

17 Nov 2011

New 2-DG-ABT combination cancer therapy triggers apoptosis

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Kyushu University Medical School say a novel combination of a specific sugar molecule with a pair of cell-killing drugs prompts a wide variety of cancer cell types to kill themselves, a process called apoptosis or programmed cell death.

17 Nov 2011

SHARPIN protein regulates human cell activity

The research teams headed by Prof. Johanna Ivaska (University of Turku and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) and Prof. Marko Salmi (University of Turku and the National Institute for Health and Welfare) have discovered that the SHARPIN protein regulates human cell activity.

17 Nov 2011

Study: Pneumonia the most common serious infection post-heart surgery

Pneumonia - not a deep incision surgical site infection - is the most common serious infection after heart surgery, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

16 Nov 2011

Researchers to begin drug development projects for rare and neglected diseases

Researchers will begin drug development projects for rare and neglected diseases that include potential treatments for a musculoskeletal disorder, a cognitive dysfunction disorder, a virus that affects the central nervous system of newborns, a parasitic worm infection, a form of muscular dystrophy and a rare lung disease.

16 Nov 2011

Niacin not effective in reducing risk of stroke, heart attack in stable CV patients

In patients whose bad cholesterol is very well-controlled by statins for a long time period, the addition of high-dose, extended release niacin did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.

16 Nov 2011