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Fera Pharmaceuticals launches Garamycin Ophthalmic Ointment

Fera Pharmaceuticals announced the launch today of preservative free Garamycin (gentamicin sulfate) Ophthalmic Ointment USP.

18 Oct 2010

Alcon concludes 'proof of concept' clinical trial of NovaBay's Aganocide for viral conjunctivitis treatment

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its development partner, Alcon Research, Ltd., has concluded its proof of concept clinical trial of NovaBay's patented lead Aganocide compound, NVC-422 for the treatment of viral conjunctivitis a highly contagious eye infection for which there are currently no marketed products.

18 Oct 2010

Importance of handwashing highlighted through events in 80 countries

Noting that Friday is Global Handwashing Day, the Los Angeles Times writes, "Every year, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections cause the death of more than 3.5 million children under age 5. These figures could be cut dramatically if handwashing with soap were widely practiced, experts say."

18 Oct 2010

UCSF professor receives National Medal of Science

UCSF Nobel laureate Stanley B. Prusiner, MD, UCSF professor of neurology and director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, today (Oct. 15, 2010) was named to receive the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for science and technology.

18 Oct 2010

Study finds correlation between flu vaccination and Medicaid reimbursement rates

Increasing the amount that physicians are reimbursed by Medicaid for administering influenza shots may raise vaccination rates among poor children. That is the conclusion of a study published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

18 Oct 2010

Phase III study influences WHO to change guidelines for HIV-infected women receiving nevirapine

Findings from a study, which appear in the Oct. 14, 2010 New England Journal of Medicine, helped influence the World Health Organization (WHO) to change its guidelines this year for the treatment of HIV-infected women who receive a single dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.

18 Oct 2010

Researchers to identify protein-recycling mechanism of TB bacteria

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University have discovered a key difference in the way human cells and Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause TB, deliver unwanted proteins marked with a "kiss of death" sequence to their respective cellular recycling factories.

18 Oct 2010

Bioniche's research scientists give presentations at Modern Vaccine and Adjuvant Formulation Conference

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. a research-based, technology driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that two of its senior research scientists gave presentations at the Modern Vaccine and Adjuvant Formulation Conference in Cannes, France this week.

18 Oct 2010

IDRI's TB vaccine protects against drug-resistant tuberculosis

The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) announces it has developed a new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine that protects against TB including drug-resistant strains of the disease in animal studies. The results of these studies are published in Science Translational Medicine today.

18 Oct 2010

Three West African countries set to roll out new meningitis vaccine

A new vaccine for meningitis, MenAfriVac, offers hope of an escape from one of the world's deadliest, most disabling and infectious diseases, the BBC writes. The vaccine was developed by non-governmental organization PATH in partnership with the WHO and created specifically for Africa.

18 Oct 2010

Research on gut flora may lead to new treatment strategies for atherosclerosis

New findings suggesting that bacteria in the mouth and/or intestine can affect the the outcome pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and lead to new treatment strategies, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

18 Oct 2010

Cempra to present data on solithromycin, TAKSTA at 48th Annual Meeting in Vancouver

Cempra Pharmaceuticals today announced poster presentations on its novel fluoroketolide antibiotic, solithromycin (CEM-101), and the Company's proprietary front-loading oral dosing regimen of sodium fusidate, TAKSTA (CEM-102) at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Vancouver, British Columbia.

18 Oct 2010

Biogen, Elan announce clinical utility data of two-step ELISA to detect anti-JCV antibodies

Biogen Idec and Elan Corporation, plc today announced data further supporting the potential clinical utility of an investigational assay that detects anti-JC virus (JCV) antibodies in human plasma or serum.

18 Oct 2010

Royal Cornwall Hospital receives grant to study Hepatitis E

Researchers from the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have received a grant of -337,000 to carry out a two-year study with partners in Glasgow and Norwich into a rare form of Hepatitis - Hepatitis E. The grant has come from the Chief Scientist's Office for Scotland and will be divided between the three centres taking part in the study.

18 Oct 2010

Novel approach to automated detection of bacterial pathogens in food

Researchers from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue University have developed a novel approach to automated detection and classification of harmful bacteria in food. The investigators have designed and implemented a sophisticated statistical approach that allows computers to improve their ability to detect the presence of bacterial contamination in tested samples.

15 Oct 2010

CDC: Hispanics more likely to have HIV than whites, but live longer

The Associated Press: Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "estimate that 1 in 22 black Americans will be diagnosed with the AIDS virus in their lifetime — more than twice the risk for Hispanics and eight times that of whites. ... the lifetime risk is 1 in 52 for Hispanics, and 1 in 170 for whites. Asian-Americans had the lowest lifetime risk, at about 1 in 222" (10/14).

15 Oct 2010

OTIS urges pregnant women to get vaccinated against influenza

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS), a non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego with affiliates across North America, urges pregnant women to receive the influenza vaccine as soon as possible. The recommendation comes shortly after the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Obstetric Practice issued new guidelines regarding the influenza vaccine during pregnancy.

15 Oct 2010

Oseltamivir reduces mortality in influenza A/H5N1 patients

A study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases indicates that treatment with oseltamivir significantly reduces mortality in patients with influenza A/H5N1, or 'bird flu', even when given late in the course of illness.

15 Oct 2010

Crosstex International introduces customized surgical masks

Cantel Medical Corp., announced today the launch of a new, unique design of medical face masks - the SecureFit™ series by Crosstex International, a Cantel subsidiary and a leading U.S. manufacturer of medical face masks. The SecureFit™ series of masks addresses scientific research that points to poorly fitting masks as a major hindrance to their effectiveness.

15 Oct 2010

Enrollment complete in Inhibitex's FV-100 Phase II clinical trial in shingles patients

Inhibitex, Inc., announced today that it has completed enrollment in a Phase II clinical trial of FV-100 in shingles (herpes zoster) patients. The objectives of the trial are to further evaluate the safety of FV-100 and its potential therapeutic benefit in reducing the severity and duration of shingles-associated pain, the incidence of post herpetic neuralgia (PHN), and the time to heal shingles-related lesions.

15 Oct 2010