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IHoP may play a critical role in type 1 diabetes

Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues have discovered a new protein that may play a critical role in how the human body regulates blood sugar levels.

5 Jan 2012

Free public lecture to look at role of stents in treating coronary artery diseases

State-of-the art treatments for patients with heart problems are the theme of a public lecture at the University of Greenwich this month. The lecture, which is free and open to all, will look at the role of stents in treating coronary artery diseases. A stent is a tiny, artificial tube which is placed in the coronary arteries that supply the heart: by keeping the arteries open, the stent combats the effects of reduced blood flow, such as blood clots.

5 Jan 2012

Lithocholic acid can kill several types of cancer cells

Lithocholic acid (LCA), naturally produced in the liver during digestion, has been seriously underestimated. A study published in the journal Oncotarget shows that LCA can kill several types of cancer cells, such as those found in some brain tumors and breast cancer.

5 Jan 2012

Positive preliminary results from Alnylam's Phase I ALN-PCS trial on severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the achievement of positive preliminary results from its ongoing clinical trial of ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting PCSK9 for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

5 Jan 2012

NGP receives investment from Abbott to develop NGP 555 for AD

NeuroGenetic Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NGP), a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapeutics, has received an investment from Abbott Biotech Ventures.

5 Jan 2012

Rilonacept appears safe and well-tolerated in patients with gout

A phase II clinical trial found that rilonacept, an inhibitor of the protein interleukin-1 (IL-1), significantly reduced acute gout flares that occur when initiating uric acid-lowering therapy. Results of the trial—the first placebo-controlled study investigating IL-1 targeted therapy in prevention of gout flares—show rilonacept to be generally well tolerated with no serious infections or treatment-related serious adverse events reported.

5 Jan 2012

Weight loss surgery can improve blood sugar control in diabetes patients

Weight loss surgery is not a cure for type 2 diabetes, but it can improve blood sugar control, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Whereas some previous studies have claimed that up to 80 per cent of diabetes patients have been cured following gastric bypass surgery, researchers at Imperial College London found that only 41 per cent of patients achieve remission using more stringent criteria.

5 Jan 2012

Arrowhead receives FDA IND approval for Adipotide obesity drug

Arrowhead Research Corporation, a nanomedicine company with development programs in oncology and obesity, today announced that the Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for its first obesity drug candidate, Adipotide, was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowing the initiation of a clinical trial to test the safety of the compound.

5 Jan 2012

Study finds increase in incidence and prevalence of IBD

The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are increasing with time and in different regions around the world, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

5 Jan 2012

Arcion receives U.S. patent allowance for ARC-2022 to treat PHN

Arcion Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing topical therapies for chronic pain, today announced that it received notice of allowance for a US Patent for its high strength gel formulation of topical lidocaine, ARC-2022.

5 Jan 2012

Scientists determine structure of endomannosidase enzyme

Scientists have determined the structure of the enzyme endomannosidase, significantly advancing our understanding of how a group of devastating human viruses including HIV and Hepatitis C hijack human enzymes to reproduce and cause disease.

4 Jan 2012

Medtronic introduces mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor in the U.S.

Today, Medtronic, Inc. announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and U.S. market launch of the first-of-its-kind mySentry Remote Glucose Monitor, which allows a parent or caregiver to monitor from another room a patient's MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time Revel System.

From Medtronic 4 Jan 2012

$Viamet commences VT-464 Phase 1/2 trial in castration-refractory prostate cancer$

Viamet commences VT-464 Phase 1/2 trial in castration-refractory prostate cancer

Viamet Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that dosing has begun in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VT-464, an oral, potent and lyase-selective CYP17 inhibitor for the treatment of castration-refractory prostate cancer.

4 Jan 2012

RNF123 gene may play a role in major depression

Psychiatric disorders can be described on many levels, the most traditional of which are subjective descriptions of the experience of being depressed and the use of rating scales that quantify depressive symptoms. Over the past two decades, research has developed other strategies for describing the biological underpinnings of depression, including volumetric brain measurements using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the patterns of gene expression in white blood cells.

4 Jan 2012

Veloxis commences LCP-Tacro Phase IIIb study in kidney transplant patients

Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S today announced dosing of the first patient in the STRATO (Switching kidney TRAnsplant patients with Tremor to LCP-tacrO) Phase IIIb study of LCP-Tacro in kidney transplant recipients experiencing drug-induced tremors.

4 Jan 2012

Re-admission rates high among U.S. heart attack patients: Study

According to new research from U.S health experts, Americans who have a severe form of a heart attack are far more likely to be readmitted to the hospital than people from 16 other countries with the same kind of heart attack.

4 Jan 2012

Weight loss surgery cuts risk of heart attacks, strokes: Study

A new study shows that weight loss surgery clearly cuts the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death from cardiovascular disease. But the research also raises questions regarding which patients benefit the most from surgery.

4 Jan 2012

FDA grants orphan designation for AMT's hemophilia gene therapy program

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics, a leader in the field of human gene therapy, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to its gene therapy program for the treatment of hemophilia B.

4 Jan 2012

St. Jude Medical meets stopping rule in RESPECT clinical trial, closes patient enrollment

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced that it has met a stopping rule in its RESPECT clinical trial - triggered by reaching the protocol-required number of primary events in the trial, defined as stroke and all-cause mortality - and is closing patient enrollment.

4 Jan 2012

Cardiovascular leaders to review data for Riata and Riata ST ICD leads

Cardiovascular leaders will gather in Minneapolis for a one-day summit on Jan. 20, to review data for Riata and Riata ST implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads, which recently underwent a Class I FDA recall. Physicians from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Mayo Clinic have organized the summit to develop a consensus regarding the management of patients who have these leads.

4 Jan 2012