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Initial HSCT results from phase III trial on systemic sclerosis

Initial results from an international, investigator-initiated, open label phase III trial were presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism. Data indicate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) results in better long term survival than conventional treatment for patients with poor prognosis early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

7 Jun 2012

FDA approves XenoPort, GSK’s Horizant ER tablets for management of PHN

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) and XenoPort, Inc. announced today that the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) Extended-Release Tablets for the management of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in adults.

7 Jun 2012

Enrollment complete in Advaxis’ ADXS-HPV Phase 2 study on CIN 2/3

Advaxis, Inc., a leader in developing the next generation of immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases, announced today that it has completed enrollment of 40 patients in the second of three dose cohorts in Lm-LLO-E7-07, a randomized, single blind, placebo controlled Phase 2 dose escalation study assessing the safety and efficacy of ADXS-HPV for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 2/3.

7 Jun 2012

CDI introduces MyCell Services

Cellular Dynamics International, Inc. (CDI), the world's largest commercial producer of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell lines and tissue cells, today announced the launch of its MyCell Services.

7 Jun 2012

Clinical study shows positive effects of CAD106 vaccine against AD

A study led by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reports for the first time the positive effects of an active vaccine against Alzheimer's disease. The new vaccine, CAD106, can prove a breakthrough in the search for a cure for this seriously debilitating dementia disease. The study is published in the distinguished scientific journal Lancet Neurology.

7 Jun 2012

Neurotech’s ADNS-300 system obtains European CE Mark approval

Neurotech s.a., a Belgium based developer and manufacturer of neurostimulation devices, announces that it has obtained the European CE Mark for its ADNS-300 system dedicated to the treatment of refractory epilepsy.

7 Jun 2012

Biologic treatments reduce mortality risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

According to a study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are prescribed biologic treatments have a significantly lower mortality risk (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.61) than those just treated with traditional disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).The study also found the mortality was similar irrespective of the method of action of biologics (anti-tumour necrosis factor drugs [anti-TNFs] or rituximab).

7 Jun 2012

Disney to ban junk food ads in obesity fight

The change from the children's entertainment company got a prominent backer Tuesday as First Lady Michelle Obama offered her praise for the move.

7 Jun 2012

Young adults, adolescents with mental health disorders more likely to become long-term opioid users

Long-term use and abuse of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has markedly increased in the United States in the last two decades. Of note, prescription opioids constitute 86.9 percent of prescription drug misuse among high school students. And last week in a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration public meeting, officials questioned the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain due to a lack of evidence for the effectiveness and concerns about the potential risk for addiction.

7 Jun 2012

Clinical study demonstrates effectiveness of vismodegib in treating BCNS

A revolutionary clinical study has demonstrated the effectiveness of a new drug, vismodegib, in dramatically shrinking and preventing the formation of basal cell skin cancers - the most common cancer in the United States - in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS), a rare genetic condition that causes hundreds to thousands of skin cancers primarily treated by surgical removal.

7 Jun 2012

Paper spotlights unique developmental strategy undertaken by all mammals

Ask the average person the street how the brain develops, and they'll likely tell you that the brain's wiring is built as newborns first begin to experience the world. With more experience, those connections are strengthened, and new branches are built as they learn and grow. A new study conducted in a Harvard lab, however, suggests that just the opposite is true.

7 Jun 2012

Targeting stem cells might be more effective in treating vascular disease

One of the top suspects behind killer vascular diseases is the victim of mistaken identity, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, who used genetic tracing to help hunt down the real culprit.

7 Jun 2012

Life expectancy gap narrows between blacks and whites

The life expectancy gap between blacks and whites has narrowed thanks to fewer black deaths due to AIDS and heart disease, a new study finds.

7 Jun 2012

New data supports clinical role of Cambridge Heart’s MTWA test in managing patients at risk of SCA

Cambridge Heart, Inc., a developer of non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, today announced that results of a prospective, 155-patient trial reinforce the value of the Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) test as a predictor of life-threatening heart rhythms and Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).

7 Jun 2012

$6.4 million awarded to investigate mechanisms of allergy tolerance generated by Circassia’s ToleroMune Treatment

Circassia Ltd, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on allergy, today announced that the United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $6.4 million grant to Professor Mark Larché of McMaster University, Canada, to study mechanisms of tolerance developed by patients treated with Circassia’s Toleromune® allergy therapy.

7 Jun 2012

Community-based intervention effectively reduces intake of sugared drinks in Appalachian teens

By participating in a peer- and community-driven education program, a new study offers evidence supporting community-based intervention as a successful vehicle to encourage high school students in Appalachia to reduce their intake of sugared drinks.

7 Jun 2012

Study describes how seizures in people with AS could be linked to brain cell activity imbalance

New research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have pinpointed an underlying cause of the seizures that affect 90 percent of people with Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder.

7 Jun 2012

Call for increased screening and faster testing for drug-resistant tuberculosis

Johns Hopkins experts in the prevention and treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis are calling for increased screening and more rapid testing of the 9 million people worldwide estimated to be infected each year with TB, and now at risk for this form of the highly contagious lung disease. The call follows results of a survey showing that the harder-to-treat TB variants are much more widespread than previously thought.

7 Jun 2012

Risk of leukaemia and brain cancer in children could be tripled by radiation exposure from CT scans

Radiation exposure received from 2 to 3 computed tomography (CT) scans of the head in childhood (aged under 15 years)—giving a cumulative dose of around 60 mGy— can triple the risk of later developing brain cancer, while around 5 to 10 such scans (cumulative dose around 50 mGy) could triple the risk of developing leukaemia (with the differing number of scans related to different absorption rates of the brain versus the bone marrow and age at time of scanning).

7 Jun 2012

UAB researchers aim to improve cardiac-arrest-survival rates

The survival rate for people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the United States is dismal — around 5 percent — say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

7 Jun 2012