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Gene therapy and stem cell transplantation successfully reverse hemophilia A

For the first time, researchers have combined gene therapy and stem cell transplantation to successfully reverse the severe, crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia A in large animals, opening the door to the development of new therapies for human patients.

3 Nov 2011

Senesco commences dosing in SNS01-T Phase 1b/2a clinical study for multiple myeloma

Senesco Technologies, Inc. today announced the initiation of patient dosing in its Phase 1b/2a clinical study of SNS01-T at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The study is an open-label, multiple-dose, dose-escalation study which will evaluate the safety and tolerability of SNS01-T when administered by intravenous infusion to relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients.

3 Nov 2011

CMS issues J-code for Savient's KRYSTEXXA

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has assigned a product-specific billing code, or J-code, for KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase), which is used for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy.

3 Nov 2011

Reduced diversity of intestinal microbiota associated with increased risk of allergic disease

Oversensitivity diseases, or allergies, now affect 25 per cent of the population of Denmark. The figure has been on the increase in recent decades and now researchers at the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC), University of Copenhagen, are at last able to partly explain the reasons.

3 Nov 2011

Positive results from Clinuvel's US Phase II study of photoprotective drug, afamelanotide

Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Limited, a global biopharmaceutical company with unique expertise on the interaction of light and human skin, today announced positive results of its first US Phase II study of the novel photoprotective drug afamelanotide, known as SCENESSE.

3 Nov 2011

Cancer responsible for 40% of all premature deaths

Cancer is responsible for killing 40 per cent of all the men and women who die prematurely between the ages of 25 and 74 in the UK - according to a new analysis of the figures released today by Cancer Research UK.

3 Nov 2011

Breakdown of unsaturated fats can induce complications in obese patients with acute pancreatitis

The toxic byproducts produced by the breakdown of unsaturated fats lead to a higher likelihood of severe inflammation, cell death and multi-system organ failure among acute pancreatitis patients who are obese, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

3 Nov 2011

Study assesses value of current scenario-based training programs for firefighters

Current training programs may not effectively prepare firefighters for the range of scenarios they are likely to encounter, according to human factors/ergonomics researchers Michael R. Baumann, Carol L. Gohm, and Bryan L. Bonner.

3 Nov 2011

Marital status, income level and age affect likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors

This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors.

3 Nov 2011

JDC receives NIDDK grant for research into diabetic retinopathy, kidney disease

Joslin Diabetes Center has received a $3.9 million DP3 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to identify protective factors that enable many Joslin 50-Year Medalists to remain free of commonly occurring diabetes complications.

3 Nov 2011

FDA EMDAC votes to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN for pre-dialysis CKD

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously voted to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN (ezetimibe/simvastatin) for use in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease.

3 Nov 2011

EAU, ESTRO and ESMO to host European conference on urological cancers

The 3rd European Multidisciplinary Meeting on Urological Cancers will kick off this Friday, bringing together representatives of three adjacent fields involved in the management of prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular and penile cancer.

3 Nov 2011

Increasing TR2/TR4 expression can lead to higher fetal hemoglobin levels in sickle cell patients

A University of Michigan Health System laboratory study reveals a key trigger for producing normal red blood cells that could lead to a new treatment for those with sickle cell disease.

3 Nov 2011

EBV vaccine could prevent mononucleosis and cancers linked to virus

In a new article from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Harold Varmus, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), join Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID's Vaccine Research Center, and Jeffrey Cohen, M.D., chief of NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, in summarizing a recent meeting of experts who gathered to map directions toward an EBV vaccine.

3 Nov 2011