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Plexxikon commences dosing in PLX4032 Phase 3 trial for metastatic melanoma

Plexxikon Inc. announces that enrollment has been initiated and the first patient has been dosed in a pivotal Phase 3 trial of PLX4032 (RG7204) in patients with metastatic melanoma. PLX4032 is a novel, oral and highly targeted drug that is designed to inhibit the BRAF cancer-causing mutation that occurs in about 50 percent of melanomas and about eight percent of all solid tumors. The randomized, controlled, Phase 3 “BRAF Inhibitor in Melanoma” (BRIM3) trial in previously untreated patients is part of the planned registration program for PLX4032.

9 Jan 2010

Cancer Research UK scientists named on New Year's Honours list

Several of Cancer Research UK's scientists have been named on this year's New Year's Honours list, as has the government's National Cancer Director and a long-term supporter of the charity.

9 Jan 2010

Jiangsu Government grants $1.8M for research and development of hUC-MSC technologies

The Jiangsu Government's Science and Technology Department has announced a $1.8 million grant - the Jiangsu Technological Achievements Transformational Grant - to support the research and development of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (hUC-MSC) technologies. The grant recipient and administrator, Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (http://www.beikebiotech.com ), is working with Jiangsu University and Nanjing University's Drum Tower Hospital to fulfill the grant's requirements.

9 Jan 2010

Savient Pharmaceuticals announces filing of KRYSTEXXA BLA resubmission on track

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. provided an update on its activities directed toward the resubmission of its Biologics License Application (BLA) for KRYSTEXXA(TM) (pegloticase) as a treatment for chronic gout in patients refractory to conventional therapy and reaffirmed its belief that it continues to be on track for the filing of the BLA resubmission for KRYSTEXXA in the first quarter of 2010.

9 Jan 2010

Boston Scientific's PROMUS Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System receives Japanese marketing approval

Boston Scientific Corporation announced today that it has received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to market its PROMUS® Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The Company plans to launch the product as soon as reimbursement approval is granted, which is expected in the coming weeks.

9 Jan 2010

Neurosurgeons perform world's first operation on 'habenula' to treat depression

A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have for the first time successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain.

8 Jan 2010

AUA updates clinical practice guideline on female stress urinary incontinence

A complete evaluation, including an assessment of post-void residual volume, is key when evaluating a female patient for surgery to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI), according to a new clinical practice guideline released today by the American Urological Association (AUA).

8 Jan 2010

Genentech's ACTEMRA approved to treat RA

Genentech, Inc., a wholly owned member of the Roche Group, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ACTEMRA® (tocilizumab) for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist therapies.

8 Jan 2010

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals commences its TL32711 SMAC mimetic Phase 1 clinical trial

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals announced today that the Company has completed dosing of the first cohort in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its selective SMAC mimetic, TL32711. The Phase 1 trial is an open-label, dose-escalation study evaluating the safety and tolerability of TL32711 in adults with solid tumors or lymphoma refractory to standard therapies. The study will also assess the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and anti-tumor activity of TL32711.

8 Jan 2010

New findings may provide a standardized way to diagnose autism in children

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) process sound and language a fraction of a second slower than children without ASDs, and measuring magnetic signals that mark this delay may become a standardized way to diagnose autism.

8 Jan 2010

Seminar highlights latest treatment options for common medical conditions that affect men

Dr. Y. Mark Hong, with Affiliated Urologists, a specialist in men's health issues, will be leading a free Men's Health Seminar on Thursday, January 21st. The program, to be held at 5:00 pm at the Moon Valley Country Club, will explain the latest treatment options for one of the most common conditions affecting men today: Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (also known as Enlarged Prostate). A question and answer period will follow the program.

8 Jan 2010

Prolia drug expected to garner blockbuster sales in 2018

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recent request for postmarketing surveillance of Amgen's Prolia, the drug's expected launch this year in the United States and Europe for the treatment of osteoporosis will drive Prolia to garner blockbuster sales in 2018..

8 Jan 2010

Young Caribbean girl receives complex surgery for rare spinal condition

As part of an annual Orthopedic Surgery Mission to St. Vincent & the Grenadines, a young girl from St. Vincent in the Caribbean has received a rare in-country complex repair procedure for her spine after waiting several years on a waiting list to come to the US for treatment.

8 Jan 2010

Scientists and clinicians address diagnosis and treatment for autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases

Autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases are a major health issue. The National Institutes of Health reports that up to 23.5 million Americans are afflicted. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association reports the number is closer to 50 million. Scientists and clinicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston can address the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, as well as the latest advances in research.

8 Jan 2010

Subjective cognitive impairment in healthy older adults can increase risk for dementia

Forgot where you put your car keys? Having trouble recalling your colleague's name? If so, this may be a symptom of subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), the earliest sign of cognitive decline marked by situations such as when a person recognizes they can't remember a name like they used to or where they recently placed important objects the way they used to.

8 Jan 2010

Study reveals members who had mental health diagnosis show improved outcomes

A recent study by Aetna Disability and Absence management of disability members who also had a mental health diagnosis showed that members spent an average of seven fewer days on disability when compared to an industry benchmark.

8 Jan 2010

Scientists identify gene underlying a disease that causes temporary paralysis of skeletal muscle

Scientists have identified a gene underlying a disease that causes temporary paralysis of skeletal muscle. The finding, they say, illustrates how investigations of rare genetic diseases can drive insights into more common ones.

8 Jan 2010

MicroCHIPS raises $16.5 million to fund for diabetes and osteoporosis programs

MicroCHIPS, Inc., a developer of intelligent implant systems, has raised $16.5 million to fund its lead programs in diabetes and osteoporosis. Current investors Polaris Venture Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, Flybridge Capital Partners, Medtronic, Saints Capital, Intersouth Partners, Care Capital and CSK Venture Capital were joined by new investor InterWest Partners.

8 Jan 2010

Cinergy Health offers tips to prevent and combat obesity

Cinergy Health, a nationwide agency for guaranteed issue and short term major medical insurance programs, responds to a new statistic that shows obesity outranks smoking as the main concern in healthcare.

8 Jan 2010

Preliminary studies show cancer vaccine may reduce tumor cells in CML patients

Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say preliminary studies show that a vaccine made with leukemia cells may be able to reduce or eliminate the last remaining cancer cells in some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients taking the drug Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec).

8 Jan 2010