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GENova Biotherapeutics files patent for Prostaganin anti-cancer drug

GENova Biotherapeutics, Inc., ("GENova"), is pleased to announce that it has filed a patent for a novel peptide that disrupts the advance of prostate cancer and thus has blockbuster potential as a new anti-cancer drug.

9 Sep 2009

FDA approves ISTA's Bepreve for treating ocular itch

ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISTA) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bepreve(TM) (bepotastine besilate ophthalmic solution) 1.5% as a twice-daily prescription eye drop treatment for ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis in patients two years of age and older.

9 Sep 2009

Cytrx to submit revised protocol for arimoclomol Phase IIb clinical trial

CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR), a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, today announced its intention during the 2009 fourth quarter to submit a revised protocol for its planned Phase IIb clinical trial for arimoclomol as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). The decision follows receipt of an anticipated written letter from the U.S.

8 Sep 2009

KRYSTEXXA development and treatment failure gout to be presented

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that five abstracts relating to KRYSTEXXA (pegloticase) development and treatment failure gout will be presented at the 2009 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting taking place in Philadelphia from October 16-21, 2009.

8 Sep 2009

FDA undecided on safety guidelines for hydroquinone use

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the US market for physician-dispensed cosmeceutical pigment control products will experience considerable growth in sales over the next five years. MRG's US Markets for Physician-Dispensed Cosmeceuticals 2009 report finds, however, that product safety issues involving hydroquinone, the active ingredient in many pigment control products, have led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to second guess the use of the compound in such products.

8 Sep 2009

Opexa Therapeutics' ongoing development program for Tovaxin to be presented

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a company developing Tovaxin, a personalized T-cell immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that Neil K. Warma, Opexa’s president and chief executive officer, will deliver a corporate presentation at Rodman & Renshaw’s 11th Annual Healthcare Conference.

8 Sep 2009

Protalix receives orphan drug designation for prGCD

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE-Amex:PLX), announced today that it has received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development has granted orphan drug designation to prGCD, the Company’s proprietary plant cell expressed recombinant form of glucocerebrosidase (GCD) for the treatment of Gaucher disease.

8 Sep 2009

Shire's assistance helps Gaucher patients manage imiglucerase supply shortage

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, is committed to doing everything possible to assist Gaucher patients and their physicians during the imiglucerase supply shortage. Shire is pleased to be able to provide velaglucerase alfa well over a year ahead of previously anticipated commercial launch world wide.

8 Sep 2009

NanoViricides' drug pipeline to be discussed at NanoBusiness2009

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company"), announced today that Anil Diwan, PhD, President of the Company has been asked to present a talk at NanoBusiness2009 - the 8th annual NanoBusiness Conference.

8 Sep 2009

Pharma manufacturer's failure to disclose endangers Swine Flu vaccination program

As autumn approaches and millions of Americans consider taking an H1N1 Swine Flu vaccination, the integrity of all vaccine developers has been called into question by the financial relationship of a leading vaccine advocate and a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Dr. Paul Offit of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), who was interviewed for a Dateline NBC television special, failed to tell millions of viewers that while he was promoting MMR as safe he had also made tens of millions of dollars from selling another vaccine patent to Merck, which is the manufacturer of MMR.

8 Sep 2009

Impact Fusion International completes geographic market test of Intact Digest

Impact Fusion International announced today it has successfully completed a limited geographic market test for Intact Digest with several retail vitamin stores re-ordering on a monthly basis.

8 Sep 2009

New technology developed to detect counterfeit drugs

University of Leicester researchers have combined crime research and space-age technology in ways that could lead to the quick detection of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in a black market currently worth an estimated $40billion per year.

8 Sep 2009

Azelastine and fluticasone combination for allergic rhinitis gets new lease

Meda and Cipla Ltd, a leading pharma company in India, have expanded the existing long term collaboration agreement for the combination of azelastine and fluticasone.

8 Sep 2009

COPD patients to have better protection against pneumonia with new vaccine

A new vaccine against pneumonia may offer better protection from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients than the currently accepted vaccine, according to recent research that will be published in the September 15 issue of the American Journal of the Respiratory and Critical Care Journal, a publication of the American Thoracic Society.

8 Sep 2009

Insects can be used to test the efficiency of new drugs

Insects, such as some moths and fruit flies, react to microbial infection in the same way as mammals and so can be used to test the efficiency of new drugs, thereby reducing the need for animal testing. Dr Kevin Kavanagh from the National University of Ireland - Maynooth, presented his research findings at the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, today (8 September).

7 Sep 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug also must spare healthy cells, and ideally its effects will be reversible to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. Investigators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in cell culture, achieves all of the above.

7 Sep 2009

Regurin XL capsule for the treatment of OAB launched in UK

Regurin(R) XL (trospium chloride), a once-daily, prolonged-release capsule to treat patients with overactive bladder (OAB) has been launched in the UK. Regurin(R) XL provides rapid, significant and consistent improvements in the symptoms of OAB1 and has a reduced potential for central nervous system (CNS) side effects(2-7).

7 Sep 2009

Identifying a specific molecular signature can help customize cancer treatment

A molecular signature that helps account for the aggressive behavior of a variety of cancers such as pancreatic, breast and melanoma may also predict the likelihood of successful treatment with a particular anti-cancer drug. The finding, which could lead to a personalized approach to treatment for a variety of solid tumors that are currently resistant to therapies, will be published September 6 in the advance online edition of Nature Medicine.

7 Sep 2009

Ipsen grants license to Debiopharm for developing and commercialising cancer treatment

Ipsen (Euronext:IPN), an innovation-driven global specialty pharmaceutical Group and Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, announced today the signature of an agreement under which Debiopharm is granted an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialise Ipsen's first-in-class inhibitor of the CDC25 phosphatase enzyme (now Debio 0931), for the treatment of various human cancers.

7 Sep 2009