Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

Latest Arthritis & Rheumatology News and Research

MD Bioproducts launches new subtype specific antibody as marker for AS

MD Bioproducts launches a new subtype specific antibody as a marker for ankylosing spondylitis (AS): HLA-B*2705. The anti-HLA-B*2705 antibody, clone MARB4, has been validated for use in flow cytometry, tissue staining and immunoprecipitation.

30 May 2012

Pre-harvest vaccines for management of E. coli in Canadian beef receive favourable conclusion

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, today announced that a Public Health Agency of Canada study assessing the effects of various interventions on the management of E. coli O157:H7 in Canadian beef came to a favourable conclusion with regard to pre-harvest vaccines such as the Company's Econiche cattle vaccine.

29 May 2012

Abbott to highlight latest investigational research findings on HUMIRA at EULAR 2012

Abbott scientists and independent researchers will highlight the latest investigational research findings on HUMIRA (adalimumab) at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Congress in Berlin, Germany, from 6-9 June, 2012.

29 May 2012

EMA CHMP issues positive opinion to Eisai’s Fycompa for treatment of partial-onset seizures

Eisai announced today that the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion for the use of Fycompa (perampanel) as an adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalised seizures, in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and older.

29 May 2012

New insight into immune-cell movement patterns

By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement strategy to track down parasites that is similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tuna use to hunt their prey.

28 May 2012

European CHMP issues positive opinion to Vertex's KALYDECO for treatment of CF

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion by consensus recommending the approval of KALYDECO (ivacaftor) for people with cystic fibrosis (CF) ages 6 and older who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene.

25 May 2012

NIH Consortium selects UBM among 11 CoEPEs

With more Americans than ever living with chronic pain, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pain Consortium wants the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and 10 other health professional schools to teach the next generation of health care providers to be better equipped to manage and treat such patients.

25 May 2012

NYU Langone surgeons perform robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in New York

A team of urological surgeons from NYU Langone Medical Center performed a robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in New York and beamed the procedure from New York via high definition satellite to more than 400 participants attending the American Urological Association's (AUA) 2012 Annual Meeting in Atlanta earlier this week.

24 May 2012

NYULMC opens new 327,000 square-foot Ambulatory Care Center

As part of its plan to expand access to a wide array of outpatient services, NYU Langone Medical Center has opened a new 327,000 square-foot Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) at 240 East 38th Street.

24 May 2012

PTH boosts AMPs to fend off infection-causing microbes

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are molecules produced in the skin to fend off infection-causing microbes. Vitamin D has been credited with a role in their production and in the body's overall immune response, but scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a hormone previously associated only with maintaining calcium homeostasis and bone health is also critical, boosting AMP expression when dietary vitamin D levels are inadequate.

24 May 2012

Panel of HuCAL Anti-Drug Antibodies to be launched by AbD Serotec

MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that its division for research and diagnostic antibodies, AbD Serotec, will launch a series of novel anti-drug antibodies (ADAs) to strengthen its position as a leading provider of diagnostic reagents.

23 May 2012

Scientists identify key mechanism in development of Alzheimer's

New research by scientists at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine (UMDNJ-SOM) demonstrates how dying or damaged brain cells release debris into the bloodstream and give rise to specific autoantibodies that appear to be reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

23 May 2012

Exercise can add years to a person's life

A recent study has shown that exercise can add years to a person's life. Still, as we age it can become more tedious and sometimes more difficult to exercise.

23 May 2012

Women and their loved ones are affected by gout: Survey

An online survey conducted by Red Hot Mamas North America, Inc. found that women and their loved ones are significantly affected by very painful bouts of gout, which they consider to be chronic and severe. Respondents indicated that although the debilitating pain associated with the condition affects quality of life, many individuals are prescribed medications meant to control the condition which they are not taking.

23 May 2012

NIH Pain Consortium selects 11 health professional schools as CoEPEs

The National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium has selected 11 health professional schools as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs).

23 May 2012

Heart disease risk assessment tools often underestimate CVD danger faced by RA patients

Heart disease risk assessment tools commonly used by physicians often underestimate the cardiovascular disease danger faced by rheumatoid arthritis patients, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Inflammation plays a key role in putting those with rheumatoid arthritis in greater jeopardy for heart disease, yet many cardiovascular disease risk assessment methods do not factor it in, the researchers note.

22 May 2012

Enrollment complete in Xencor, MorphoSys’ MOR208 phase 1 trial for CLL

MorphoSys AG and US-based Xencor, Inc. today announced the successful completion of patient enrollment in the phase 1 clinical trial evaluating MOR208.

22 May 2012

TransCytos, Enginasion collaborate to develop new transfection technology

Enginasion and TransCytos announced today that their collaboration has resulted in a prototype 'transfection' technology that is designed to have a dramatic and positive impact on the drug-research industry.

22 May 2012

New strategy can reactivate genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die

A team of scientists has developed a promising new strategy for "reactivating" genes that cause cancer tumors to shrink and die. The researchers hope that their discovery will aid in the development of an innovative anti-cancer drug that effectively targets unhealthy, cancerous tissue without damaging healthy, non-cancerous tissue and vital organs.

22 May 2012

Data from Janssen’s SIMPONI Phase 3 study on ulcerative colitis

New study findings presented today show that subcutaneous induction regimens of the anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha therapy SIMPONI (golimumab) induced clinical response in a majority of patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who had previously failed or were intolerant to conventional agents.

22 May 2012