Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease News and Research

Latest Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease News and Research

Researchers discover molecular mechanism behind smoking cessation effect

The tobacco addiction epidemic is a major public health problem worldwide. Professor Zhao Baolu and his group from the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences set out to tackle this problem. After 20 years of innovative research, they have developed a novel tea filter to treat cigarette addiction and have discovered the molecular mechanism behind the smoking cessation effect.

12 May 2010

MediciNova announces $15 million senior secured term loan with Oxford Finance

MediciNova, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that is publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange, today announced that it has entered into a $15 million senior secured term loan with Oxford Finance Corporation.

11 May 2010

Forest, Almirall to present data on aclidinium bromide for COPD and LAS100977 for asthma at ATS conference

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Almirall, S.A. today announced that they are presenting data from several studies of two investigational inhaled respiratory compounds at the annual American Thoracic Society International Conference taking place in New Orleans May 14-19, 2010. Data on aclidinium bromide, an inhaled muscarinic antagonist, which is in Phase III development for COPD, and LAS100977, a long-acting beta 2-agonist, in Phase II development for asthma, will be presented in 11 separate posters.

11 May 2010

Forest, Nycomed to present data from six roflumilast posters at ATS International Conference

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Nycomed today announced that they will present data from six roflumilast posters during the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference being held in New Orleans, LA, May 14 through May 19, 2010. Roflumilast is an investigational anti-inflammatory, oral medication for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) associated with chronic bronchitis in patients at risk of exacerbations.

10 May 2010

Initiation of QVA149 Phase III clinical programme by Novartis triggers $7.5M milestone payment to Sosei

Sosei Group Corporation announce the commencement of the Phase III clinical programme by Novartis, with QVA149, a once-daily, dry powder bronchodilator for inhalation combining a fixed dose of the once-daily beta2-agonist QAB149 (indacaterol) and the long-acting muscarinic antagonist NVA237 (glycopyrronium bromide) for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The start of Phase III triggers a $7.5m milestone payment to Sosei.

10 May 2010

Researchers analyze spine surgery patients' existing comorbdities in relationship to hospital stay, costs

It is estimated that between 75 and 85 percent of all Americans will suffer from low back pain and/or neck pain at some point in their lives. An estimated 12 million Americans suffer from degenerative disc disease, with over one million patients undergoing surgery each year. The cost of treating back pain is currently estimated at more than $100 billion annually in the U.S. Many patients with back pain have comorbidities that impact spine surgery.

5 May 2010

Natural plant extract could help treat COPD and inflammatory disorders

A widely and safely used plant extract acts as a novel anti-inflammatory agent that may one day be used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, as well as other inflammatory conditions.

4 May 2010

Advair to remain favored fixed-dose LABA/ICS combination therapy through 2013 for asthma and COPD

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, despite increased competition from several emerging agents, GlaxoSmithKline's Advair will remain surveyed pulmonologists' and primary care physicians' (PCPs) favored fixed-dose long-acting beta2 agonist (LABA)/inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) combination inhaler through 2013 for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

27 Apr 2010

Nycomed, Merck enter co-promotion agreement for Daxas in Canada and Europe

Nycomed and Merck & Co., Inc. (based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey and known as MSD outside the USA and Canada) today announced that they have entered into a co-promotion agreement for Canada and certain European countries for the commercialization of Daxas® (roflumilast), an investigational once-daily tablet for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition, the two companies have signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the commercialization of Daxas® in the United Kingdom.

26 Apr 2010

Amira Pharmaceuticals granted UK patent covering novel small molecule inhibitors of DP2 receptor

Amira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.K. Intellectual Property Office has granted it patent number GB2460597 titled "N,N-Disubstituted aminoalkylBiPhenyl Antagonists OF Prostaglandin d2 RECEPTORS."

23 Apr 2010

KSERA research project focuses on COPD patients

To enable elderly people to live at home as long as possible, a group of European researchers, coordinated from Eindhoven University of Technology, will link robots and 'smart homes'. The robot, a 'sensible family friend', will ensure that home is a nice place to stay. And that patients do the right things.

22 Apr 2010

Women and men experience different outcomes at U.S. hospitals: HealthGrades

Women and men experience different outcomes at U.S. hospitals for the same procedures and treatments, according to a new study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

22 Apr 2010

Forest Laboratories' fourth-quarter net sales up 11.0% to $995.6M

Forest Laboratories, Inc., an international pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketer, announced that diluted earnings per share equaled $0.07 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

21 Apr 2010

End-of-life care documentation helps in emergency treatment decisions

When Heather Rubesch was a teenager, her aunt died in need of a kidney transplant. In later family discussions, Heather's mother, Linda, expressed some of her views about end-of-life care—for instance, her belief in organ donation.

19 Apr 2010

Researchers study effectiveness of TeleCare in keeping individuals healthy

Like the bleeps of an alarm clock, TeleCare, a home monitoring device, gives the chronically ill a wake-up call: "It's time to take your vitals."

17 Apr 2010

Long-term monitoring and education needed to protect lungs of young patients

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified childhood cancer survivors who are at increased risk for deteriorating lung health, in part due to the lifesaving bone marrow transplants they underwent years earlier.

16 Apr 2010

FDA: Seven MDIs for treating asthma and COPD to be phased out

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced, in accordance with longstanding U.S. obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, seven metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be gradually removed from the U.S. marketplace. These inhalers contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are propellants that move medication out of the inhaler and into the lungs of patients.

15 Apr 2010

Combivent Inhalation Aerosol's "essential use" status effective through 2013

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that the "essential use" status of Combivent® (ipratropium bromide and albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Aerosol will be effective through December 31, 2013. With this ruling, COMBIVENT will remain on the market and available to the more than two million chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who rely on it as a bronchodilator.

15 Apr 2010

LA BioMed to receive $9.7M federal grant for construction of new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center

With a goal of creating jobs and enhancing chronic disease studies, the federal government is awarding a $9.7 million grant of stimulus funds to the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) for the construction of a new Chronic Disease Clinical Research Center on its campus, David I. Meyer, PhD, the institute's president and CEO, announced today.

9 Apr 2010

Measure of blood flow in lungs could help identify smokers at risk of emphysema

Using CT scans to measure blood flow in the lungs of people who smoke may offer a way to identify which smokers are most at risk of emphysema before the disease damages and eventually destroys areas of the lungs, according to a University of Iowa study.

7 Apr 2010