Cirrhosis News and Research

Latest Cirrhosis News and Research

Coffee reduces prostate cancer risk

In the 20-year study of almost 50,000 men, researchers noted that those who drank at least six cups a day were 20 per cent less likely to get prostate cancer than those who never took coffee. Strikingly, they were 60 per cent less likely than the non-coffee drinkers to die of the disease. The researchers also say that decaffeinated coffee is just as effective.

17 May 2011

FDA nod for hepatitis C drug

Merck & Co have finally won the Food and Drugs Administration – FDA’S approval on Friday to sell a new drug considered a major advance against the liver-destroying hepatitis C virus. The drug brand named, Victrelis is expected to help transform treatment of the potentially fatal disease with higher cure rates and shorter courses of therapy for some patients. Merck shares rose 0.6 percent in after-hours trading to $37.33, up from their $37.08 close on the New York Stock Exchange. Approval of Victrelis was widely expected after a FDA advisory panel recommended the drug in an 18-0 vote in April.

17 May 2011

Merck receives FDA approval for Victrelis to treat chronic hepatitis C

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Victrelis (boceprevir) to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C. Victrelis is used for patients who still have some liver function, and who either have not been previously treated with drug therapy for their hepatitis C or who have failed such treatment.

16 May 2011

Pro-Pharmaceuticals reports net loss of $2.7 million for first quarter 2011

Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leading developer of therapeutics that target galectin proteins to treat fibrosis and cancer, today reported its financial results for the first quarter, ended March 31, 2011.

13 May 2011

iPSC-derived liver cells hold potential as alternative to liver transplants

Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that human liver cells derived from adult cells coaxed into an embryonic state can engraft and begin regenerating liver tissue in mice with chronic liver damage.

12 May 2011

Merck launches 'Hope Against Hepatitis C' education program

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the launch of Hope Against Hepatitis C, a company initiative to increase awareness, prevention and diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection.

10 May 2011

Aethlon seeks FDA meeting for re-initiation of Hemopurifier IDE study

Aethlon Medical, Inc. announces that it has submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a face-to-face meeting to discuss re-initiation of an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) study of the Aethlon Hemopurifier in the United States.

10 May 2011

AGA's cutting-edge research on GI disorders to be presented at DDW 2011

Clinicians, researchers and scientists from around the world will gather for Digestive Disease Week- 2011, the largest and most prestigious gastroenterology meeting, from May 7-10, 2011, at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

7 May 2011

Childhood cancer survivors may face high risk of late GI complications after therapy

Patients who received therapy for cancer during childhood have an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal complications later in life, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.

5 May 2011

New antioxidant may prevent liver damage in chronic alcoholics

An antioxidant may prevent damage to the liver caused by excessive alcohol, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

3 May 2011

Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee recommends FDA to approve telaprevir for hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that the Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend FDA approval of telaprevir for people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C.

29 Apr 2011

Vitamin E effective against severe fatty liver disease in some children

A specific form of vitamin E improved the most severe form of fatty liver disease in some children, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results appear in the April 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. A previous study found vitamin E effective in some adults with the disease.

28 Apr 2011

IL28B gene plays a key role in spontaneous HCV clearance in infants

New research shows that high maternal viral load and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus are the only risk factors associated with vertical transmission of the hepatitis C virus.

28 Apr 2011

Children, adolescents with liver disease may not benefit from vitamin E or metformin

In contrast to previous preliminary data, use of vitamin E or the diabetes drug metformin was not superior to placebo on a measured outcome for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents, according to a study in the April 27 issue of JAMA.

27 Apr 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim initiates enrollment in BI 201335 Phase 3 clinical trial for chronic HCV

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that enrollment has commenced at North American sites in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial program for BI 201335, the Company's investigational, oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

27 Apr 2011

FDA supports new Hepatitis C drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex pharmaceuticals jumped 10 percent in value on the Nasdaq after U.S. regulators FDA said the company’s experimental hepatitis C drug cures more patients than current therapies.

26 Apr 2011

Enrollment commences in Gore Early TIPS study for ascites at Indiana University Hospital

W. L. Gore & Associates today reported the first patient enrolled in the Gore Early TIPS for Ascites Study. The patient was treated at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind.

25 Apr 2011

Echosens's Vibration Controlled Transient Elastography stands out at 46th EASL Congress

On the occasion of the 46th Congress of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, the VCTE(TM) (Vibration Controlled Transient Elastography) from Echosens stood out as a leading technique in the field. It is the only technique able to measure elasticity at a predetermined, controlled frequency (50 Hz), which is essential because elasticity increases as frequency increases.

22 Apr 2011

Jennerex and Green Cross report positive phase 2 JX-594 clinical trial for liver cancer

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic products for cancer, and Green Cross Corporation, a leading company in the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of viral vaccines and other biological products, today reported positive clinical data from a Phase 2 trial evaluating JX-594 for liver cancer which was conducted in South Korea.

21 Apr 2011

Cumberland acquires Vanderbilt's ifetroban rights

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on hospital acute care and gastroenterology markets, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to ifetroban, a new Phase II development product.

19 Apr 2011