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Watson’s Uracyst pilot study for interstitial cystitis fails to demonstrate efficacy endpoints

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. pilot study evaluating Uracyst (sodium chondroitin sulfate solution 2.0%) for the treatment of interstitial cystitis did not meet predefined efficacy endpoints.

11 Nov 2010

Health insurance open season questions? Here are some answers

With open season in full gear for many workers, Kaiser Health News columnist Michelle Andrews, who writes weekly on health insurance issues, answered questions submitted online by readers of The Washington Post Tuesday.

11 Nov 2010

Supported by emerging markets, General Electric healthcare raises growth projection to 10% per year

General Electric's healthcare division raised its projection for profit growth to 10 percent a year as emerging markets such as China spend more on medical equipment. GE Healthcare President John Dineen said his operation is positioned to benefit from big trends driving global health-care markets, including efforts aimed at lowering costs and improving quality.

11 Nov 2010

Dietary intervention reduces emergence of diabetes-predictive autoantibodies by 50%

A Finnish study published in the November 11, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine confirms the hypothesis that infant feeding plays a role in the initiation of the disease process leading to type 1 diabetes in children carrying increased genetic disease risk.

11 Nov 2010

Study suggests mid-life cholesterol level may not linked to later development of Alzheimer's disease

Contrary to earlier research, a new, long-term study suggests that cholesterol level in mid-life may not be linked to later development of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the November 10, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. However, the results suggest that large decreases in cholesterol levels in old age could be a better predictor of developing the memory-robbing disease.

11 Nov 2010

Health law or no, most businesses likely to keep offering insurance

Kaiser Health News' Amita Parashar reports: "One of the most fundamental ideas in the new health law is that employers should offer health insurance to their workers, or else they would have to pay a penalty, beginning in 2014.

11 Nov 2010

New 'magic bullet' can eradicate side effects of drug used to treat cystinosis

A 'magic bullet' designed by pharmaceutical scientists at an English university could eradicate the side effects of a drug used to treat a rare genetic disease. Researchers at the University of Sunderland have chemically modified a drug used to treat cystinosis a disease which occurs when the body's mechanism to remove excess cystine (an amino acid) breaks down, leading to kidney problems and eventually affecting other organs to remove unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, severe halitosis, body odour and a noxious taste.

11 Nov 2010

Depression associated with molecular-level disturbance in body's 24-hour clock

Depression appears to be associated with a molecular-level disturbance in the body's 24-hour clock, new research suggests.

11 Nov 2010

Sen. Mcconnell to file amicus brief in support of health law challenge

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to file an amicus brief supporting a federal lawsuit challenging the health care overhaul championed by President Barack Obama, and he invited Republican Senators on Tuesday to join him.

11 Nov 2010

Dendreon requests licensure for additional capacity to manufacture PROVENGE at New Jersey facility

Dendreon Corporation today announced that it has completed the submission of the post-approval supplement to the PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T) Biologics License Application for the Morris Plains, New Jersey manufacturing facility. Dendreon is requesting licensure for an additional 36 workstations to manufacture PROVENGE. The standard U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review for a post-approval supplement to a Biologics License Application is typically four months.

11 Nov 2010

Lemon-lime soft drink could improve effectiveness of oral anticancer drug: Study

Experiments with an artificial stomach suggest that a popular lemon-lime soft drink could play an unexpected role in improving the effectiveness of an oral anticancer drug. The experiments produced evidence that patients will absorb more of the unnamed drug, tested in Phase I in clinical trials, when taken with "flat" or degassed Sprite. The study appears in ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.

11 Nov 2010

BCBS of Michigan alleged to have crushed pilot physical therapy program it saw as competition

USA Today: "As health care costs soared nationally, a small Michigan firm gave Ford Motor Co. a proposal to cut its physical therapy costs. The automaker signed up for an in-state pilot program, which was so successful Ford expanded it last year to cover about 390,000 employees, retirees and their families nationwide." But court "records allege Blue Cross used its position as the state's dominant insurer to try to crush TheraMatrix as it worked to also sign up Chrysler and General Motors.

11 Nov 2010

Study on zebrafish showcases neural basis of essential survival skill

A tiny, translucent juvenile zebrafish, on the hunt for even littler prey, has offered up a big insight into how a specific circuit of nerve cells functions in the brain. The technique used to illuminate this circuitry, and the fish model itself, provide one of the first insights into the way individual sets of neurons control a specific behavior.

11 Nov 2010

Ban on potential toxic ingredients in toys needed

Manufacturer recalls of toys, promotional drinking glasses, and other children's products constitute an ongoing "toxic toys crisis" that requires banning potentially harmful ingredients in these products and other changes in policy and practices. That's the conclusion of a new analysis in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

11 Nov 2010

PolyMedix receives FDA regulatory clearance for PMX-30063 IND application

PolyMedix, Inc. an emerging biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has received regulatory clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for PMX-30063, a synthetic defensin-mimetic antibiotic.

11 Nov 2010

SRU Biosystems announces launch of annual Label-free Technology Award

SRU Biosystems, a leader in label-free technologies, announced today the launch of its annual Label-free Technology Award. This year the company will award its newest label-free BIND SCANNER to an academic or non-profit laboratory to support innovative scientific and drug discovery research.

11 Nov 2010

Study: Big employers unlikely to drop insurance under health law

News outlets report on the employer health insurance market.

11 Nov 2010

Guardian examines former Pres. Bush's reflection on PEPFAR in new memoir

The Guardian examines the reflections of former President George W. Bush on the $15bn President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) which distributed antiretroviral drugs to keep people with HIV alive, as the president describes in his recently released memoir, Decision Points.

11 Nov 2010

Amyris, Firmenich enter joint development agreement

Amyris, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a collaboration and joint development agreement with Firmenich, the largest privately-owned fragrance and flavor company, based in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the first agreement for Amyris in the fragrance and flavor industry and provides an opportunity to add higher-value ingredients to our expanding product portfolio.

11 Nov 2010

Spinal Column: New blog on spinal disorders

Clinicians seeking insight into the latest research on spinal disorders and its impact on their everyday clinical practice will find it in "The Spinal Column," a new weekly blog found on the Spine website. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

11 Nov 2010