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New HHS Strategy on Multiple Chronic Conditions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today issued its new Strategic Framework on Multiple Chronic Conditions - an innovative private-public sector collaboration to coordinate responses to a growing challenge.

15 Dec 2010

NCI initiates crolibulin/cisplatin combination Phase II trial in anaplastic thyroid cancer

EpiCept Corporation today announced that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has initiated a Phase II trial with crolibulinTM (EPC2407). The trial will assess the drug's efficacy and safety in combination with cisplatin in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). CrolibulinTM is a vascular disruption and apoptosis inducing agent that has demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in both preclinical and early clinical studies.

15 Dec 2010

Sharing of scientific data could benefit cancer research

The sharing of scientific data in increasingly open ways could benefit cancer research and thus patients, according to a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal ecancermedicalscience.

15 Dec 2010

Reuters examines investors' interests in bonds that support GAVI Alliance

"It's not only biologists, philanthropists and donor governments who are needed to make vaccine projects in poor countries work. Financial engineers … also have a role," Reuters writes in an article that examines how "a new kind of bond issue" is helping to support the GAVI Alliance.

15 Dec 2010

Angiogenesis inhibition is a validated strategy for cancer therapy

Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may have uncovered a mechanism for blocking tumor angiogenesis that involves the patient's immune system, according to findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

15 Dec 2010

China Nuokang receives SFDA manufacturing license for Dipyridamole Aspirin

China Nuokang Bio-Pharmaceutical Inc., a leading China-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, manufacture, marketing and sales of hospital-based medical products, today announced that the Company has received the manufacturing license from the State Food and Drug Administration ("SFDA") for Dipyridamole Aspirin, a stroke-prevention product developed in-house.

15 Dec 2010

CRI introduces new model of philanthropic investment to improve cancer patient care

Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance the science of tumor immunology and foster the discovery of new cancer immunotherapies, announced today the launch of the Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund (CVAF), a new model of philanthropic investment and academic-industry collaboration established in partnership with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd (LICR) to speed the clinical development of therapeutic cancer vaccines and other immune system-based therapies.

15 Dec 2010

Alcon board approves merger agreement with Novartis

Alcon, Inc. announced today that its board of directors approved a merger agreement with Novartis AG, whereby Novartis will pay a total merger consideration valued at $168 per share for the Alcon shares it does not currently own. Under the terms of the deal, the merger consideration will be comprised of a combination of Novartis shares and, if necessary, a cash contingent value amount to result in a total value of $168 per share.

15 Dec 2010

Tumor suppressor p53 may serve as 'Guardian against Genome Reprogramming'

A close collaboration between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Institute for Advanced Study found that the tumor suppressor p53, long thought of as the "Guardian of the Genome," may do more than thwart cancer-causing mutations. It may also prevent established cancer cells from sliding toward a more aggressive, stem-like state by serving as a "Guardian against Genome Reprogramming."

15 Dec 2010

Children in Sweden are exposed to a huge number of unhealthy TV advertisements

Children in Sweden are exposed to a huge number of TV advertisements. Food adverts - primarily for fast food and sweets - dominate the advertisements shown during children's viewing times. Research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that Sweden is no different from other countries when it comes to the number of adverts that children are exposed to.

15 Dec 2010

BRIC researchers discover new protein that improves immune system

Researchers at BRIC, the University of Copenhagen, have discovered for the first time a protein normally found in the body that can act to prevent chronic tissue inflammation.

15 Dec 2010

YYM BioSciences prices underwritten public offering of 25,000,000 common shares

YM BioSciences Inc. (NYSE Amex: YMI; TSX: YM), a life sciences product development company that identifies and advances a diverse portfolio of promising cancer-related products at various stages of development, today announced that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 25,000,000 common shares at a price to the public of $1.60 per share.

15 Dec 2010

Smiths Medical launches Medfusion 4000 wireless syringe infusion pump with PharmGuard systems in Canada

Smiths Medical, a leading global medical device manufacturer, announced today it received a license from Health Canada and launched its Medfusion® 4000 syringe infusion pump with the PharmGuard® software suite in Canada. The new customizable system allows health care providers to send and receive medication delivery information more efficiently, helping to prevent medication errors.

15 Dec 2010

Clinton calls for Haiti to resolve election dispute

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday "warned Haiti its foreign aid is being imperiled by political stalemate following disputed elections, spelling more trouble for a nation struggling to recover from a huge earthquake and cholera epidemic," Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Dec 2010

Amira's clinical-stage DP2 receptor antagonist program data to be presented at Pacifichem 2010

Amira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it will present preclinical and clinical data from its DP2 receptor antagonist program on December 17, 2010, at Pacifichem 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The data from Amira's clinical-stage DP2 program will be delivered by Brian Stearns, Ph.D., in a presentation titled "Discovery and optimization of a novel series of DP2 antagonists with efficacy in mouse models of COPD and asthma."

15 Dec 2010

Anxious and depressed patients more likely to report worse results after hip replacement

Patients who suffer from anxiety and depression are more likely to report worse results after a hip replacement. A year-long wait for the operation also entails significant costs to both society and the individual, reveals a new thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

15 Dec 2010

Study investigates medical students and the information resources they use

A fifth-year student at the Peninsula Medical School has successfully applied for funding from the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in order to carry out a study regarding medical students and the information resources they use.

15 Dec 2010

German Research Foundation opens four new research units

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing four new Research Units. The decision was made by the DFG Senate at its December session in Bonn. The establishment of the Research Units will enable researchers to explore prevailing topical questions and generate new approaches in their respective fields.

15 Dec 2010

NY Times: Panel set to study safety of electronic patient data

Almost two years ago, President Obama pledged $19 billion in stimulus incentives to help convert the nation's doctors and hospitals to using a paperless system of electronic health records intended to improve the quality of care and reduce costs. But the conversion is still a slow work in progress (Freudenheim, 12/13).

15 Dec 2010

FP/TMEM127 gene germline mutations associated with adrenal gland tumors

Analysis has identified variations of a gene that are associated with a type of tumor that forms within the adrenal gland, according a study in the December 15 issue of JAMA. The age group in which these variations were found are frequently excluded from genetic screening models for this type of tumor.

15 Dec 2010