Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has opened a new clinical study using a vaccine strain of the measles virus to attack recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, a largely untreatable brain tumor. This is the second of several pending molecular medicine studies in patients using measles to kill cancer.
A meta-analysis published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicts oral contraceptives as putting premenopausal women at significantly increased risk for breast cancer, especially women who use them prior to having a child.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced data from a three-year cohort (ETV-022/901, n=119), which showed BARACLUDE? (entecavir) suppressed viral load to undetectable levels in 90 percent of nucleoside-na?ve chronic hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg) positive patients at week 144 who continued on-treatment from week 96. In this cohort, undetectable HBV DNA levels were defined as less than 300 copies per mL of blood as measured by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Suppression of viral load to undetectable levels is one of several measures of antiviral treatment response; a sustained, undetectable viral load is an important goal of chronic hepatitis B treatment. The results of this three-year cohort were presented today at the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).
New data presented today show patients taking pramipexole (Mirapexin?/ Sifrol?) can experience significant improvements in a broad range of symptoms associated with Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).1 In an additional study presented today, pramipexole was also shown to be well tolerated in RLS patients affected by concomitant diseases, which are commonly experienced in this patient group.2 The results of the studies were presented at the 10th International Congress of Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS) in Kyoto, Japan.
New data presented today from a meta-analysis* of nearly 1,300 Parkinson?s disease (PD) patients, indicate that pramipexole (Mirapexin?/Sifrol?) has a beneficial effect on depressive and motivational symptoms in PD.1 This confirms findings from previously published clinical trials,2,3,4 and is in addition to its established efficacy in controlling motor symptoms. These findings are of particular interest as mood symptoms in PD can affect up to 50 percent of the patient population.1,5 The data were presented at the 10th International Congress of Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS) in Kyoto, Japan.
Trimetazidine is an effective antianginal drug that with its minimal side effect profile it has an important role to play when side effects limit haemodynamic agents and in those vulnerable to adverse effects such as one elderly – highlighted in a study conducted by Graham Jackson, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospital, Cardiothoracic Centre, St Thomas? Hospital, London, UK
COPAXONE? is indicated for the reduction of the frequency of relapses in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA) announced, in conjunction with the release of the Sanofi-Aventis group’s financial results, that global in-market sales of Copaxone? in the third quarter of 2006 grew by 15% as compared to the third quarter of 2005 and reached a record of $354 million.
A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body’s cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV. Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction, initiate a muscle contraction, activate a drug or stimulate a nerve cell – all at the flash of a light.
The high-stakes task of designing new drugs relies on high-tech tools, especially computerized, three-dimensional simulations of proteins. Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), contributing their massive computational capabilities to a collaboration with colleagues at the University of Washington (UW) and IBM, have helped to achieve the largest-ever protein-structure prediction – and completed the complex simulation in less than three hours.
The largest-ever study on the effects of health care co-payment costs on emergency department visits has revealed that requiring patients to pay for a portion of the cost can reduce the number of visits. The study also finds that this decrease does not negatively affect health.