Urinary Tract Infection :: FDA approves new drug to treat complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved doripenem injection, 500 mg intravenous infusion, for the treatment of complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections. Doripenem injection, sold under the trade name Doribax, has been shown to be active against several strains of bacteria.

Obesity :: Genes may make some people more motivated to eat, perhaps overeat

Science has found one likely contributor to the way that some folks eat to live and others live to eat. Researchers at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, have found that people with genetically lower dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps make behaviors and substances more rewarding, find food to be more reinforcing than people without that genotype. In short, they are more motivated to eat and they eat more.

Health :: Excerpta Medica and Elsevier Interactive Solutions merge into 1 integrated provider

Excerpta Medica, an Elsevier business that has delivered medical communications for over six decades, has merged with corporate sibling Elsevier Interactive Solutions (EIS), an award-winning interactive health communications agency with more than a decade’s experience creating online marketing and educational programs for leading healthcare brands.

Multiple Sclerosis :: MS that runs in families appears more severe than non-familial MS

Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a large group of patients with multiple sclerosis has provided the first evidence that those with a history of MS in their families show more severe brain damage than patients who have no close relatives with the disease.

Cancer :: GSK & Synta Pharmaceuticals announce development and commercialisation collaboration for STA-4783 in oncology

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced the execution of a global collaboration agreement for the joint development and commercialisation of STA-4783, a first-in-class, small-molecule, oxidative stress inducer that is entering Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Cancer :: Dye test to check response of radiation or chemotherapy in cancer patients

A UNSW researcher has developed a world-first test which will radically improve cancer management. Professor Philip Hogg, the co-director of UNSW’s Lowy Cancer Research Centre, has developed the technology which will determine whether cancer cells are dying within one day of a patient’s treatment with radiation or chemotherapy.

Clinical Trial :: Paving the way for future pan-European clinical trials

Pan-European collaboration is important for many clinical trials and essential for trials that are investigating treatments for rare diseases. That was the message delivered today by the European Medical Research Councils (EMRC), the membership organisation for medical research councils across Europe based at the European Science Foundation (ESF) in Strasbourg, which is coordinating two trials in rare diseases and about to launch a review of how best to implement clinical trials that are initiated by investigators.