Allergy :: Experimental Ragweed Therapy Offers Allergy Sufferers Longer Relief with Fewer Shots

Americans accustomed to the seasonal misery of sneezing, runny noses and itchy, watery eyes caused by ragweed pollen might one day benefit from an experimental allergy treatment that not only requires fewer injections than standard immunotherapy, but leads to a marked reduction in symptoms that persists for at least a year after therapy has stopped, according to a new study in the October 5 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The research was sponsored by the Immune Tolerance Network, which is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), both components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

Muscular Dystrophy :: Drug Trichostatin A (TSA) Can Counteract Muscular Dystrophy

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and other institutions have demonstrated for the first time that a single drug can rebuild damaged muscle in two strains of mice that develop diseases comparable to two human forms of muscular dystrophy. This advance, which is reported online in Nature Medicine, is the latest from a research collaboration that began several years ago by the teams of Vittorio Sartorelli, M.D., at NIAMS and Pier Lorenzo Puri, M.D., Ph.D., now at Dulbecco Telethon Institute (DTI) in Rome, Italy and The Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

Neuroma :: Anesiva – orphan drug status for pain drug 4975 to treat interdigital neuroma

Anesiva, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANSV) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan drug status to product candidate 4975 for the treatment of a painful condition in the foot known as interdigital neuroma in patients who fail conservative treatments, such as foot pads, NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and injections of corticosteroids, that would otherwise require removing or chemically destroying the nerve that causes the pain. Orphan drug designation is granted by the FDA to encourage companies to develop products that treat rare diseases and conditions and includes incentives such as market exclusivity for seven years, tax credits on qualified clinical trial expenses and a waiver of the FDA prescription drug user fees.

Cancer :: Agennix receives fda orphan drug designation for talactoferrin alfa in renal cell carcinoma

Agennix today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the Company’s oral formulation of Talactoferrin Alfa (talactoferrin or TLF) for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Oral TLF is currently in Phase II clinical development for RCC. Results from a multi-center Phase 2 RCC trial that included six leading U.S. cancer centers were presented at the 2006 Annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Brain Cancer :: Peregrine receives regulatory approval for Cotara brain cancer clinical trial

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM), a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, clinical stage products for the treatment of cancer and hepatitis C virus infection, today announced that it has received regulatory approval in India for a new clinical trial of its lead tumor necrosis therapy (TNT) agent Cotara(R). The trial is designed to test the safety and efficacy of Cotara in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a deadly form of brain cancer. Cotara is currently being studied in a multi-center U.S. glioblastoma trial. Previous studies using Cotara to treat brain cancer have produced encouraging results, and Peregrine expects that positive data from this trial in combination with data from the ongoing U.S. clinical trial should provide the foundation for planning the future development and commercialization of Cotara.

Cancer :: Agencourt genomic services is key collaborator in new study on breast and colon cancer genes

Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, a Beckman Coulter company, has announced that its Genomic Services were integral in a breakthrough Johns Hopkins study on the genetic code for breast and colon cancers. A recent and widely publicized report on that study, published this month in Science Express, was co-authored by James Hartigan, an Agencourt project manager. The research identifies close to 200 mutated genes, now linked to these cancers, most of which were not previously recognized as associated with tumor initiation, growth, spread or control. The study provides an understanding into disease processes and is expected to drive cancer research for years to come.

Anger :: Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED)

IED is defined as repeated and uncontrollable anger attacks that often become violent. IED is different from common type of anger most people exhibit from time to time when they pout, throw a book down or walk out of the room banging door, activities that are better described as mild temper tantrums.

Breast Cancer :: Breast cancer risk dependent upon ethnic variations in hormone levels

Researchers have known that a woman’s natural hormone levels can affect her risk of developing breast cancer. A new study from the University of Southern California (USC) has found that the natural levels of estrogens in post-menopausal women varies by ethnicity and race, and may explain the differences in the groups’ breast cancer rates. The study appears in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Smoking :: Naltrexone helps women to give up smoking

Adding the opiate blocker naltrexone to the combination of behavioral therapy and nicotine patches boosted smoking cessation rates for women by almost 50 percent when assessed after eight weeks of treatment, but made no difference for men, report researchers from the University of Chicago in the October 2006 issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

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