GBP Health / Biotech News 05-03-2010:
Since August, 2005, this news digest has been a complimentary service of GBP Capital, a private equity firm investing in early to mid-stage life science companies. See www.gbpcap.com. The digest is published two to four days a week. If you have colleagues who would be interested in receiving this digest by email, they can be added to the list at: http://www.gbpcap.com/. Also, the complete history of the entire content of all news articles in our digests since August, 2005 is searchable with Google's enterprise search engine at the same site.
EurekAlert - Biology:
Public Release: 3-May-2010
Clinical Cancer Research
Broccoli component limits breast cancer stem cells, U-M study finds
A compound derived from broccoli could help prevent or treat breast cancer by targeting cancer stem cells -- the small number of cells that fuel a tumor's growth -- according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
National Institutes of Health, NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Nicole Fawcett
nfawcett@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Public Release: 2-May-2010Nature Medicine
'Junk DNA' drives cancer growth
Researchers from the University of Leeds, UK, the Charité University Medical School and the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany, have discovered a new driving force behind cancer growth.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Wilhelm Sander-Stiftung, Deutsche Krebshilfe, KinderKrebsInitiative Buchholz/Holm-Seppensen, Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Contact: Paula Gould
p.a.gould@leeds.ac.uk
44-113-343-8059
University of Leeds
Public Release: 2-May-2010Nature Biotechnology
New Stanford tool enables wider analyses of genome 'deep sequencing'
A new Stanford-developed, web-based algorithm allows scientists to plumb the unprecedented depths of the data provided by new "deep-sequencing" techniques to reveal a pantheon of control regions for nearly any gene.Packard Foundation, Searle Scholar Network, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation Junior Faculty Grant, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Krista Conger
kristac@stanford.edu
650-725-5371
Stanford University Medical Center
Public Release: 2-May-2010Nature Chemical Biology
Scripps Research team provides groundbreaking new understanding of stem cells
In findings that could one day lead to new therapies, researchers from the Scripps Research Institute have described some striking differences between the biochemistry of stem cells versus mature cells.California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, NIH/National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Keith McKeown
kmckeown@scripps.edu
858-784-8134
Public Release: 2-May-2010Genome Research
MicroRNA network study implicates rewired interactions in cancer
Genes interact in complex networks that govern cellular processes, much like people connect a social network through relationships. Researchers are now discovering how biological networks change and are rewired in cancer. In a study published today in Genome Research, scientists have analyzed the genetic networks of microRNAs in tumors, shedding light on how interactions go awry in disease.
Contact: Peggy Calicchia
calicchi@cshl.edu
516-422-4012
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Public Release: 28-Apr-2010Optics Express
To improve lung cancer diagnosis, good medicine is a polymer pill
Doctors may soon be able to diagnose lung cancer more effectively thanks to research performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where scientists have found ways both to increase the accuracy of computed tomography scans and to lessen the amount of time necessary to perceive telltale changes in lung tissue.
Contact: Chad Boutin
boutin@nist.gov
301-975-4261
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Source - Science Daily :
Please note : Due to the format restrictions of Science Daily articles, you must click on the URL (web address) below the article summary , rather than the article title.
'Junk DNA' Drives Cancer Growth, Hodgkin's Lymphoma Study Finds
Researchers have discovered a new driving force behind cancer growth. New studies have identified how 'junk' DNA promotes the growth of ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100502173845.htm
Hypertensive Rat Genome Sequence Expected to Uncover Genetic Basis of Human Hypertension
May 3, 2010 — Chronic high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a serious health risk factor that afflicts more than 25 percent of all adults worldwide, but the molecular basis of the disease remains ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428173328.htm
Fluorescent Compounds Make Tumors Glow
May 2, 2010 — A series of novel imaging agents could light up tumors as they begin to form -- before they turn deadly -- and signal their transition to aggressive cancers. The compounds could have broad ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100429082357.htm
Tumors Promote Their Own Metastasis
May 2, 2010 — Current research suggests that tumor-secreted exosomes inhibit the immune response, enhancing tumor ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100430154907.htm
Immune System: Nanotechnology Helps Illuminate How T-Cells Are Activated
May 2, 2010 — Scientists have taken a major step forward in understanding how T cells are activated in the course of an immune response by combining nanotechnology and cell biology. T cells are the all important ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428142328.htm
CXCR4: A New Drug Target in Lung Cancer
May 1, 2010 — Lung cancer patients whose tumors over-express a cell surface molecule called CXCR4 do significantly worse than those who do not, Canadian researchers have ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100429111008.htm
Curcumin Nanoparticles 'Open Up' Resistant Cancers
April 30, 2010 — Pre-treatment with curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, makes ovarian cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Researchers found that delivering the curcumin via very ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428204552.htm
Tiny Particles May Help Surgeons by Marking Brain Tumors
April 30, 2010 — Researchers have developed a way to enhance how brain tumors appear in MRI scans and during surgery, making the tumors easier for surgeons to identify and remove. Scientists are experimenting with ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100429154001.htm
Biochemist Unlocks Gene's Role in Breast-Tumor Growth
April 30, 2010 — New research helps explain why breast-milk cells lose their structure, causing them to clump up in strange ways and sometimes become cancer ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100430131233.htm
4-D Software Helps Adjust for Breathing When Treating Lung Cancer With Radiotherapy
April 30, 2010 — A new 4-dimensional software program promises to improve the treatment of lung cancer by allowing doctors to take the movement of breathing into account when administering ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100430131229.htm
Benefits of Endovascular Stent Repair for Traumatic Aortic Injury Documented
April 30, 2010 — Cardiovascular specialists have demonstrated the effectiveness of using stents -- as compared to traditional open-chest surgery -- to repair aortas that are torn as the result of ...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100430131157.htm
Source - Health Day:
Health Highlights: May 3, 2010
- Faulty Genes Cause Paget's Disease: Study
- Risky Eyelash Treatment Easy to Get Without Prescription
- FDA Plans to Improve Food Safety During Transport
- Quality Lacking in Private Medicare Plans: Study
- Johnson & Johnson Subsidiaries Agree to $81 Million in Fines
Clinical Trials Update: May 3, 2010
- Acute Low Back Pain
- Hot Flashes
- Influenza (Flu)
Clinical Trials Update: April 30, 2010
- Asthma
- High Cholesterol
- Acid Reflux / GERD
Source - Yahoo Biotech News:
BioSante Pharmaceuticals Announces Reinitiation of Prostate Cancer Vaccine Development- Business Wire - Mon 7:55 am ET
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.----BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that development of its GVAX Prostate Cancer Vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer has been reinitiated. Manufacturing of new GVAX Prostate is in process, regulatory steps to lift the GVAX Prostate clinical hold prior to trial initiation are being taken, and prostate cancer patients are expected to be treated in a Phase II human clinical trial beginning in the fourth quarter of 2010 at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Receives Complete Response Letter from FDA for Belatacept- Business Wire - Sat 6:54 pm ET
PRINCETON, N.J.----Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a complete response letter regarding the Biologics License Application for belatacept in kidney transplantation.
Source - Google Health News:
Biotech Busts And Breakthroughs
Forbes
Another biotech, GenVec, plummeted 76% in 30 days as its gene therapy treatment for pancreatic cancer failed in a big trial. It could be the last gasp for ...
New Mesothelioma Treatment – The Last Hope for Mesothelioma Patients
New York News Today
The third type of new mesothelioma treatment is Gene therapy. Gene therapy involves manipulating the genes involved in the tumor into a virus, ...
Celladon Enjoys Early Success With Gene Therapy Trial, FDA Gives Digirad Green ...
Xconomy
We saw a healthy mix of life sciences news over the past week, with a generous serving of device news, some venture funding, a dash of clinical trial ...
Health officials meet to plan for future disease outbreaks
Web Devil
“We had a pandemic plan that was not just based on the most severe strain, H5N1, but we already had a plan on how we would deal with a mild pandemic. ...
Source - Medical News Today :
Groundbreaking New Understanding Of Stem Cells
In findings that could one day lead to new therapies, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have described some striking differences between the biochemistry of stem cells versus mature cells. The study, led by Scripps Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding and Senior Director of the Scripps Research Center for Mass Spectrometry Gary Siuzdak, was published in an advance, online edition of the prestigious journal Nature Chemical Biology on May 2, 2010.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187449.php
FDA OKs 'Vaccine' To Treat Prostate Cancer
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a "vaccine" to treat prostate cancer . Provenge, developed by Dendreon Corporation, is the first approved "treatment that uses a so-called cancer vaccine, a drug that trains the body's own immune system to fight the disease," The New York Times reports. "In clinical trials it extended the lives of patients about four months compared with a placebo. Getting the immune system to attack cancer has tantalized scientists for decades, because it promises to have fewer side effects than the harsh chemotherapy now used. But until now the approach has yielded little but disappointment. ... A full treatment will cost $93,000. Dendreon officials defended that price, saying it was in line with those of other cancer drugs in terms of cost per extra month of life provided by the drug" (Pollack, 4/29).
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187340.php
New HIV Model Suggests Killer T Cell For Vaccine
Limited success in modelling the behaviour of the complex, unusual and unpredictable HIV virus has slowed efforts to develop an effective vaccine to prevent AIDS . A new improved modelling system, developed by Chinese researchers, which attempts to incorporate more of the virus' random behavioural dynamics, suggests that a particular type of T cell could be useful in the development of an AIDS vaccine.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187222.php
Can Resveratrol, the so-called miracle molecule found in red wine, peanuts and an obnoxious plant called Chinese Giant Knotweed, actually improve your brain function? Scientists at Northumbria University in the UK have just published a double-blind, peer-reviewed study in the journal, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which concludes that a relatively modest dose of this compound in the form of one or two capsules may just do that. In their study, 24 subjects were given one capsule of a supplement called Biotivia Bioforte Resveratrol containing 250 mg of the trans-Resveratrol isomer in each dose.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187320.php
Source - MIT's Technology Review:
Extending the Life of Donated Organs
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/25198/?a=f
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.