The Stowers Institute’s Rong Li Lab has published findings that shed light on the ability of cells to adapt to disruptions to their basic division machineries - findings that may help explain how cancer cells elude the body’s natural defense mechanisms or chemotherapy treatment. The work was published in the November 26 issue of Cell.
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A physicist from The University of Nottingham and a mathematical modeller from The University of Southampton are joining forces in the hope of answering a biological mystery how do our bodies reject some of the drugs that are sent to cure us? The £92,300 study is funded by the Medical Research Council through its ‘Discipline Hopping’ Awards scheme which aims to provoke new collaborations between the physical and life sciences.
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Researchers from EKB Technology - a spinout joint venture between the University of Oxford and C-Tech Innovation - have announced positive results from an elegant method of improving mammalian cell bioreactors. Bioreactors are used to manufacture proteins for medicines, and the researchers have show that a mild electric field can successfully extract unwanted by-product chemicals from the bioreactor.
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Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) has withdrawn its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Cymbalta(R) (duloxetine HCl) for the management of chronic pain. Lilly plans to resubmit the application in the first half of 2009, adding data from a recently completed positive study in chronic osteoarthritis pain of the knee.
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Researchers have identified a molecule that tells your brain your stomach is full - signaling that it’s time to say no to seconds and push back from the table. In studies with mice and rats, researchers have found that a chemical messenger called NAPE is made in the small intestine after the animals ate a greasy meal. After eating, NAPE - N-acylphosphatidylethanolamine, a mouthful in itself - enters the blood and travels to the brain, where it quashes hunger signals.
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Genetic mouse models have provided surprising insight into mechanisms linking serotoninergic compounds with the regulation of feeding behavior and body weight. The research, published by Cell Press in the November 26th issue of the journal Neuron, pinpoints a specific group of brain cells that mediate energy balance and may lead to the development of antiobesity drugs with fewer side effects.
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Although there has been an increase in the number of new arthritis treatments in recent years, the best results will come from more effective use of the drugs we have. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy investigates the effectiveness of available arthritis drugs and concludes that better management is the most important factor.
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Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorisation for Nplate(TM) (romiplostim) in the European Union (EU). The CHMP recommends Nplate for adult chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) splenectomised patients who are refractory to other treatments (e.g. corticosteroids, immunoglobulins).
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Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) reported that preladenant, its novel and selective adenosine2a receptor antagonist, met the primary endpoint in a Phase II dose-finding trial in patients suffering from moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease experiencing motor fluctuations and abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesias). The trial results were presented at the company’s 2008 R&D Update meeting being hosted for analysts and portfolio managers at company headquarters.
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Third study confirming the benefit of Avastin in breast cancer shows that Avastin can be effectively combined with commonly used chemotherapies Roche announced that the Avastin study RIBBON-1 met its primary endpoint of increasing the time women with breast cancer lived without their disease advancing (known as progression-free survival) compared to chemotherapy alone, as determined by the treating physicians.
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