Immunotherapy Weekly articles from February 2002

Immunotherapy Weekly archives from February 2002

Liver Ailment Different In African-Americans.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A review of autoimmune hepatitis etiology suggests African-Americans are impacted more significantly by the liver disease than Caucasians are. The review...

Factor Prevents Autoimmune Diabetes Without Compromising Immune Response.(CD3 antibody)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Researchers' fears about adverse effects on the immune system as a result of using CD3 antibody to treat type 1 diabetes have resided, thanks to a new study....

Early Recombinant Interleukin-12 Treatment May Provide Protection.(from HIV infection)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Early administration of recombinant interleukin-12 can protect macaques from the simian version of HIV, according to researchers in the United States. Dr....

Eventual Viral Escape From Cytotoxic T Cells May Limit Vaccine Efficacy.(HIV vaccine)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV vaccines based on the induction of cytotoxic T cell responses may not provide long-term protection, researchers in the United States warn. "Potent...

Hepatitis C Vaccine Enhanced By GM-CSF Gene Therapy.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A group studying hepatitis C virus DNA vaccines has found granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene therapy increases their effectiveness...

Reason For Enzyme Level Elevation During Interferon Therapy Still A Mystery.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Doctors still can't explain why levels of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) may rise in some chronic hepatitis C patients on interferon...

Adenovirus-Based Therapy Yields Positive Results In Dendritic Cells.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Recombinant adenovirus-based therapies may contain certain properties that make them advantageous for dendritic cell differentiation, researchers say. The...

Herbal Extract Is Effective Treatment For Hay Fever.(butterbur extract)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The herbal extract, butterbur, is as effective as antihistamines for treating hay fever, and does not have the sedative effects often associated with these drugs, according to a new study. ...

Ranbaxy Gets Tentative FDA Approval for Loratadine 10-mg Tablets.(Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals gets approval for generic version of Claritin)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided tentative approval of Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals' abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Loratadine 10-mg tablets. This tentative approval was...

Alpharma's Diclofenac Sodium Extended-Release Tablets Approved in U.S.(Purepac Pharmaceutical Co. receives marketing approval for generic version of Voltaren-XR)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Purepac Pharmaceutical Co., a subsidiary of Alpharma, has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market diclofenac sodium extended-release (ER)...

L.E.A.P.S. Technology Shows Protection In Animal Model.(t-cell modulation technology protects against autoimmune myocarditis)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dr. Daniel Zimmerman, CEL-SCI Corporation presented evidence at the SMi "Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics" Conference in London, U.K., that administration of a proprietary peptide based on CEL-SCI's...

Frost & Sullivan Hold Analyst Briefing.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Frost & Sullivan held a conference call on January 29, 2002, to provide manufacturers, end-users and other industry participants an overview, summary, challenges, and the latest coverage on...

Real-Time Patient Self-Report Data Evaluated In Phase II Trials.(fibromyalgia drug from Cypress Bioscience Inc. to be tested using Patient Experience diaries)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Invivodata, Inc., announced that Cypress Bioscience, Inc., has selected the Invivodata electronic patient experience diary solution to collect patient-reported real time data in their upcoming Phase II...

Needle-Free Injection System To Be Evaluated In Study.(Biojector 2000 from Bioject Medical Technologies Inc.)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bioject Medical Technologies, Inc., announced that it has signed an agreement with the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York to study the enhanced efficacy for the Biojector 2000 (B-2000)...

Thyroid Disease Seems To Be Linked To Birth Defects.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Women with thyroid disease are more likely to give birth to babies with heart, brain and kidney defects even if the thyroid function tests are normal during their pregnancy, according to new research...

Genzyme Molecular Oncology Receives Patent Relating To SPHERE Technology.(Solid PHase Epitope REcovery)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genzyme Molecular Oncology announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,338,945 ('945) relating to its high throughput screening technology known as SPHERE. The method described in the patent...

Phase III Interferon (gamma)-1b Study To Continue As Planned.(InterMune Inc. continues test of Actimmune)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- InterMune, Inc., announced in January, 2002, that the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for its Phase III clinical trial of Actimmune (interferon (gamma)-1b) injection for the treatment of idiopathic...

Macrophages From Patients May Provide Ready Source Of Dendritic Cells.
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Pulmonary immune cells from lung cancer patients can be induced to differentiate into dendritic cells (DCs), researchers in Japan report. Yoshihiro Suzuki...

FDA Approves First Room-Temperature MS Treatment Option.(room temperature formulation of Betaseron from Berlex Laboratories Inc.)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Berlex Laboratories, Inc., the U.S. affiliate of Schering AG, Germany, and Chiron Corporation announced the approval of a new room-temperature formulation of Betaseron (interferon (beta)-1b) for...

Enrollment Completed For Two Phase II Trials With Pexelizumab.(Complement Inhibition in Myocardial Infarction Treated with Thrombolytics)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that they and their partner Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals have completed enrollment in their first Phase II acute myocardial infarction trial with pexelizumab...

Etanercept Is The First Approved Therapy To Reduce Disease Symptoms.(of psoriatic arthritis)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunex Corporation and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Enbrel (etanercept) to treat psoriatic arthritis. Enbrel is the first...

Diapep277 Arrests Disease Progression, Phase II Trial Initiated.(treatment for type 1 diabetes)
February 6, 2002... 2002 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biopharmaceutical company Peptor announced January 14, 2002, that it will begin a multicenter Phase II clinical trial in the United States of its experimental diabetes drug DiaPep277. The...

Findings Link Disease Specific Antibodies To Activation of T Cells.(Graves disease)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Harbor-UCLA Research & Education Institute (REI) announced new findings indicating that antibodies specific to Graves disease bind to cell surface receptors. These are distinct from thyroid-stimulating...

Early Stem Cell Transplants Improve Treatment Success.(in newborns with severe combined immunodeficiency)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When performed within the first 28 days of birth, stem cell transplants have a 95% success rate in treating newborn babies with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), according to a long-term study...

AAAAI: Some Foods May Cause Reactions In Latex-Sensitive Individuals.(American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology report)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People who have latex allergy may also be at risk for cross-reactivity, where they experience reactions to certain food proteins, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology...

Yogic Meditation May Improve Asthma Symptoms, But Little Evidence for Other Relaxation Therapies.
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A form of meditation based on yoga may help ease the symptoms of moderate-to-severe asthma, but there is little evidence that relaxation techniques help overall. Research reported in the journal...

Number Of Affected U.S. Adults Twice That Previously Believed.(psoriatic arthritis)(Statistical Data Included)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Approximately 1 million U.S. adults have psoriatic arthritis, a number significantly higher than previously believed, according to new research released by the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF). The...

Allergy Shots Reduce Risk in Children.(reduction of asthma risk)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunotherapy, or allergy shots, may help prevent the development of asthma in children with seasonal allergies, according to a study by European researchers in the February 2002 issue of the Journal...

EpiGenesis Announces Positive Data in Trial of EPI-2010.(EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has announced positive results of a clinical trial of the potential efficacy of EPI-2010 in patients with asthma, conducted at Hammersmith Medicines Research, London,...

Simple Control Test Can Determine Future Health Care Needs.(five item questionnaire can determine if asthma is under control)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- After querying 4795 adults to determine when their asthma was under control, researchers developed a brief, simple, self-administered 5-item questionnaire that can predict both acute and routine health...

Wheezing At Young Age Portends Condition Into Adulthood.
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who begin to wheeze at ages 2 to 5 likely to continue into adulthood, according to a study in the second January 2002 issue of the American Thoracic Society Journal. In a study lasting...

IDM and Sanofi-Synthelabo Enter Partnership In Cellular Immunotherapy.(Immuno-Designed Molecules S.A.)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immuno-Designed Molecules SA (IDM) and Sanofi-Synthelabo SA (Sicovam code 12057) have signed a collaboration agreement in cellular immunotherapy to develop and market immunological treatments in...

ACLARA Announces eTag Proteomics Collaboration.(ACLARA BioSciences)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ACLARA BioSciences (ACLA) is collaborating with P.J. Utz, assistant professor of medicine, and William Robinson, both at the Stanford University School of Medicine, to apply ACLARA's eTag technology...

Initial Clinical Study Shows Safety And Bioactivity Of Vaccine.(prostate cancer vaccine)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new Phase I clinical trial of a prostate cancer vaccine developed at Duke University Medical Center has shown that the vaccine made from the patient's own dendritic cells causes no adverse side...

Viragen Receives Important Regulatory Approval.(for its natural alpha interferon)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Viragen, Inc., (VRA) and Viragen International, Inc., (VERP) announced the approval of its application to Swedish regulatory authorities to expand the use of Viragen's natural alpha interferon. This...

Physicians Call For Better Understanding Of Thyroid Genealogy.(American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists)
February 13, 2002... 2002 FEB 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most Americans are aware that heart disease and cancer patients may be genetically predisposed to these conditions, but according to a national survey released by the American Association of Clinical...

Interleukin-4 Makes End-Run Around Autoaggression After DNA Immunization.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Giving prophylactic doses of interleukin (IL)-4 may be one way to avoid overly active immune system responses sometimes observed following DNA immunizations...

Fetal Stem Cells Can Trigger Maternal Thyroid Disease.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Women who develop thyroid conditions after pregnancy may be reacting to the presence of fetal stem cells in their system, according to researchers in the...

Air Pollution May Trigger Episodes In Young Athletes.(asthma may be triggered by air pollution)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who compete in sports in communities with more heavily polluted air are more likely to be diagnosed with asthma than other children, according to research from the Keck School of Medicine of...

Drugs To Prevent Graft Rejection Worsen Liver Disease In Those With Hepatitis C.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Immunosuppressive drugs designed for extending survival in kidney transplant patients may actually lead to worsened liver disease in transplant recipients also...

Dendritic Cell Progenitors Do Not Induce Tolerance In Fetal Grafts.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Dendritic cell progenitors (pDCs) are unable to produce immune tolerance when administered as part of fetal bone marrow grafts, researchers in the United...

Summer Without The Sneezes Could Be Possible One Day.(through the alteration of pollen biology)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Plants lacking allergenic proteins could mean an easier life for hay fever sufferers, and a new report in Biologist examines the ramifications of creating such plants. Nearly 15% of the U.K....

Phase II Clinical Trials Initiated With Immunotherapeutic For Lung and Breast Cancers.(Transgene to initiate Phase II clinical trials for MVA-Muc 1-IL2 vaccine)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Transgene (TRGNY; TRANSGENE) announced the initiation of two Phase II clinical trials of its immunotherapeutic MVA-Muc1-IL2 vaccine candidate: one for the treatment of lung cancer, the second for the...

Interferon-(gamma) Improves Response To Interferon-(alpha) In Hepatitis C.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Insufficient T-cell response can leave some patients battling hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection despite extended treatment with interferon (IFN)-(alpha)....

Agreement Entered For Manufacturing Monoclonal Antibodies On Human Cell Line.(Crucell and Innogenetics reach agreement)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dutch antibody and vaccine company Crucell (CRXL) and Belgian biotechnology company Innogenetics (INNX) have entered into a nonexclusive license agreement for the manufacturing of monoclonal antibody...

Alliance Aims to Develop Human Antibody Therapeutics.(Medarex Inc. and ZYCOS Inc.)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medarex, Inc., (MEDX) and Zycos, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, announced a collaboration agreement to codevelop novel antibody therapeutic products. The companies expect to use...

Lawmaker Plans To Propose Better Protection For Research Volunteers.(James Hubbard to introduce bill)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People who volunteer for medical research studies would get better legal protection under legislation proposed by one state delegate. Delegate James Hubbard, a Democrat from Prince George's...

Antioxidant Vitamin E Reported To Strengthen Immune System.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vitamin E may play a role in living to the age of 100, according to the Harvard Medical School. A recent issue of the medical school's publication, the Harvard Health Letter, reports on a dozen...

FDA Committee Rejects New Rapamune Regimen.(application submitted by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories rejected by the Immunosuppressive Drugs Subcommittee of the FDA Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, the pharmaceutical division of American Home Products Corp. (AHP), said an application for a new indication for Rapamune (sirolimus), the Company's immunosuppressant agent...

Genes Are Of Little Importance In Development Of Disease.(rheumatoid arthritis)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genes are of little importance in the development of rheumatoid arthritis, finds a study in the January 30, 2002, issue of the British Medical Journal. Researchers in Denmark surveyed more than...

Report Says Novel Therapeutic Approaches Will Have A Significant Impact.(rheumatoid arthritis)
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Rheumatoid Arthritis," a new study from Decision Resources, Inc., examines the agents in development for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and details their clinical and commercial outlook. The wide...

Exercise-Induced Asthma Common in Athletes.
February 20, 2002... 2002 FEB 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As winter Olympians prepare for the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, Utah, many of them are developing training regimens that take into consideration their exercise-induced asthma (EIA). EIA is quite...