Blood Weekly articles from January 2001

Blood Weekly archives from January 2001

Investigational PCR Assay Tests for Up to Five Viruses in Donated Plasma.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aventis Behring L.L.C. announced results from two studies suggesting that its highly advanced, investigational polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology may be able to identify the presence of viruses...

Short- and Long-Term Repopulating Stem Cells Discovered.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A team of researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (HSC) in Toronto, Canada, led by geneticist John Dick, has discovered that distinct types of stem cells exist within the blood system that differ...

Allo- and Autoimmunization Complications Affect Asian Patients Receiving Antigen-Mismatched RBCs.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Transfusion of phenotypically mismatched red blood cells commonly results in autoimmunization complications in Asian thalassemia patients in the U.S., new study findings show. And particularly in...

Guidelines Issued on Animal-to-Human Heart and Lung Transplants.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists, physicians, and surgeons associated with the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) are recommending, according to ISHLT, that despite the critical shortage of...

FDA Approves Angiomax as Replacement for Heparin.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Medicines Company announced December 18, 2000, that Angiomax(TM) (bivalirudin), a thrombin-specific anticoagulant, has been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....

Totally-Human-Derived Sealant Marketed in U.S.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Thermogenesis Corp., announced December 19, 2000, that it has received notice from the U.S. Patent Office of the issuance of a patent for a disposable device for harvesting the thrombin component of...

France Bans Blood Donations from Some British Residents.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The French government announced on December 19, 2000, that as a precautionary measure against mad cow disease, it was banning blood donations of people who spent more than a year in Britain from 1980...

British Vote to Expand Embryo Work.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- British lawmakers have passed a measure that would relax the rules limiting medical research on human embryos, rejecting opponents' claims that the move is a step toward permitting the cloning of human...

Private Collection Program Begins in Europe.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Daniel D. Richard, Cryo-Cell International, Inc. (CCEL), Clearwater, Florida, announced that its affiliate Cryo-Cell Europe has commenced operations and is enrolling clients in their umbilical cord...

U.S. Medicare Bill to Help Organ Transplant Recipients.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) announced that the U.S. Congress has extended Medicare coverage of critical immunosuppressive medications for certain organ transplant recipients. The...

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Angiogenesis Not Confined to Solid Tumors.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to an investigation conducted at the University of Liverpool, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiogenesis are not confined to solid cancer tumors, but can be found in relation...

Mad Cow Disease May Have Spread to Countries Worldwide.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Meat and animal feed infected with mad cow disease may have been sold across the globe, raising the possibility of outbreaks beyond Europe, the World Health Organization said on December 23, 2000. ...

Advisory Committee Recommends Monoclonal Antibody Therapy.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted December 14, 2000, 14 to one to recommend accelerated approval of Millennium & ILEX Partners L.P.'s...

Collaborative Agreement for Diagnostic Tests Extended.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (PDGM), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and Prionics AG, Zurich, Switzerland, have extended a collaborative agreement to co-develop and co-market innovative blood-based...

SBIR Grant Awarded for Development of Viral Inactivation Tool.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aphios Corporation has been awarded an SBIR grant from the Office of Orphan Products Development of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The grant is for the development of a medical device...

Immunoglobulin M Reflects Hepatitis C Recurrence, Graft Damage after Transplant.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Patients who are positive for a special serum marker after liver transplantation are more likely to suffer hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence and liver graft damage, researchers in France report. ...

Clinical Trial of Angiogenesis Inhibitor Approved to Begin.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AEterna Laboratories Inc. (AEL, AELA), Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Canadian Health Authorities (HPB) have approved a pivotal trial of...

Information Key Ingredient for Healthy World; NewsRx.net Offers eHealth Revenue Sharing Booster Shot.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health information from the Internet is the key ingredient for advancing world health, according to health publishing executive, C.W. Henderson, CEO of NewsRx. Henderson said that delivering the...

Therapeutic Antibody Licensed for Late-Stage Disease.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Amgen (AMGN), Thousand Oaks, California, and Immunomedics, Inc. (IMMU), Morris Plains, New Jersey, announced that the companies have signed an agreement to license to Amgen a novel cancer therapeutic...

Eptifibatide Injection Reduces Major Ischemic Complications.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- COR Therapeutics, Inc., announced December 14, 2000, the publication of 48-hour and 30-day results from the ESPRIT study, which demonstrated statistically and clinically significant improvements in...

Singaporeans Getting Hepatitis After Getting Kidney Transplants in China.
January 11, 2001... 2001 JAN 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Half of the Singaporeans who have gone to China for cheap, fast kidney transplants have contracted hepatitis, a hospital official in the affluent Southeast Asian city-state said on December 20, 2000....

Novel Free Hemoglobin-Based Red Cell Substitute Developed.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Texas Tech University researchers have developed a novel free-hemoglobin-based blood substitute. It is made up of "purified bovine hemoglobin cross-linked intramolecularly with...

Adding Nitric Oxide to Adult Blood Oxygenators Prevents Local Clotting.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Nitric oxide combined with sweep gas infusion prevents blood clots from forming in adult blood oxygenators, study results show. H.T. Tevaearai and colleagues at CHU Vaudois described their...

Gender Differences Found in Immune System Response - At Least in Mice.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study in mice suggests that proestrus females respond to hypoxemia differently than males. "Although studies have shown that hypoxemia per se in males causes a systemic inflammatory response, it...

Preoperative Autologous Blood Donation of Questionable Value.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Johns Hopkins University researchers say having patients donate autologous blood prior to undergoing radical prostatectomy doesn't necessarily reduce the use of homologous transfusion during the...

New Tests Reduce Number of Potential Donors.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The American Red Cross said it especially struggled this holiday season for blood donations, largely because new procedures are weeding out potential donors. New standards include a new...

Retrievable Vena Cava Filter Approved for Investigational Use in Humans.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Gunther Tulip Vena Cava MReye Filter and Retrieval System from Cook Inc., Bloomington, Indiana, will soon be used for temporary prevention of pulmonary embolism in U.S. patients under an...

Italy Considering Guidelines; Stopping Short of Human Cloning.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Italian government unveiled proposed medical research guidelines December 28, 2000, that would allow the use of stem cells from aborted fetuses, umbilical cords, and adults, but not cloned human...

Supplemental Argatroban NDA Filed for Heparin-Induced Condition.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Texas Biotechnology Corp. (TXB), Houston Texas, and SmithKline Beecham (SBH) stated that a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Argatroban has been filed with the U.S. Food and Drug...

Collaboration on Oral Antithrombotic Compound Announced.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), Indianapolis, Indiana, and Sankyo Company, Ltd., announced they have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on CS-747, a potentially potent antiplatelet agent that blocks...

Genetically Engineered Stem Cells May Be Key.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The scientists at Johns Hopkins University have "engineered" human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to form a new type of cell that not only holds the potential to develop into different tissues but also...

TT Virus/Hepatitis Co-Infections Reported in Hemodialysis Patients.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Italy report TT virus often co-exists with other types of hepatitis in hemodialysis patients. TT virus infection was only discovered in the last few years. Several studies have...

Research Explores Recurrent Miscarriages, Hoping to Help Transplant and Cancer Patients.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A mother's immune system may attack a fetus from multiple fronts, by sending in killer T cells, by producing antibodies that target fetal cells, or by coating cells with a destructive, soluble blood...

Hepatitis C Recurrence Levels Correspond with Liver Injury After Transplant.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mt. Sinai Medical Center researchers propose that increasing levels of hepatitis C virus RNA after liver transplantation can reveal helpful information about new liver damage. Orthotopic liver...

Anti-CD4 mAb Prolongs Survival.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Non-depleting anti-CD4 antibodies prolong both xenograft and allograft survival, although their effect on allografts is greater. A major contributor to transplant failure has been the...

FDA Said Lax on Human Tissue Safety.
January 18, 2001... 2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must more aggressively ensure the safety of donated skin, bone, and other human tissue, says a new federal report that found the FDA has never even inspected some...

Report Says Tissue Banks Lack Checkups.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tissue banks are not routinely inspected and donor families rarely hear about the profits being made from donated body parts, according to two reports released by the U.S. Department of Health and...

Success Marred by Side Effects of Kidney Failure.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- While there has been a dramatic increase in the use of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) to treat patients with cancer it has come at a high price. One of the major side effects of curing cancer...

Diagnosis Can Be Improved by Examining Bone Marrow Morphology.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Germany argue that the diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia, a rare disorder marked by abnormal platelet production and spleen enlargement as well as hemorrhaging and blood clots, can...

Idarubicine/Busulphan/Melphalan Conditioning Regimen Shows Promise for Stem Cell Transplants.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oncologists in Italy have shown that a conditioning regimen for peripheral blood stem cell transplant consisting of high doses of idarubicine, busulphan, and melphalan results in low toxicity and rapid...

Consent Process Differs Widely Among Procurement Organizations.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Organizations that procure organs from the deceased for use in transplants have widely divergent consent practices, and these differences may be traceable to ethical disagreements over whose wishes...

Home-Treated Patients Improve Faster than Those Hospital-Bound.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Contrary to conventional medical wisdom, researchers in Sweden argue that patients who undergo allogeneic stem cell transplants recover more safely at home rather than in a hospital isolation unit. ...

European Approval of the Intercept Platelet System Sought.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cerus Corporation and Baxter Healthcare Corporation announced January 2, 2001, that they have submitted a CE Mark application for approval to market the Intercept Platelet System in Europe. The...

Artificial Leech Cheaper, Safer, and "Less Yucky".
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A mechanical leech is an attractive alternate therapy for certain procedures. Leeches have been used medicinally for nearly 3,000 years. Patrick Cottler thinks that's long enough. The 28-year-old...

Airlines to Print Health Warnings.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Australia's two biggest airlines said on January 10, 2001, that they will print health warnings onto their tickets about the danger of potentially deadly blood clots for passengers on long, cramped...

Hemopure Phase III Clinical Trial Update Presented.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biopure Corp. (BPUR), Cambridge, Massachusetts, has held an "end of Phase III" meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is proceeding with preparations to file a Biologic License...

Aethlon Medical Confirms HIV Treatment At Presentation.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aethlon Medical Inc. announced it will introduce its HIV Hemopurifier to the medical community at Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Seventh Annual Blood Product Safety Conference on February 6, 2001....

Low Molecular Weight Heparin Retards Vascular Invasion in Matrix Model.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study comparing low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and unfractionated heparin (UH) sheds new light on why cancer patients who are treated with LMWH tend to have better survival rates. Both of...

Alkylglycerols Can Help Deliver Medication Past Blood-Brain Barrier.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Neurologists in Germany have shown that alkylglycerols can increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, allowing access for potentially life-saving antitumor medication. "The blood-brain...

Fecal Blood Screens Reduce Incidence.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Regular screening of blood hidden in fecal matter for signs of colorectal cancer significantly reduces not only the chance of fatality from the disease, but the chance of malignancy arising in the...

Computed Tomography Helps Detect Cancer Prior to Liver Transplant.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People in line for liver transplants due to hepatitis B or hepatitis C related hepatocellular carcinomas are better prepared for surgery by undergoing helical triphasic computed tomography within the...

Phase II Study of Humanized Antibody Initiated.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- IDEC Pharmaceuticals announced January 4, 2001, that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trial with its investigational agent, IDEC-131, a humanized anti-CD154 (anti-CD40L) monoclonal antibody. ...

FDA Warns Livestock Feed Makers.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hundreds of animal feed producers in the U.S. have violated regulations meant to keep mad cow disease out of the country, says a new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report. No cases of mad...

Researchers Move Closer to Treatment that Stops Infection.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have taken a significant step toward an improved treatment for malaria, by far the world's most prevalent tropical disease. Dr. Daniel Goldberg, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute...

Hospital Patients Get Staph Infections from Their Own Germs.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study shows for the first time that hospital patients often catch life-threatening Staphylococcus infections from germs they harbor in their own noses. Staph infections are a serious threat to...

Gene Therapy Program Data Published.
January 25, 2001... 2001 JAN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avax Technologies, Inc. (AVXT), Kansas City, Missouri, announced that data relating to its thymidine kinase (TK) suicide gene program for organ transplantation were published in the December 2000 issue...