Pharma Business Week articles from December 2008

Pharma Business Week archives from December 2008

An anti-frailty pill for seniors?
December 1, 2008... Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System report that a daily single oral dose of an investigational drug, MK-677, increased muscle mass in the arms and legs of healthy older adults without serious side effects, suggesting that it...

Family problems affect African-American children more than other races.
December 1, 2008... It is a common belief that girls tend to internalize their problems, becoming depressed or anxious, while boys externalize their problems, turning to violence against people or property. A new study in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy...

Data from Louisiana State University advance knowledge in abscess.
December 1, 2008... "Bedside ultrasound has become an important diagnostic tool for emergency physicians. Clinical investigators have demonstrated that evaluating soft tissue infections with ultrasound is useful for the detection of subcutaneous abscesses,"...

New research on acid reflux disease from S.A. Antoniou and co-authors summarized.(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... "Background and aims Symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are common in the general population. Although the results of laparoscopic fundoplication are well documented, there have been no reports on the operative outcome in...

Scientists at University of Minnesota release new data on addiction medicine.
December 1, 2008... "The purpose of the present study is to investigate the relationships between alcohol-related informal social control and parental monitoring on alcohol use, behavior and intentions; violent behavior; and delinquent behavior in a racially...

MedImpact Celebrates Opening of Operations and Data Center.
December 1, 2008... MedImpact further expanded its operations and data processing capabilities today as the company celebrates the grand opening of a new southwest regional office in Tempe, Ariz. The new facility will serve as one of the MedImpact operations and...

Rite Aid Expands List of Generic Medications Available at Significant Cost Savings with Free Rite Aid RX Savings Card.
December 1, 2008... Rite Aid today expanded the list of generic medications to more than 500 available at significant savings through its free RX Savings Card. The card, which requires no membership fee and is free to anyone who enrolls, offers significant savings...

Gene required for radiation-induced protective pigmentation also promotes survival of melanoma cells.
December 8, 2008... Scientists have new insight into the response of human skin to radiation and what drives the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer. The research, published by Cell Press in the November 21st issue of the journal Molecular Cell, may be...

Children with sickle cell disease receiving inadequate care.(Clinical report)
December 8, 2008... A new study finds that youth populations with sickle cell disease (SCD) are receiving inadequate healthcare, and thus may fail to benefit from scientific advances. The study, published in Pediatric Blood & Cancer, finds that the patients,...

Possible association between CP and LC of alcoholic etiology.
December 8, 2008... Chronic alcoholism is a well-known etiologic factor associated with chronic and irreversible pancreatic and liver disorders. There is a correlation between increased ethanol consumption through many years and the risk of developing chronic...

Studies from F.A. Lederle and co-researchers in the area of abdominal aortic aneurysm published.(Clinical report)
December 8, 2008... According to a study from the United States, " To assess the association between potential risk factors and subsequent clinically important abdominal aortic aneurysm events ( repairs and ruptures) in women. Large prospective observational...

Research conducted at Wexham Park Hospital has provided new information about adenocarcinoma.(Report)
December 8, 2008... According to a study from Slough, the United Kingdom, "Woodworkers' adenocarcinoma of the ethmoid sinuses is an extremely rare occupational malignancy with a locally aggressive course. Treatment with surgical exenteration and topical 5...

AmerisourceBergen Increases Dividend 33 Percent and Authorizes a New $500 Million Share Repurchase Program.
December 8, 2008... The Board of Directors of AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC) today increased the Company's quarterly dividend rate 33 percent to $0.10 per common share from $0.075 per common share. The Board of Directors also authorized a new $500...

CombinatoRx Concentrates on Core Strengths.
December 8, 2008... CombinatoRx, Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRXX) announced a further restructuring, effective immediately, to focus on the core strength of the company: identifying novel product candidates based on unexpected biological synergies. This restructuring...

Dynavax Announces Receipt of Notice of Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule from the Nasdaq Global Market.
December 8, 2008... Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) announced that on November 10, 2008, the Company received a notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that the Company is not in compliance with the continued listing requirements of The...

Luminex Corporation Announces First Commercial Shipment of FLEXMAP 3D Systems.
December 8, 2008... Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, announced the commercial sale and shipment of the first FLEXMAP(TM) 3D system manufactured in Austin, Texas. Full market release of the instrument is expected in...

Medical Connections Holdings, Inc. Reports 58% Increase in Revenue for the Third Quarter 2008.(Financial report)
December 8, 2008... Medical Connections (OTC Bulletin Board: MCTH) reported that for the three months ended September 30, 2008, revenues increased 58% to $1,855,671 from $1,176,850 for the three months ended September 30, 2007. Net loss for the three months ended...

RainDance Technologies Introduces Sequence Enrichment Solution.
December 8, 2008... RainDance Technologies, Inc., a provider of innovative microdroplet-based solutions for human health and disease research, today officially introduced its Sequence Enrichment Solution for targeted sequencing applications of the human genome...

Experimental TB drug explodes bacteria from the inside out.
December 15, 2008... An international team of biochemists has discovered how an experimental drug unleashes its destructive force inside the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB). The finding could help scientists develop ways to treat dormant TB infections, and...

Claudin 11 stops the leaks in neuronal myelin sheaths.
December 15, 2008... Devaux and Gow demonstrate how a tight junction protein called claudin 11 makes the neuronal myelin sheath a snug fit. The study will be published in the December 1, 2008 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org) (see also Rockefeller...

Treating sleep apnea in Alzheimer's patients helps cognition.
December 15, 2008... Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment seems to improve cognitive functioning in patients with Alzheimer's disease who also suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial conducted at...

Routine testing after aneurysm coiling carries low risk.
December 15, 2008... A very low risk of complication is associated with a routine test that determines whether a brain aneurysm treated with endovascular coiling has started to recur, a study led by the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute has shown (see...

New treatment hope for people with recurring depression.
December 15, 2008... Research shows for the first time that a group-based psychological treatment, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), could be a viable alternative to prescription drugs for people suffering from long-term depression (see also University of...

Brain deletion of FK506-binding protein enhances repetitive behaviors in mice.
December 22, 2008... A new study reveals a link between dysregulation of a common signaling pathway and repetitive behaviors similar to those associated with multiple neurological and neurodegenerative disorders including, autism spectrum disorders, obsessive...

Examination of widely used antimicrobial compound reveals new strategies to fight malaria.
December 22, 2008... Scientists working on a common antimicrobial compound with antimalarial activity have discovered a range of new therapeutic strategies to combat malaria. The research, published by Cell Press in the December 11th issue of the journal Cell Host...

An Achilles heel in cancer cells.
December 22, 2008... A protein that shields tumor cells from cell death and exerts resistance to chemotherapy has an Achilles heel, a vulnerability that can be exploited to target and kill the very tumor cells it usually protects, researchers from the University of...

Penn research probes genetic underpinnings of nicotine addiction.
December 22, 2008... A new study from the Abramson Cancer Center and Department of Psychiatry in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine shows that smokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may...

Breaking the silence after a study ends.(Clinical report)
December 22, 2008... While an estimated 2.3 million people in the United States take part in clinical trials every year, there currently exists no formal requirement to inform them of study results, an oversight that leaves participants confused, frustrated, and,...

Doctors question standardized training requirements.
December 29, 2008... Doctors lack confidence in their procedural skills after completing the current NHS postgraduate training curriculum. A survey of 181 doctors, published in the open access journal BMC Medical Education, has shown that from ten of the procedures...

New technique allows simultaneous tracking of gene expression and movement.
December 29, 2008... Flies expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) in their retina cells or other tissues can be tracked by specially modified video cameras, creating a real time computer record of movement and gene expression. The new technique, described in...

Reports from University of Glasgow highlight recent research in addiction medicine.(Clinical report)
December 29, 2008... "To investigate the relationships between alcohol consumption and mortality and morbidity risk by specific causes. Prospective cohort study. Twenty-seven work-places in West and Central Scotland," researchers in Scotland report (see also...

Studies from J.H. Rubenstein and co-researchers update current data on adenocarcinoma.
December 29, 2008... "The efficacy of screening and surveillance EGD for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is controversial. To examine the effect of an EGD before the diagnosis of EAC on survival after the diagnosis of cancer among patients with gastroesophageal...

Research on adenoma described by M.B. Sporn and colleagues.
December 29, 2008... "In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial by Meyskens et al. the combination of difluoromethylornithine and sulindac has been shown to be strikingly effective for prevention of sporadic colorectal adenomas. This...