Archive for the 'Industry News Alerts' Category
February 22nd, 2011 by admin
Exocytosis, the fundamental process by which cells secrete hormones such as insulin and other useful biological substances, is regulated far differently in life than in laboratory tissue cultures and explanted organs, according to research presented at the American Society of Cell Biology’s 50th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. The unexpected findings that exocytosis regulation “in vivo” is not the same as the process long studied “in vitro” is a reminder of the gap between laboratory glassware experiments and the cell biology of living animals ⎯ and humans, said Roberto Weigert, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).
Continue reading ‘Small Details between ‘In Vivo’ and ‘In Vitro’ Studies Make for Big Differences’
February 21st, 2011 by admin
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have uncovered clues to memory and learning by exploring the function of a single gene that governs how neurons form new connections. The finding may also provide insights into a form of human mental retardation. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists explored the gene WRP’s functions in the brain cell (neuron) and then demonstrated how acutely memory and learning are affected when WRP is missing in mice.
Continue reading ‘Mental Retardation Gene Provides Insights into Brain Formation’
February 17th, 2011 by admin
Want proof that achieving FDA approval is more difficult than in the past? A study released by the BIO and BioMedTracker that the overall success rate for drugs moving through clinical trials to FDA approval from late 2003 to the end of 2010 is near one in 10. Previously the rate of approval were one in five to one in six. Oncology drugs faced the toughest road to approval despite the fact that the disease area is the most closely studied in all of drug development. And large molecule drugs are twice as likely to be approved than than small molecule drugs.
Continue reading ‘Rate of Drug Approvals Dropping’
February 16th, 2011 by admin
Although President Obama’s proposed $3.73 trillion budget for 2012 calls for more than $1 trillion in slashed spending, it protects doctors from steep cuts in their Medicare payments with a two year reprieve. The budget delays a scheduled 25 percent cut in the Sustainable Growth Rate, Medicare’s physician payment formula that was slated to go into effect in 2012, The Hill blog reports.
Continue reading ‘Obama’s Budget Delays Deep Cuts to Physician Payments’
February 15th, 2011 by admin
A startling scientific breakthrough on Type 1 diabetes could help pave the way to a cure or perhaps significantly reduce the need for insulin therapy. A researcher at UT Southwestern, Dr. Roger Unger, reports in the February issue of Diabetes that by shutting down glucagon, a hormone that causes blood sugar to spike in patients with Type 1 diabetes, he was able to restore glucose tolerance to a normal level in mice. Even large doses of glucose failed to derail the therapeutic effect of the glucagon approach.
Continue reading ‘Diabetes Researcher May be ‘Close to a Cure’’
February 11th, 2011 by admin
A new target for the prevention of adverse immune responses identified as factors in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been discovered by researchers at the University of South Florida’s Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair. The CD45 molecule is a receptor on the surface of the brain’s microglia cells, cells that support the brain’s neurons and also participate in brain immune responses.
Continue reading ‘Stimulating the Brain’s Immune Response May Provide Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease’
February 10th, 2011 by admin
Calvert Labs is offering clients the same kind of 24/7 on-demand smartphone access to study information that’s available to the rest of the world for news and sports. It’s linked a project-tracking iPhone application with a near-real-time and on-demand filtered information source for preclinical researchers.
Continue reading ‘CRO’s iPhone App Gives On-demand Study Updates’
February 8th, 2011 by admin
NPS Pharmaceuticals says that it’s on track to file for regulatory approval of Gattex after a late-stage study involving 86 patients demonstrated promising results for reducing the need for IV feeding among a majority of patients with short bowel syndrome. NPS now plans to file in the second half of the year and the news quickly spurred a 30 percent hike in its stock price in pre-market trading.
Continue reading ‘NPS Soars on Positive Ph3 Data for Orphan SBS Drug’
February 7th, 2011 by admin
In a new study, scientists at the University of Maryland and the Institut Pasteur show that bacteria evolve new abilities, such as antibiotic resistance, predominantly by acquiring genes from other bacteria. The researchers new insights into the evolution of bacteria partly contradict the widely accepted theory that new biological functions in bacteria and other microbes arise primarily through the process of gene duplication within the same organism. Their just released study will be published in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.
Continue reading ‘Gene ‘Relocation’ Key to Most Evolutionary Change in Bacteria’
February 4th, 2011 by admin
Scripps Research Institute scientists have converted adult skin cells directly into beating heart cells efficiently without having to first go through the laborious process of generating embryonic-like stem cells. The powerful general technology platform could lead to new treatments for a range of diseases and injuries involving cell loss or damage, such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. The work was published January 30, 2011, in an advance, online issue of Nature Cell Biology.
Continue reading ‘Adult Skin Cells Converted Directly to Beating Heart Cells’
