Category: Regulations
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BARDA Contract Awarded for Antiviral Influenza Drug
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a contract to Biota Scientific Management Pty in Melbourne, Australia for an antiviral drug to combat influenza. The contract for advanced development and testing of the drug is valued at $231 million over five years. The drug, CS-8958, is a long-acting neuraminidase inhibitor, which prevents…
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Study: Automatic Faucets Carry High Levels of Bacteria
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland have found that electronic faucets — the kind that dispense water from an electronic signal — are more likely to become contaminated with high levels of bacteria, compared with traditional manual faucets. The study will be presented on Saturday at the annual meeting of…
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Cancer Patients, Family Continue Smoking After Diagnosis
A study by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina finds many patients and their care givers continue smoking even after being told they have cancer. The results of the research by Kathryn Weaver and colleagues appear in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (paid subscription required). Weaver’s team investigated behaviors of…
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FDA Approves Melanoma Immunotherapy Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Yervoy — ipilimumab — to treat patients with late-stage metastatic melanoma, a dangerous type of skin cancer. Yervoy is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, in Princeton, New Jersey. Melanoma is the leading cause of death from skin disease. An estimated 68,130 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in…
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Study: Cruise Ship Diseases More Widespread Than Reported
A study by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia suggests that outbreaks of communicable diseases on cruise ships may be more common than previously reported. The findings from an investigation of a norovirus outbreak on a cruise ship in January 2009 appear online in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases…
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New Blood Test Evaluation Identifies More Heart Attacks
A more sensitive blood test protocol developed at University of Edinburgh and other research institutes in the U.K. could help identify heart attacks in thousands of patients who would otherwise have gone undiagnosed. The research team published its findings this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (paid subscription required). The standard blood…
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Study: Food Scares and Product Recalls Increasing
Researchers at Queen’s University in Belfast, U.K. have completed the first analysis of all food recalls announced in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland over the last decade. The findings will be presented at the Food Integrity and Traceability Conference taking place at Queen’s University this week. The research by Antony Potter at the university’s Centre…
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Public-Private Research Helps Oyster Growers Meet FDA Regs
Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in Gloucester Point joined with local oyster growers to sharply reduce a bacterium harmful to humans found in farmed oysters. Their findings may offer a lower-cost solution to new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that many growers believe can affect the oyster industry in Chesapeake…
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Clinical Trial Underway for Seasonal/H1N1 Vaccine
Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company in Quebec City, Canada has begun a phase I clinical trial of its H1N1 influenza vaccine candidate in the United States. The trial tests the drug’s safety, tolerability, and capacity to induce an immune response, with results expected in three months. The randomized, double-blind, multicenter, active- and placebo-controlled dose-ranging study…
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Green Rust Can Protect Groundwater Against Radioactive Waste
Researchers in Denmark have found a naturally occurring substance called green rust can help protect groundwater against radioactive contamination from stored reactor waste. Bo Christiansen’s findings are published in the March issue of the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (paid subscription required). Christiansen (pictured left) is a geochemist at the University of Copenhagen who has…