Category: Regulations
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EU Approves Unitary Patent Regulations
The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France approved draft regulations establishing a common patent system for 25 participating member counties of the European Union. The approved regulations create a unitary patent instrument and govern the language versions of the patent documents. However, EU members Italy and Spain are not taking part in the program. The unitary…
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Lower Copays, Mail Orders Close Hypertension Drug Gaps
Researchers with the health care system Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California found lower copayments and use of mail-order refills help reduce race and ethnic disparities in drug adherence for patients diagnosed with high blood pressure. The findings on medicine-taking behavior and measures to cut those differences in drug adherence are reported online in the journal…
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Process Converts Greenhouse Gas into Useful Chemicals
Chemists at University of Southern California in Los Angeles devised a method for changing fluoroform, a common yet potent greenhouse gas, into reagents for producing pharmaceuticals and agriculture chemicals. The team led by G.K. Surya Prakash, director of USC’s Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, published its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Science (paid…
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Simple Process Developed to Remove Smokestack CO2 Emissions
Researchers at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Québec City, Canada are developing an economical method for removing most carbon dioxide from emissions put out by large industrial plants. The project led by INRS environmental scientist Guy Mercier, is funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from Carbon Management Canada, a federal Canadian…
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U.S. Alzheimer’s Patient Implanted with Deep Brain Pacemaker
A patient in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease at Johns Hopkins medical center in Baltimore received an implanted deep-brain stimulation device, the first such surgery in the U.S. The implant is part of a clinical trial testing the deep brain stimulation device for Alzheimer’s disease patients made by Functional Neuromodulation Ltd. in Toronto, Ontario,…
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FDA, Industry Group to Partner on Medical Device Regulation
The Food and Drug Administration will collaborate with LifeScience Alley, an industry association based in Minneapolis, in the Medical Device Innovation Consortium, to advance regulatory science for medical devices. Medical Device Innovation Consortium is expected to create scientific tools for assessing the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. The consortium has nine corporate members, including…
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Omega-3 Fatty Acids Added to Milk Without Affecting Taste
Food scientists at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg discovered they could add beneficial omega-3 fatty acids to milk in quantities that promote heart health, without affecting the milk’s taste or shelf life. The team led by Virginia Tech professor Susan Duncan (pictured left) published their findings in this month’s issue of the Journal of Dairy Science;…
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Report: Pharmas Increasing Medicine Access in Poor Regions
A foundation in the Netherlands reports that developing areas of the world have more access to drugs from the top 20 pharmaceutical companies than two years ago. The Access to Medicine Foundation that publishes a bi-annual index of drug access in developing regions says GlaxoSmithKline repeats in 2012 as the leading company in making its…
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Functioning Lung Transport System in Clinical Trial
A system for transporting functioning human lungs for transplants is being tested in a clinical trial, with the first transplant surgery in the U.S. occuring earlier this month. The Organ Care System tested in the trial is developed by TransMedics Inc. in Andover, Massachusetts, with the first U.S. transplant taking place at the UCLA medical…
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Stem Cells Devised for Rare Disease Boost Personal Medicine
Medical researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York developed a method of screening treatments for a rare genetic disorder that the authors say could be applied to tests of stem-cell derived personalized medicines. The team led by Gabsang Lee at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering published…