Science and Enterprise

Month: November 2010

  • Phase 3 Results Boost Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug

    Results from a Phase 3 clinical trial show the drug tasocitinib made by Pfizer Inc. in New York, New York met two out of three end-points for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tasocitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for treating RA that targets the intracellular signaling pathways operating as hubs in the inflammatory cytokine network.…

  • Graphene-Based Material Developed with Teflon Properties

    Scientists from University of Manchester in the U.K. and elsewhere have created a new material which could replace or compete with Teflon in thousands of everyday applications. The team, including Manchester’s Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov who won the 2010 Nobel Prize for their research on graphene –- the world’s thinnest material — has now…

  • Engineered Plant Produces Compounds for Plastics

    Plants may have in theory the kinds of raw materials for plastics obtained from petroleum-based chemicals, but in reality, getting plants to accumulate these desired products in any meaningful quantity has been an elusive goal. In a step toward industrial-scale green production, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New…

  • New Processes Reduce Cotton Pests Without Pesticide

    Researchers at University of Arizona in Tucson discovered a new strategy for controlling cotton pests that combines the planting of pest-resistant cotton and releasing large numbers of sterile moths. The scientists say this approach has virtually eliminated the pink bollworm, one of world’s most destructive cotton pests, without spraying insecticides. Caterpillars of the pink bollworm…

  • Dengue Vaccine in Phase 3 Clinical Trial

    Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis, says that its dengue vaccine is in the final stage of clinical development — its first phase 3 clinical study in Australia. Phase 3 trials involve large groups of patients to confirm a drug’s effectiveness, monitor side effects, and compare it to commonly used…

  • Real-Time Alerts Reduce Unnecessary Blood Testing

    An electronic message sent to physicians the moment they ordered a blood test for elderly patients reduced unnecessary use of a test that is often false-positive. Physicians received the alert in Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health record when ordering a D-dimer test for patients aged 65 and older. The D-dimer test, combined with a clinical risking…

  • FDA Approves Depression Drug for Musculoskeletal Pain

    Pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its drug Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for the management of chronic musculoskeletal pain.  FDA already approved Cymbalta to treat major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and to manage diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia. The…

  • Research Institutes Collaborate on Cancer Nanomedicine

    Five research institutions have formed the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine (TCCN) in Houston to develop nanotechnologies to improve outcomes for patients with ovarian or pancreatic cancers. TCCN is funded by a five-year, $16 million grant from National Cancer Institute. The five institutions taking part in TCCN include University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,…

  • FDA Designates Anthrax Treatment Candidate as Orphan Drug

    Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a biotechnology company in Rockville, Maryland, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated as an orphan drug its human anthrax monoclonal antibody AVP-21D9, in development for the treatment of inhalation anthrax. FDA grants orphan status to drugs and biologics being developed to treat rare conditions, specifically those affecting fewer…

  • University Pigs Out on Spectroscopy

    McGill University engineering researchers in Montreal, Quebec have developed a new meat inspection technology based on spectroscopy that analyzes light waves. Their research was conducted with Agriculture Canada and the nation’s pork industry. The spectroscopy process involves the analysis of the wave lengths of visible and invisible light produced by matter. By measuring the wave…