Tag: pharmaceuticals

  • FDA Approves Nasal Spray Migraine Therapy

    29 January 2016. The Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment for migraine headaches delivered as a powder sprayed into the nose. The therapy, marketed as Onzetra by Avanir Pharmaceuticals, is a formulation of sumatriptan, an approved oral drug for treating migraine symptoms. Migraine is a neurological syndrome causing severe headaches along with nausea, vomiting, and…

  • Eye Disease Gene Defect Repaired with CRISPR

    27 January 2016. Gene editing techniques repaired a defective gene in stem cells from an individual with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. The team from Columbia University and University of Iowa reported its findings in today’s (27 January) issue of Scientific Reports. Retinitis pigmentosa is a family of genetic eye disorders that result in damage…

  • Material Hides Beta Cell Transplants From Immune Reaction

    26 January 2016. Engineering and biochemical researchers developed a material that in lab animals holds and protects transplanted pancreatic beta cells against an immune reaction, a key advance in treatments for individuals with type 1 diabetes. Teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions published their findings about the material in the 25 January…

  • Business-Academic Coop to Fund Translational Research

    25 January 2016. Three pharmaceutical companies and three universities in the U.K. are forming an independent consortium to support academic research leading to new therapies. The £40 million ($US 57 million) Apollo Therapeutics Fund will be financed by contributions from global pharmaceutical enterprises AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson, for work in research labs at…

  • Safety, Activity Assessed in New Duchenne Drug

    25 January 2016. An early-stage clinical shows an experimental drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy is safe for patients and produces the desired chemical activity in the body. Results of the trial, conducted by Catabasis Pharmaceuticals were released today. The Cambridge, Massachusetts company says it is now extending the study to test the drug against a…

  • Technique Devised to Improve Stem Cell Harvesting

    22 January 2016. Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin developed a technique making it easier to detect stem cells and keep active longer in a cell culture. The team from the lab of molecular biologist Zsuzsanna Izsvák published its results in the 21 January issue of the journal Nature Protocols.…

  • MD Anderson, AbbVie Partner on Immunotherapies

    22 January 2016. MD Anderson Cancer Center and pharmaceutical company AbbVie are collaborating on new treatments for cancer than harness the body’s immune system. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the three-year partnership were not disclosed. MD Anderson is part of the University of Texas system in Houston. The agreement gives AbbVie, in Chicago, access…

  • Company Founded to Advance Concussion Treatment

    21 January 2016. A San Diego surgeon who conducts research on traumatic brain injury started a new company to take his discovery of a drug for treating concussions to market. The company, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals founded by Vishal Bansal, began operations today, and revealed its corporate and scientific boards. Bansal studied the connection between metabolic and…

  • Bacterial Bonding Technique Devised to Simplify Vaccines

    20 January 2016. Researchers at Oxford University developed and tested engineered proteins from bacteria that in lab tests make vaccine design simpler and more reliable. The team from the lab of biochemistry professor Mark Howarth published its proof-of-concept results in the 19 January issue of Scientific Reports. Howarth — with immunologists from Oxford’s Jenner Institute…

  • Zoetis Inks Deal for Antibiotic Alternative in Animals

    19 January 2016. The veterinary medicines company Zoetis is gaining exclusive rights to evaluate and possibly license an alternative to antibiotics in farm animals. While some financial details of the agreement with Anatara Lifesciences in Brisbane, Australia were disclosed, dollar amounts were not revealed. Antibiotics are used to treat disease in livestock and reduce food-borne…