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Electric Current Shown to Reduce Wound Bacteria
18 April 2016. A bandage that sends a mild electric current through wounds was shown in tests with pigs to disrupt and reduce films of bacteria that form over wounds, to improve healing. Tests of the electric wound dressing, made by Vomaris Innovations in Tempe, Arizona, were reported at the Wound Healing Society conference that…
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Therapy Shown to Boost Immune System Against Cancer
18 April 2016. An experimental treatment was shown in lab mice to enhance immune system cells that can help immunotherapy drugs to reduce solid tumor growth. Researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Infinity Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts presented their findings yesterday (17 April) at the annual meeting of American Association…
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Challenge Seeks Diabetic Kidney Disease Treatments
15 April 2016. A challenge on InnoCentive is asking for new techniques to deliver drugs to specialized kidney cells in patients with kidney damage caused by diabetes. The competition has a total purse of $20,000 and a deadline of 13 May 2016 for submissions. The sponsor of the challenge, pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, is also…
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Implanted Device Delivers Pancreatic Cancer Drugs
15 April 2016. An engineering and medical research team developed an implanted device that in lab mice delivers chemotherapy directly to cancerous tumors in the pancreas. The device, designed in a biomedical engineering lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, is described in an article appearing 31 March 2016 in the journal Biomaterials…
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Emergency Snakebite Treatment in Development
14 April 2016. A new treatment for rattlesnake bites, designed as emergency first-aid until reaching a clinic, is being developed at University of Arizona medical school in Tucson. The therapy, still in preclinical stages, is the work of anesthesiology professor Vance Nielsen and toxicologist Leslie Boyer, founder and director of Arizona’s Viper Institute — short…
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Technique Extends Bioactive Device Coating Lifetime
14 April 2016. A new process is shown to regenerate therapeutic coatings on implanted medical devices in lab tests and with animals, possibly extending the devices’ lifetimes in patients. The techniques, developed in the lab of Harvard University biomedical engineering professor Elliot Chaikof, are described in the 13 April 2016 issue of the journal Nature…
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Charity Starts Industry-Backed Cancer Research Effort
13 April 2016. The charitable group Stand Up to Cancer unveiled today a new program to spur research on cancer treatments begun by pharmaceutical companies. The program known as Catalyst will harness funds and products from participating companies that will be bid out to the research community at large for further research and development. Charter…
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Cell-Free Synthetic Biochemical Process Devised
13 April 2016. A biochemistry lab at University of California in Los Angeles developed techniques for producing synthetic bio-based chemicals without processing sugars through cells. The discoveries from the lab of biochemistry professor James Bowie is described in the 11 April 2016 issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology (paid subscription required). Bowie, with postdoctoral…
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Many Clinical Trial Protocol Changes Avoidable, Costly
12 April 2016. When clinical trials make changes in plans, known as protocol amendments, after they’re underway, the impact in time and costs are substantial, with many changes considered avoidable. These are conclusions of a review of clinical trial protocol amendments carried out by Center for the Study of Drug Development at Tufts University in…
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Tropical Disease Diagnostics Now on Market
12 April 2016. PATH research institute and medical test developer Standard Diagnostics are making available tests for the tropical diseases onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis. The rapid, point-of-care tests are designed to help health authorities in Africa and other regions better monitor the spread of the diseases in campaigns to eradicate their occurrence. Onchocerciasis is an…