Feature Channels: Pharmaceuticals

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Projected to start in the second half of 2013, researchers at Stony Brook University plan to begin phase IIa placebo-controlled clinical trials using a drug treatment method developed here to treat cellulite. The treatment method is licensed to BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (“BSTC”), sublicensed to Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (“Auxilium”), and uses clostridial collagenase histolyticum (“CCH”), an injectable form of the enzyme collagenase.

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A new procedure that thickens and thins fluid at the micron level could save consumers and manufacturers money, particularly for soap products that depend on certain molecules to effectively deal with grease and dirt. Researchers at the University of Washington published their findings online April 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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• Ibrutinib disrupts the CLL-driving B-cell receptor signaling pathway. • Phase II trial showed the drug was well tolerated and effective against CLL regardless of del 17p status. • The drug was effective against disease in blood, lymph nodes, spleen and bone marrow.

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• Patients received sapacitabine and seliciclib as sequential treatments. • Several patients with BRCA mutations achieved disease response or experienced prolonged stable disease. • BRCA mutation carrier status may be a potential biomarker for response.

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• Women with highest expression of drug’s target protein benefited most. • If further confirmed, drug may represent new treatment option in ovarian cancer. • Future study will compare the drug to standard chemotherapy.

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Physician-researchers at UT Southwestern have identified a vulnerability of certain lung-cancer cells – a specific genetic weakness that can be exploited for new therapies.

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Building upon 30 years of research, Mark Buller, Ph.D., professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Saint Louis University, studies protecting U.S. armed forces against pox viruses.

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Targeted therapy may prove effective against colon, head/neck, mesothelioma, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.

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Scientists tested the efficacy of cancer drugs at killing the malaria parasite during the liver phase with astonishing success. This research paves the way for future studies using cancer drugs that could cause less drug resistance and have more targeted treatments than conventional malaria drugs.

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For the first time, researchers were able to stimulate immune cells to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies: a critical step that has eluded researchers for decades but that provides promise for a successful HIV vaccine.

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A UCLA study shows that heart failure medications recommended by national guidelines are highly cost effective in saving lives and may also provide savings to the health care system.

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In a laboratory study pairing food chemistry and cancer biology, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center tested the potentially harmful effect of foods and flavorings on the DNA of cells. They found that liquid smoke flavoring, black and green teas and coffee activated the highest levels of a well-known, cancer-linked gene called p53.

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A type of drug commonly used to treat Type 2 diabetes showed abnormalities in the pancreas, including cell proliferation, that may be associated with an increased risk of neuroendocrine tumors.

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• Ganetespib killed ALK-driven NSCLC cell lines more effectively than crizotinib. • Displayed greater antitumor activity and prolonged survival in a mouse model. • Potential as a new option for treating ALK-dependent lung cancers.

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New insight into the structural nature of Deinococcus manganese complexes in the world’s toughest microbe, Deinococcus radiodurans, gained by using advanced spectroscopy techniques, may ultimately accelerate the development of pharmaceuticals aimed at slowing down the aging process, prevent some severe side effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy, reduce the chances of skin cancer following exposure to UV rays from the sun, and in the preparation of irradiated vaccines, according to a breakthrough study, “Responses of Mn2+ Speciation in Deinococcus radiodurans and Escherichia coli to Gamma-Radiation by Advanced Paramagnetic Resonance Methods,” published in the March 25 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

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A Kansas State University-led team is researching ways to stop the spread of norovirus, a contagious stomach illness that infects one in 15 Americans each year.

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University of Missouri researchers believe they have found exactly how Kalydeco (Vx-770), the first drug of its kind to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, works and how to improve its effectiveness in the future.

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A team led by Sean Ekins at Collaborative Drug Discovery in Burlingame, Cal., and Joel Freundlich at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School has trained computers to sift through drug libraries and pick out compounds likely to clobber TB with minimal side effects to humans. They have ‘taught’ the computers to understand which chemical features of a drug are associated with efficacy against TB and which are associated with toxicity to mammalian cells. The process may lead to much less trial and error in finding new therapies. The computers even rediscovered a compound reported 40 years ago to have anti-TB activity but since forgotten.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital plays key role in research showing that drug shortages erode the quality and increase the cost of cancer care; experts warn that shortages persist despite efforts to fix the problem.

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The Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) has released a survey of oncology pharmacists which warns that oncology drug shortages happen often and have serious negative consequences on cancer patients in the in the United States. Published in the April 1, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, the survey was completed by hematology/oncology pharmacists, who care for cancer patients in all phases of treatment and are uniquely positioned to provide insight on oncology drug shortages.

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Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have completed a phase II clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of dasatinib for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia resulting from MDS and have failed treatment with azanucleosides. The therapy may not be effective for all patients, but those with trisomy 8 chromosomal disorder have higher rates of stable disease and respond better to treatment with dasatinib, the study shows.

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For some women with breast cancer, taking adjuvant tamoxifen (Nolvadex) for 10 years after primary treatment leads to a greater reduction in breast cancer recurrences and deaths than taking the drug for only 5 years, according to the results of a large international clinical trial.

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Findings from a Loyola University Chicago study could lead to the development of new drugs to treat gout. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

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New research from the University of Adelaide has shown for the first time that the growth of brain tumors can be halted by a drug currently being used to help patients recover from the side effects of chemotherapy.

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Three studies released today present possible positive news for people with Parkinson’s disease. The studies, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013, report on treatments for blood pressure problems, the wearing-off that can occur when people have taken the main drug for Parkinson’s for a long time, and for people early in the disease whose symptoms are not well-controlled by their main drugs.

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Peisheng Xu of the University of South Carolina is helping craft new pharmaceuticals that could dramatically improve a patient’s odds when heavy-duty drugs are prescribed. Xu’s research is focused on developing drugs with the kind of precision that the military seeks with smart bombs.

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The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world’s largest professional association of neurologists, is releasing a position paper on how the practice of prescribing drugs to boost cognitive function, or memory and thinking abilities, in healthy children and teens is misguided. The statement is published in the March 13, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A better “mousetrap” discovered in fruit flies might stop a human cancer-driving kinase in its tracks.

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The heart failure drug digoxin, used less and less since it “failed” in its 1997 clinical trial, may do something no drug has achieved since: reduce by 34 percent the chances that heart failure patients will be admitted to the hospital within 30 days of first taking it.

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An anti-atherosclerosis drug greatly reduced blood-brain barrier (BBB) leaks in animal models with diabetes and hypercholesterolemia and linked BBB permeability with amyloid peptide deposits at the site of early Alzheimer's pathology.

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Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (a measure of heart function), administration of sildenafil for 24 weeks, compared with placebo, did not result in significant improvement in exercise capacity or clinical status, according to a study published online by JAMA.

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A commonly used erectile dysfunction drug, sildenafil, doesn’t help patients who have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a condition in which the heart’s lower chambers are stiff and cannot relax and fill fully between beats. That is the finding of the RELAX study, presented today at the American College of Cardiology’s 62nd Annual Scientific Session and simultaneously published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The study’s lead author called the results disappointing.

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New study identifies why prazosin, a drug commonly used to reduce high blood pressure, may cause lightheadedness and possible fainting upon standing in patients with normal blood pressure who take the drug for other reasons, such as PTSD and anxiety.

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Drugs taken together do not reduce risk of relapse but appear to prevent development of new lesions.

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A single dose of an investigational anti-inflammatory drug called inclacumab considerably reduces damage to heart muscle during angioplasty (the opening of a blocked artery), according to a recent international clinical trial spearheaded by Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, Director of the Research Centre at the Montreal Heart Institute, affiliated with the University of Montreal.

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Researchers in the University of Delaware's Department of Biological Sciences are investigating a new drug that has shown positive results in early tests of its ability to fight a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer.

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The pharmaceutical industry has pulled back on marketing to physicians and consumers, yet some enduring patterns persist. According to a new study, advertising peaked in 2004, with industry promotion to physicians declining nearly 25 percent by 2010, to $27.7 billion or 9 percent of sales. Similar declines were seen in direct-to-consumer advertising, which remains concentrated among a small number of products.

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People who take the newest class of diabetes drugs to control blood sugar are twice as likely as those on other forms of sugar-control medication to be hospitalized with pancreatitis, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

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An international team of researchers has found that a once-a-month, high-dose injection of a commonly used asthma drug is highly effective in treating teens and adults chronically afflicted with hives and severe, itchy rash. The drug, omalizumab, was tested on 323 people at 55 medical centers for whom standard antihistamine therapy failed to quell their underlying, allergy-like reaction, known as chronic idiopathic urticaria or chronic spontaneous urticaria.

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Rush University Medical Center researchers participated in clinical trials for promising new drug against aggressive breast cancer called Kadcyla also known as TDM-1 (traztuzumab emtansine).

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Resveratrol, a substance found in red grapes and red wine, may have the potential to protect against hearing and cognitive decline, according to a published laboratory study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

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Among fibromyalgia patients taking either of two commonly prescribed drugs to reduce pain, 22 percent report substantial improvement while 21 percent had to quit the regimen due to unpleasant side effects, according to a new review in The Cochrane Library.

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An increasing number of people die from unintentional home injury, in large part due to accidental drug overdose, according to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

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An antidepressant drug used since the 1960s may also hold promise for treating sickle cell disease, according to a surprising new finding made in mice and human red blood cells by a team has spent more than three decades studying the basic biology of the condition.

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One of the most challenging issues in stroke care involves the use of clot-busting drugs such as tPA. In Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, stroke specialists offer guidance on commonly asked questions about the use of these drugs.

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Newswise invites press release submissions from new and current members for inclusion in our Theme Wires on a variety of topics, including; Cancer Research, Environment and Climate Change, Nutrition, and Mental Health. Each wire is also open for sponsorships to promote your organization’s campaign, product, service, or news.

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The drug bevacizumab, also known by the trade name Avastin, shrinks tumors briefly in patients with an aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme, but then they often grow again and spread throughout the brain for reasons no one previously has understood. Now, Mayo Clinic researchers have found out why this happens.

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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers have found that the investigational drug selumetinib shuts down the signaling of genetic mutations that prevent some patients’ thyroid cancer tumors from absorbing radioiodine, the most effective treatment for the disease.

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Researchers have identified a pivotal protein in a cellular transformation that makes a cancer cell more resistant to treatment and more capable of growing and spreading, making it an inviting new target for drug development.

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Cancer drugs should kill tumors, not encourage their spread. But new evidence suggests that an otherwise promising class of drugs may actually increase the risk of tumors spreading to bone, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.