Data from a Phase 1 study of a new antimalarial drug candidate, a synthetic peroxide, have been reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The compound was shown to be safe at doses of up to 1,600 mg.
Phase 3 trial results of a new antibiotic for infections from C. difficile have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The antibiotic, fidaxomicin, showed lower recurrence rates and better cure rates compared with vancomycin.
Four research groups from the US and Europe have joined together in a collaboration to discover and map the genes that contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. The primary goal is to understand the role that inheritance plays in the disease.
Despite the many achievements of modern cancer therapies, one uncertainty continues to haunt the industry. This is knowing whether a patient who has apparently been treated successfully with chemotherapy or a targeted antibody therapy will nonetheless experience a relapse years after a treatment has finished
The US subsidiary of H. Lundbeck A/S has entered into a research collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School to study an RNAi-based therapy as a possible treatment for Huntington’s disease.
Scientists from the Anglo-German company, Cellzome, have reported that methodology known as chemoproteomics can show how drugs that are designed to inhibit epigenetic targets interact with molecular complexes not just single proteins.
A group of prominent UK scientists has been assembled to carry out a two-year research project to investigate the role of cancer stem cells in the development, growth and spread of tumours in breast, prostate and head and neck cancers.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc has agreed to pay $20 million upfront to Epizyme Inc of Cambridge, Massachusetts for access to technology that targets histone methyltransferases (HMT), a class of epigenetic enzymes. The goal is to develop small molecule drugs against cancer and other diseases.
Neovacs SA of France is set to start a Phase 2 trial of its active immunotherapy in patients with Crohn’s disease. This follows an earlier study in Crohn’s that elicited an antibody response where nearly half the patients achieved disease remission.
An autologous stem-cell treatment for patients with damaged heart muscle following an acute myocardial infarction has resulted in improved perfusion, a trend towards improved cardiac function, that was dose dependent, according to US research.