Oral formulations of two investigational drugs for multiple sclerosis have been shown to be effective in reducing the rate of disease relapse, according to three papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drugs are oral fingolimod and oral cladribine.
Evotec AG has reinforced its position in drug discovery with a new agreement to identify potential treatments for Huntington’s disease. The agreement comes at a time when the Germany-based company is narrowing its strategic focus after setbacks more than a year ago with two clinical-stage products
GlaxoSmithKline is to make 13,500 potential malaria compounds freely available to researchers from around the world in a bid to stimulate work on medicines for the developing world. It is also allocating $8 million to a new research foundation.
A novel licensing deal among two German universities and the UK Medical Research Council’s commercialization arm is expected to lead to the development of a potential new therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK have completed the first complete genomic analysis of lung cancer and melanoma, revealing all of the genetic mutations that are present in the two diseases.
Cancer Research UK has reported that an experimental radioactive cancer therapy showed clinical benefit in a Phase 1 study of patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The study was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research on 15 December 2009.
Researchers from France and Spain have reported being able to produce human skin tissue in mice from human embryonic stem cells, a finding that could have application for patients with burn injuries. The preclinical study was reported in The Lancet.
Scientists in Cambridge, UK have reported that children who are severely obese have a common genetic mutation that appears to predispose them to the disease from an early age. The findings were published on 6 December 2009 in the journal, Nature.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation has awarded $1.5 million to six international research teams which are working on potentially disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The programme is financially supported by Elan Corporation Plc.
BioCity Nottingham, a bioscience incubator in Britain’s East Midlands, has entered into collaboration agreements with three US regional science parks to promote better transatlantic opportunities for small biotech businesses.