Geron Initiates Clinical Trial of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapy — First Patient Treated at Shepherd Center in Atlanta – Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) announced the enrollment of the first patient in the company’s clinical trial of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, GRNOPC1.
Autism genome project identifies genetic variants that may make people susceptible to disorder – Autism is caused in part by rare genetic changes called copy number variants (CNVs), revealed by an international consortium of researchers from more than 70 universities, including the University of Utah.
Federal District Court Rules Isolated DNA Claims are Not Patentable — Myriad to Appeal Decision to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals – A federal judge on Monday struck down patents on two genes — BRCA1 and BRCA2 — linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Shares of Myriad Genetics (MYGN.O) fell as much as 7 percent, a day after the ruling.
Life Technologies, TGen and US Oncology partner on groundbreaking breast cancer sequencing research — First-of-its-kind project will sequence difficult breast cancers to provide insight into treatment strategies – Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) announced that it is collaborating with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and US Oncology to sequence the genomes of 14 patients afflicted with triple negative breast cancer whose tumors have progressed despite multiple other therapies.
Brain imaging may help diagnose autism — Subtle language delay, visible in MEG, may flag disorder – Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) process sound and language a fraction of a second slower than children without ASDs, and measuring magnetic signals that mark this delay may become a standardized way to diagnose autism.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Receives Complete Response Letter from FDA for FUSILEV(R) in Advanced Metastatic Colorectal Cancer – A Complete Response letter is issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for FUSILEV (levoleucovorin) for injection for treatment of patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer.
deCODE Discovers Four New Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer – deCODE genetics (Nasdaq:DCGN) announced that a team of its scientists and academic colleagues from Finland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States have published the discovery of four novel single-letter variations in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) conferring increased risk of prostate cancer.
Eurand Granted FDA Approval for ZENPEP(TM) — First and Only FDA-Approved Pancreatic Enzyme Product Clinically Tested in Patients Under 12 Years Old. – U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Eurand’s New Drug Application (NDA) for ZENPEP(TM) (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules for the treatment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) or other conditions.
Contrave Helps Obese Patients Initiate and Sustain Meaningful Weight Loss, Improves Multiple Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Reduces Food Cravings. – Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX) announced that all three remaining Phase 3 trials evaluating Contrave(R) (bupropion SR/naltrexone SR), its investigational drug for the treatment of obesity, met their co-primary endpoints.
Lupus Research Institute Highly Encouraged by Benlysta Trial Results — First Phase 3 Lupus Drug Trial in Decades to Show Effectiveness. – Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) announced that BENLYSTA (belimumab, formerly LymphoStat-B?) met the primary endpoint in BLISS-52, the first of two pivotal Phase 3 trials in patients with serologically active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
