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Role Of MRI In Targeting Prostate Cancer In Patients With Previous Negative Biopsies And Elevated Prostate-Specific Antigen Levels
UroToday.com - In this recent review we highlight the important role of MRI in assisting in the detection of prostate cancer (CaP) in men with previous negative biopsies and elevated prostate-specific antigen levels. [1]

Rep. Stupak Signals Willingness To Compromise On Abortion Coverage In Health Reform Legislation
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on Monday said that he and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) are negotiating to resolve the concerns of antiabortion-rights Democrats who want to exclude abortion coverage from the House health reform bill (HR 3200), Dow Jones reports. Stupak said that the compromise would affect how state abortion laws are handled under the bill (Yoest, Dow Jones, 7/20.). According to the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stupak did not give details on the negotiations, and aides said that no final deal has been reached (Werner, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/21).Stupak said that he and Waxman"s staff discussed the compromise over the weekend. According to Stupak, a compromise could be voted on this week as an amendment during the committee"s markup of the bill. According to Dow Jones, Stupak holds a key vote on the health bill, which faces opposition from some other conservative Democrats on the panel over costs. His comments on Monday suggest "an easing of tensions" between antiabortion-right Democrats and supporters of the bill, Dow Jones reports. Stupak and 19 other House Democrats last week sent a letter to party leaders stating that they "cannot support a health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health plan." They also stated that they want to ensure that a health benefits advisory council created under the bill "cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package." The advisory council would make recommendations to the HHS secretary, who would make final determinations on what public and private plans would be required to cover in a health insurance exchange. Stupak said that the two sides are "working in good faith" and that other members of the committee should not push their own abortion-related amendments (Dow Jones, 7/20). On Monday, committee voted 20-35 to reject an amendment, offered by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.), that would have eliminated a provision requiring states to adhere to minimum benefits requirements that employer-sponsored insurance must include. Deal said that states could be required to cover abortion or "out of mainstream" services. Stupak responded, "I hope we"re not going to start using reproductive rights as a red herring on every amendment that comes up." Panel Approves Sex Education AmendmentThe panel voted 33-23 to approve an amendment that would authorize $250 million through 2014 for "evidence-based" sex education programs for teenagers. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), who offered the amendment, said that abstinence-only programs would not be excluded if they are proven effective. Following debate on Capps" amendment, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) offered an amendment that would reauthorize the Title V abstinence-only sex education program. Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that Title V "has been a failure," adding that 25 states refused to accept the money through the program because it is ineffective. Terry"s amendment was rejected 26-29.The committee also voted 36-23 to adopt an amendment that would provide $150 million in grants through 2014 to state and local governments and not-for-profits for educating residents in "medically underserved" areas on various topics, including sexual behavior (Wayne, CQ Today, 7/21).
News of the day
NYT Examines Effects Of Illegal Abortion On Maternal Mortality In Tanzania
The New York Times on Tuesday examined how botched abortion procedures contribute to maternal mortality in Tanzania, in the second of a three-part series on pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in the country. The Times reports that the lack of abortion rights in Tanzania -- where the procedure is illegal except in cases where the woman"s life or health is at risk -- has prompted pregnant women and girls to seek the procedure from people who have not been trained to perform such procedures. In some cases, these untrained providers give the pregnant women herbs before performing abortions by punching the pregnant women"s stomachs or inserting objects into the vagina and uterus. Local hospitals in Tanzania often have to correct mistakes made by the untrained abortion providers. For example, during the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures performed at one Tanzanian hospital were to correct the results of "incomplete abortions."Africa has the world"s highest maternal mortality rate -- at least 100 times that of developed countries -- making pregnancy and childbirth among the most serious health dangers that African women face, according to the Times. Abortion accounts for a significant portion of those deaths. Tanzania has a maternal mortality rate of 950 deaths for every 100,000 births, a figure that is "neither the best nor the worst in Africa," the Times reports.Because most abortions in Tanzania are performed illegally, there are no reliable abortion figures for the country. However, the World Health Organization estimates that Eastern Africa, where Tanzania is located, has the world"s second-highest rate of unsafe abortions. Abortion rates typically decrease with increased contraceptive use, the Times reports. Only about one-quarter of Tanzanians use contraception in part because of misinformation that girls receive about the safety of condoms and hormonal contraceptives. By comparison, Kenya and South Africa both have higher contraception use and lower maternal mortality. However, in countries such as Sierra Leone and Nigeria, where abortion is not available on request, contraception use is lower than in Tanzania, and maternal mortality is much higher (Grady, New York Times, 6/2).
Cardiovascular

Micromet Receives European Orphan Drug Designation For Treatment Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia With BiTE Antibody Blinatumomab

Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, announced that it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for BiTE antibody blinatumomab (MT103) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Blinatumomab is a novel therapeutic antibody that activates a patient"s T cells to seek out and destroy cancer cells. In June, Micromet announced that the company had achieved its primary endpoint in an ongoing Phase 2 study of ALL patients. The company presented data at the the 14(th) Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Berlin, Germany, showing an 81% response rate in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients with minimal residual disease (MRD)(1). The patients included in this phase 2 clinical trial were in complete hematological remission following intense chemotherapy regimens, but retained a detectable level of ALL cancer cells in their bone marrow - so called minimal residual disease (MRD). Various studies have confirmed that ALL patients with MRD following chemotherapy have a significantly worse prognosis than patients without MRD. According to the EMEA, "orphan" medicinal products are intended for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of life-threatening or chronically debilitating conditions that affect no more than five in 10,000 people in the European Union, or are medicines which, for economic reasons, would be unlikely to be developed without incentives. The aim of the EU legislative framework for orphan medicines is to stimulate research and development of medicinal products for rare diseases by providing incentives to the pharmaceutical industry such as simplified access to EMEA"s scientific consulting res. This initiative helps to give patients suffering from rare diseases access to the same quality of treatment as other patients. (1) Topp, M.S. et al (2009). Blinatumomab (anti-CD19 BiTE(R)) for targeted therapy of minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with B precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL): Update of an ongoing Phase II study. 14th Congress of the EHA 2009, abstract no. 482 About Micromet, Inc. Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE(R) antibody platform, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. BiTE antibodies represent a new class of antibodies that activate the T cells of a patient"s immune system to eliminate cancer cells. Five of Micromet"s antibodies are currently in clinical trials. Its BiTE antibody blinatumomab (MT103) is in a phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin"s lymphoma (NHL). A second BiTE antibody, MT110, is in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with solid tumors. MT110 binds to the epithelial cell adhesion molecule, or EpCAM, which is overexpressed in many solid tumors. Micromet"s human monoclonal antibody adecatumumab (MT201) also binds to EpCAM and is being developed under a collaboration with Merck Serono. Adecatumomab is in a phase 2 clinical trial in colorectal carcinoma patients after complete resection of liver metastases, and a phase 1b clinical trial evaluating adecatumumab in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Micromet"s monoclonal antibody MT293, also known as TRC093, is licensed to TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and is in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with cancer. MT203, a human antibody neutralizing the activity of granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), which has potential applications in the treatment of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or multiple sclerosis, is in a phase 1 clinical trial conducted by Micromet"s collaboration partner Nycomed. Micromet"s licensee Morphotek, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai, is also expected to initiate a first phase 1 clinical trial with Micromet"s glycolipid-binding human antibody MT228 for the treatment of melanoma. Micromet"s preclinical product pipeline includes several novel BiTE antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE antibody platform technology. A BiTE antibody targeting CEA for the treatment of solid tumors is being developed in collaboration with MedImmune. In addition, Micromet has entered into an option, collaboration and license agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG under which Bayer Schering Pharma was granted an exclusive option to license a specified BiTE antibody against an undisclosed solid tumor target. Other BiTE antibodies targeting MSCP, CD33, HER2, EGFR and other targets are in various stages of preclinical development. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the efficacy, safety and intended utilization of our product candidates, the conduct, timing and results of future clinical trials, and expectations of the future expansion of our product pipeline and collaborations. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "ongoing," "may," "will," "believes," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," or the negative of those words or other similar words to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements include the risk that product candidates that appeared promising in early research, preclinical studies or clinical trials do not demonstrate safety and/or efficacy in subsequent clinical trials, the risk that encouraging results from early research, preclinical studies or clinical trials may not be confirmed upon further analysis of the detailed results of such research, preclinical study or clinical trial, the risk that additional information relating to the safety, efficacy or tolerability of our product candidates may be discovered upon further analysis of preclinical or clinical trial data, the risk that we or our collaborators will not obtain approval to market our product candidates, the risks associated with reliance on outside financing to meet capital requirements, and the risks associated with reliance on collaborators, including MedImmune, Merck Serono, TRACON and Nycomed, for the funding or conduct of further development and commercialization activities relating to our product candidates. These factors and others are more fully discussed in Micromet"s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2009, filed with the SEC on May 11, 2009, as well as other filings by the company with the SEC. Micromet, Inc


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