Drug Development
Pfizer: Cancer drug narrowly misses study goal
October 17, 2012 8:11 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPfizer Inc.'s advanced kidney cancer treatment Inlyta missed its main late-stage study goal when compared to another drug in patients who had not been treated for the disease. The New York drugmaker said Wednesday that patients taking Inlyta had a median progression-free survival that exceeded that of patients taking the drug sorafenib, but the difference was not statistically significant.
Two U.S. scientists win Nobel chemistry prize
October 10, 2012 11:05 am | by Karl Ritter and Louise Nordstrom, Associated Press | News | CommentsIn awarding to Americans the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka had made groundbreaking discoveries, mainly in the 1980s, on an important family of receptors, known as G-protein-coupled receptors. Studies of these protein receptors have been key for developing better drugs.
Nanoscale drug discovery approach relies on in silico, in vivo, in vitro
October 10, 2012 10:58 am | News | CommentsUsing in silico computational tools to complement the results of in vivo and in vitro experiments, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have revealed an atomic-level understanding of the mechanism by which nanoparticles inhibit the growth and metastasis of pancreatic tumors. The findings are promising for the development of particle-based therapies.
Optimized substance forces cancer cells into death
October 2, 2012 3:47 am | News | CommentsMany tumor cells have a defective cellular equipment. It is only by a special trick that they manage to distribute their chromosomes correctly to their daughter cells during cell division. Researchers have now developed a substance that thwarts this trick and forces cancer cells into death during cell division.
zarre tumor case may lead to custom cancer care
October 1, 2012 5:01 am | by Marilynn Marchone, AP Chief Medical Writer | News | CommentsIt's a medical nightmare: a 24-year-old man endures 350 surgeries since childhood to remove growths that keep coming back in his throat and have spread to his lungs, threatening his life. A new discovery, however, allows doctors to grow "mini tumors" from each patient's cancer in a lab dish, then test various drugs or combinations on them to see which works best.
Bizarre tumor case may lead to custom cancer care
September 26, 2012 1:40 pm | by Marilynne Marchione, AP Chief Medical Writer - Associated Press | News | CommentsIt's a medical nightmare: a 24-year-old man endures 350 surgeries since childhood to remove growths that keep coming back in his throat and have spread to his lungs, threatening his life. Now doctors have found a way to help him by way of a scientific coup that holds promise for millions of cancer...
University lab encodes collagen
September 25, 2012 9:53 am | News | CommentsThe human body is proficient at making collagen. And human laboratories are getting better at it all the time. In a development that could lead to better drug design and new treatments for disease, Rice University researchers have made a major step toward synthesizing custom collagen. The scientists who have learned how to make collagen are now digging into its molecular structure to see how it forms and interacts with biological systems.
Eye proteins have germ-killing power
September 25, 2012 5:03 am | News | CommentsWhen it comes to germ-busting power, the eyes have it, according to a discovery by University of California, Berkeley researchers that could lead to new, inexpensive antimicrobal drugs. A team of vision scientists has found that small fragments of keratin protein in the eye play a key role in warding off pathogens.
Insight into snake venom evolution could aid drug discovery
September 19, 2012 3:50 am | News | CommentsU.K.-led scientists have made a discovery about snake venom that could lead to the development of new drugs to treat a range of life-threatening conditions. The researchers have discovered that the toxins that make snake and lizard venom deadly can evolve back into completely harmless molecules, raising the possibility that they could be developed into drugs.
Real-world levitation to inspire better pharmaceuticals
September 13, 2012 5:15 am | News | CommentsIt's not a magic trick and it's not sleight of hand—scientists really are using levitation to improve the drug development process, eventually yielding more effective pharmaceuticals with fewer side effects. Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a way to use sound waves to levitate individual droplets of solutions containing different pharmaceuticals.
Weapons of mass protection
September 7, 2012 5:18 am | by Denise Brehm, Civil and Environmental Engineering | News | CommentsCompetition is a strong driving force of evolution for organisms of all sizes: Those individuals best equipped to obtain resources adapt and reproduce, while others may fall by the wayside. Many organisms also form cooperative social structures that allow resources to be defended and shared within a population. But surprisingly, even microbes, which are thought to thrive only when able to win the battle for resources against those nearest to them, have a somewhat sophisticated social structure that relies on cooperation, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists.
Mass spectrometry makes the clinical grade
September 4, 2012 10:08 am | News | CommentsResearchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have reported this week that combining two well-established analytic techniques?and adding a twist?identifies proteins from blood with as much accuracy and sensitivity as the antibody-based tests used clinically. The new mass spectrometry technique, called PRISM, should be able to speed up development of diagnostic tests and treatments based on proteins specific to certain diseases.
Clinical trials get efficiency boost from virtual reality
August 31, 2012 6:45 am | News | CommentsTime-consuming, expensive, and often intrusive, clinical trials are nevertheless a necessity. Researchers at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma have developed an invention that makes clinical trials more efficient. Called "digital Eye Bank," the computer software eye modeling program can take data from eyes of patients' and build it into models from the commercial optics program to be used for researchers' virtual clinical trials.
Scientist creates new cancer drug that is 10 times more potent
August 30, 2012 12:49 pm | News | CommentsIn a new study, University of Missouri medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer and added a special cluster of three elements: boron, carbon, and hydrogen. This structure, called a carborane, has multiplied the binding force of the drug. Clinical could start within two years.
Gene sleuths stop superbug that killed six
August 27, 2012 3:36 am | by Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer | News | CommentsOver six frightening months, a deadly germ untreatable by most antibiotics spread in the nation's leading research hospital. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health locked down patients, cleaned with bleach, even ripped out plumbing—and still the germ persisted. It took gene detectives teasing apart the bacteria's DNA to solve the germ's wily spread, a CSI-like saga with lessons for hospitals everywhere as they struggle to contain the growing threat of superbugs.
One-two chemical punch sends cancer tumors into remission
August 20, 2012 5:02 am | News | CommentsCancers release chemicals that confuse the immune system. Countering this effect, researchers led by Tarek Fahmy of Yale University have recently developed a system to simultaneously deliver a sustained dose of both an immune-system booster and a chemical to block the cancer's secretions. In mice this therapy has delayed tumor growth and even sent tumors into remission.
Nanoparticle discovery opens new door for pharmaceuticals
August 8, 2012 4:58 am | News | CommentsWhat a University of Central Florida student thought was a failed experiment has led to a serendipitous discovery hailed by some scientists as a potential game changer for the mass production of nanoparticles. The discovery was based on using heat to break up long, thin fibers into tiny, proportionally sized seeds, which have the capability to hold multiple types of materials locked in place.
Assay Depot partners with AstraZeneca to launch virtual research laboratory
July 31, 2012 5:00 am | News | CommentsDeveloped in partnership with AstraZeneca, a new private virtual laboratory product, Research Exchange, has been launched by Assay Depot. The cloud-based “laboratory” enables researchers to search for research services and vendors, communicate with experts, purchase services, and rate and review services through a single interface.
Prozac could be an effective anti-viral
July 30, 2012 4:15 am | News | CommentsResearchers have come across an unexpected potential use for fluoxetine—commonly known as Prozac—which shows promise as an antiviral agent. Using molecular screening, a California research team found that fluoxetine was a potent inhibitor of replication in viruses found in the gastrointestinal tract. The discovery could provide another tool in treating human enteroviruses that sicken and kill people in the U.S. and around the world.
Wyss Institute aims to mimic whole human body with organ-on-chip
July 27, 2012 7:35 am | News | CommentsThe Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University this week reported that it will receive up to $37 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop an automated instrument that integrates 10 human organs-on-chips to study complex human physiology outside the body. The aim is to simulate the entire body’s physiology.
Scientists find way to make disease-causing proteins vulnerable to drugs
July 27, 2012 5:15 am | News | CommentsOne of the most daunting challenges facing pharmaceutical scientists today are "undruggable proteins"—the approximately 80% of proteins involved in human disease that do not interact with current drugs. Yale University researchers have identified a novel way to design drugs for these previously inaccessible proteins.
iBio Inc., GE Healthcare form global alliance
July 26, 2012 8:49 am | News | CommentsiBio Inc. and GE Healthcare announced a new global alliance to commercialize plant-based technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. The alliance builds on the existing development and marketing agreement between the two companies announced in 2010.
Computational method simplifies gene selection for drug development
July 24, 2012 5:58 pm | News | CommentsResearchers have developed a new computational method that will make it easier for scientists to identify and prioritize genes, drug targets, and strategies for repositioning drugs that are already on the market. By mining large datasets more simply and efficiently, researchers will be able to better understand genomic and proteomics interactions, as well as identify fellow researchers with whom they can collaborate.
Scientists show new compound virtually eliminates HIV in cell culture
July 20, 2012 3:45 am | News | CommentsA new study by scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute shows, in cell culture, a natural compound can virtually eliminate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in infected cells. The compound defines a novel class of HIV anti-viral drugs endowed with the capacity to repress viral replication in acutely and chronically infected cells.
3D motion and common cold virus offers hope for improved drugs
July 16, 2012 6:28 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Melbourne researchers are now simulating in 3D the motion of the complete human rhinovirus, the most frequent cause of the common cold, on Australia's fastest supercomputer, paving the way for new drug development.
