Clinical Research

ROX Medical announced the first patient enrollment in the CONTROL-HTN international randomized controlled trial of the ROX FLOW procedure for the treatment of resistant hypertension (high blood pressure). The first patient was enrolled at UZ Brussel Hospital, Brussels, Belgium by Professor Danny Schoors and Dr. Sofie Brouwers.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1.2 billion people worldwide have high blood pressure and 50% of those have hypertension that remains uncontrolled (blood pressure above 140/90) and 15-20% have resistant form of hypertension. According to the…

A neuroprotectant drug has been shown to protect the human brain against the damaging effects of stroke. The clinical trial was a randomized, double blind, multi-center trial that was conducted in Canada and the USA. The study evaluated the effectiveness of NA-1 (Tat-NR2B9c) when it was administered after the onset of small strokes that are incurred by patients who undergo neurointerventional procedures to repair brain aneurysms. This type of small ischemic stroke occurs in over 90% of aneurysm patients after such a procedure, but usually does not cause overt neurological disability.  In…

 Apollo Hospitals performed a complex spinal surgery on a 10-year-old child, the 12th successful surgery done within 10 days of the launch of Renaissance Robotic Technology, the only technology specifically designed for spine surgery. Apollo Hospitals Group is the first in the Asia-Pacific to offer this surgical guidance system, which is a minimally-invasive robotic-guided spine surgery.  A 10-year-old girl from Gujarat, Heema was born with congenital anomalies that left her with a severely deformed spine. Before being admitted to Apollo Hospitals, the child had already undergone…

Obesity is not just happening in New York City 7-Elevens(1), it is also happening in aging bones. Bone marrow stem cells, which are adult stem cells, are in their fifth decade of uncontroversial new discovery. But they can still surprise us.  Our bones may be getting fatter as we age, and it could lead to osteoporosis, the condition where bone mineral density is 2.5 standard deviations below the mean (62%). The NIH estimates that up to 50% of women and 25% of men over the age of 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.  What's the connection? Bone marrow is that sponge-like tissue…

esverlogix Corp. today announced that the BET protein inhibitor RVX-208 significantly increased HDL-C (p=0.001), the primary endpoint of the SUSTAIN trial, a phase 2b clinical study. SUSTAIN also successfully met secondary endpoints, showed increases in levels of Apo-AI (p=0.002) and large HDL particles (p=0.02), both believed to be important factors in enhancing reverse cholesterol transport activity. The SUSTAIN trial also showed that increases in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) reported in previous trials were infrequent and transient with no new increases observed beyond week 12 of the 24…

A large study published in Human Reproduction (1) looked at the effect of induced abortions on a subsequent first birth and found that women who have had three or more abortions have a higher risk of adverse birth outcomes, such as delivering premature and low birth weight babies.Among 300,858 Finnish mothers, 31,083 (10.3%) had had one induced abortion between 1996-2008, 4,417 (1.5%) had two, and 942 (0.3%) had three or more induced abortions before a first birth (excluding twins and triplets). Those who had had three or more induced abortions had a statistically significant increased risk…

Oxford BioMedica plc biopharmaceuticals and its partner Sanofi announced a positive interim review of the RetinoStat(R) Phase I study in neovascular "wet" age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the StarGen(TM) Phase I/IIa study in Stargardt disease by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB); an independent panel of specialists in the fields of ophthalmology, virology and vectorology. RetinoStat(R) and StarGen(TM) were designed and developed by Oxford BioMedica using the Company's proprietary LentiVector(R) gene delivery technology.  Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major…

Affinium Pharmaceuticals announced today that full recruitment has been achieved in its multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating oral AFN-1252 in acute bacterial skin&skin structure infections ("ABSSSI"). This Phase 2 trial is the first human efficacy study conducted with a new class of antibiotics designed to specifically inhibit staphylococcal fatty acid biosynthesis via a new drug target, the fatty acid synthase II (FASII) system. Results expected in late 2012 will represent a significant proof-of-concept milestone for this unique, Staphylococcus-specific antibiotic, AFN-1252.…

Abbott today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Omnilink Elite® Vascular Balloon-Expandable Stent System for the treatment of iliac artery disease, a form of peripheral artery disease (PAD) that affects the lower extremities. Iliac artery disease can progress to where patients experience chronic pain and reduced ability to walk, potentially leading to permanent disability. Peripheral artery disease affects approximately 8 million to 12 million people in the United States and occurs when the blood vessels outside of the heart become narrowed with plaque,…

Fainting, also called vasovagal syncope (by about five neurologists and no one else), is a brief loss of consciousness that occurs when blood flow to the brain drops.  Its causes are so numerous that it is basically unknown what causes it - everything from dehydration to medications to pregnancy, heart conditions and age - but these triggers all occur among people who have a strong genetic predisposition, according to new research. For the study, 51 sets of twins of the same gender between the ages of nine and 69 were given a telephone questionnaire. At least one of the twins had a…