Pharmacology

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EMEA Recommends Orphan Drug Designation for AX200 for the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Pharmacology Newswire |
HEIDELBERG, Germany, February 14 /PRNewswire/ -- SYGNIS Pharma AG (Frankfurt: LIO; ISIN DE0005043509; Prime Standard), today announced that it has received a positive recommendation from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for AX200 for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of nerve cells innervating skeletal muscles and affects an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people in the industrialized nations. Patients with ALS suffer from progressive muscle…
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Study: Epilepsy Drug Does Not Also Help Migraines

Pharmacology News Account |
Contrary to some reports, the epilepsy drug oxcarbazepine does not appear to prevent migraine, according to research published in the February 12, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The nearly five-month study involved 170 men and women at clinics across the United States with half of the group receiving a daily dose of oxcarbazepine; the other half took placebo. Both groups included people who had three to nine migraine attacks within a month. Researchers found no difference between the oxcarbazepine and placebo groups in the change in the…
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Cellcept Immunosuppressant Linked To Birth Defects

Pharmacology News Account |
A new study documents malformations seen in an infant born to a kidney transplant recipient who had taken mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), a widely used immunosuppressant available commercially as Cellcept®. The findings suggest a specific birth defect pattern particular to this drug, reinforcing its potential to harm to the fetus. Approximately 14,000 births to organ transplant recipients, primarily kidney transplant patients, have been reported worldwide. Although pregnancy was initially ill-advised for these women, the American Society of Transplantation concluded in 2003 that pregnancy is…
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Autism: Study Says Thimerosal Mercury Doesn't Have Time To Accrete In Baby Bodies

Pharmacology News Account |
February’s issue of Pediatrics offers a study saying there is reason to rethink blaming the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late ‘90s. The research from the University of Rochester suggests that infants’ bodies expel the thimerosal mercury much faster than originally thought – thereby leaving little chance for a progressive build up of the toxic metal. Some parents and pediatricians believe that the series of thimerosal-containing shots many infants received in the 1990s, when the average number…
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Study Correlates Smoking During Pregnancy And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Pharmacology News Account |
A new study sheds light on the relationship between women who smoke while pregnant — or are exposed to second-hand smoke — and an increased risk of SIDS to their babies. Researchers at McMaster University have found a mechanism that explains why an infant’s ability to respond to oxygen deprivation after birth — or a hypoxic episode — is dramatically compromised by exposure to nicotine in the womb, even light to moderate amounts. “While cigarette smoke contains many different compounds, we found there is a direct impact of one component, nicotine, on the ability of certain cells to detect and…
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Caffeine Reduction May Help Control Diabetes

Pharmacology News Account |
Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes and may undermine efforts to control their disease, say scientists at Duke University Medical Center. Researchers used new technology that measured participants’ glucose (sugar) levels on a constant basis throughout the day. Dr. James Lane, a psychologist at Duke and the lead author of the study, says it represents the first time researchers have been able to track the impact of caffeine consumption as patients go about their normal, everyday lives. The findings, appearing…
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We Have Anti-Malarial Activity!

Pharmacology jcbradley |
The results are in. Jiri Gut from the Rosenthal group has run 2 of our Ugi products and they both show inhibition of falcipain-2 (EXP165) and Plasmodium falciparum (EXP166) in the micromolar range. To put this in context the activities are roughly 2 orders of magnitude lower than the positive control used for the enzyme inhibition and chloroquine for the parasite. But it is a start. And we have officially closed the Open Science Loop for the malaria project, meaning that we have openly documented the docking results from Rajarshi Guha (D-EXP014), our syntheses (EXP148 EXP150) and testing (…
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Research: Celebrex Arthritis Drug Disrupts Heart Rhythm

Pharmacology News Account |
COX-2 inhibitors are having a tough year. Vioxx was withdrawn voluntarily a few months ago and now Celebrex, the arthritis drug that blocks pain by inhibiting the COX-2 enzyme, has been shown in laboratory studies to induce arrhythmia, or irregular beating of the heart, via a pathway unrelated to its COX-2 inhibition. University at Buffalo researchers discovered this unexpected finding while conducting basic research on potassium channels. Celebrex (Celecoxib) has been taken by over 27 million patients since its approval by the FDA in 1998. The new research found that low concentrations…
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Caffeine Reduces Ovarian Cancer Risk; Alcohol And Smoking No Effect

Pharmacology News Account |
A new study published in CANCER found that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption do increase ovarian cancer risk while caffeine may lower the risk, particularly in women not using hormones. Various studies have assessed the potential link between modifiable factors such as smoking or caffeine and alcohol intake and have generated conflicting results. To help clarify these associations, Dr. Shelley S. Tworoger, of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues examined ongoing questionnaire data from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-based Nurses’ Health…
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Study: Probiotics Impacts Metabolism

Pharmacology News Account |
Probiotics, foods containing live 'friendly' bacteria that some evidence suggests helps in digestion, have a tangible effect on the metabolism, according to the results of a new study in the journal Molecular Systems Biology. The research is the first to look in detail at how probiotics change the biochemistry of bugs known as gut microbes, which live in the gut and which play an important part in a person’s metabolic makeup. Different people have different types of gut microbes inside them and abnormalities in some types have recently been linked to diseases such as diabetes and obesity. For…
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