PharmaLeader - Pharma News

HIV said to differ in blood, semen [The News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C.]

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:39:00 +0000

Aug. 25--CHAPEL HILL -- HIV-infected blood and semen hold different versions of the virus that causes AIDS, a finding that could help researchers working to find an effective vaccine, according to a new study by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The study compared the genetic makeup of the virus in blood and the one in semen collected from a group of infected men in Malawi and analyzed the gene coding for envelop, or Env, a major surface protein of the virus, in the samples.

"If everything we know about HIV is based on the virus that is in the blood, when in...

New study sheds light on painkilling system in brain

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:01:00 +0000

London, Aug 25 (ANI): Repeated boosting of brain levels of one natural painkiller results in shutting down the brain cell receptors that respond to it, thereby killing its painkilling effect, according to a surprising new study led by Scripps Research Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University scientists.

The study has important implications for drug development.

The natural painkiller, 2-AG, is one of the two major "endocannabinoid" neurotransmitters.

The other, anandamide, can be kept at high levels in the brain without losing its therapeutic effects, and researchers had hoped that the same would be true for 2-AG.

"One implication is that maximally elevating 2-AG levels...

Aileron, Roche Enter Peptides Deal Worth up to $1.26B

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Roche AG will pay Aileron Therapeutics Inc. at least $25 million up front and $1 . 1 billion in milestone payments to develop therapeutics based on the biotech's stapled peptides platform aimed at targets previously considered undruggable.

The milestone payments are based on achieving drug candidates against five undisclosed targets selected from Roche's key therapeutic areas, including oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and the central nervous system.

Under the deal structure, the milestones aren't all back-ended, some of which are "within reach in the not-too-distant future," Joseph A. Yanchik, president and CEO of Aileron, told BioWorld Today.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Aileron plans to use...

UNT helps ID victims 08 24

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:06:00 +0000

To: EDUCATION, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Dana Benton Russell, ABC, +1-817-735-2446, Dana.russell@unthsc.edu

Names confirmed thanks to technology advances

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for

Human Identification at the University of North Texas Health Science

Center (UNTHSC) analyzes DNA from unidentified human remains for law

enforcement organizations and medical examiners across the country in

an attempt to put a name to a body or victim. The result, in many

cases, is resolution for family members who have spent years wondering

about the fate of their loved one.

In the past few years, law enforcement agencies have ramped up efforts

to identify victims from unsolved...

DNA Lab at UNT Health Science Center Helps Identify More Than 550 Victims

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:06:00 +0000

Names confirmed thanks to technology advances

FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) analyzes DNA from unidentified human remains for law enforcement organizations and medical examiners across the country in an attempt to put a name to a body or victim. The result, in many cases, is resolution for family members who have spent years wondering about the fate of their loved one.

In the past few years, law enforcement agencies have ramped up efforts to identify victims from unsolved "cold" cases, and the Center for...