In New Data Alli Proven To Reduce Visceral Fat, A Dangerous Fat Linked To Many Life-Threatening Diseases

New studies show that overweight and obese people using alli® (orlistat 60 mg) with a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet can significantly reduce weight, visceral fat, and waist circumference and therefore may reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke.1,2 The studies were presented at the 1st International Congress on Abdominal Obesity in Hong...

FIPNet Supported by Cloud Computing

My colleague Brian discussed the FIPNet model in his last post as a structure for drug development and as a model for allocating “core” and “non-core” competencies among various partners to assure that your business has best practices throughout the entire drug development lifecycle. Today, I would like to talk about how “cloud computing” has accelerated and facilitated the viability of the FIPNet model.  If you have used Facebook, Linkedin, Salesforce, Google Apps. or other...

Drug charges dropped against ex-Broadcom chief

Henry Nicholas got a big break today as a federal judge decided to drop criminal drug charges against the former chief executive of chip maker Broadcom. The legal victory for Nicholas comes on the heels of the dropping of 21 charges related to his alleged improper backdating case. U.S. District Court judge Cormac Carney dismissed the earlier charges in December because of prosecutorial misconduct. Nicholas still faces a divorce case, but his worst legal problems, which threatened jail time, are...

ChemoCentryx Initiates Clinical Trial of CCX168, A Novel Small Molecule C5aR Antagonist for the Treatment of Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- ChemoCentryx, Inc., today announced the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial of CCX168, an orally-administered small molecule designed to treat autoimmune diseases.  CCX168 is a highly potent and very selective compound that specifically...

Neovasc completes first tranche of $1.329 million non-brokered private placement

--Proceeds will be Used to Fund Reducer(TM) COSIRA Multi-Center Clinical Trial-- VANCOUVER, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Neovasc Inc. (TSXV: NVC) today announced that it has completed the first tranche of a previously announced non-brokered private placement of approximately 7.4 million units at the price of $0.27per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2.0 million. The proceeds of the offering will be used primarily to fund the COSIRA trial - a multi-center clinical trial...

Blocking CRF may prevent excessive alcohol consumption

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found that a specific stresshormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), is key to the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence in animal models. Chemically blocking the stress factor also blocked the signs and symptoms of addiction, suggesting a potentially promising area for future drug...

Are Antipsychotic Medications Connected to Obesity?

Paula J. Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist at Harvard University wrote in a perspective article in the Boston Globe (01/24/10) that one commonly overlooked cause of obesity in many Americans is the use of second generation antipsychotic medications, which are strongly linked to weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. Its amazing that the link between these antipsychotic medications, such as the best selling drug, Zyprexa, remains little known despite the fact that it has been six...

Pfizer dumps about 100 drug development programs

Pfizer is whacking about 100 drug development programs out of a pipeline swollen by its merger with Wyeth. And Reuters reports that the bulk of the remaining 500 programs focus on six key areas: oncology, pain, inflammation, Alzheimer's disease, psychoses and diabetes. Even after the culling process, though, Pfizer will still have significantly boosted the work its doing on vaccines and biotech drugs, a key reason for the merger. The move to slim down the R&D side has led to some dramatic...

Biochemical profile may help diagnose, determine aggressiveness of prostate cancer

Magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy -- which analyzes the biochemistry rather than the structure of tissues -- may someday be able both to pinpoint the precise location of prostate cancer and to determine the tumor's aggressiveness, information that could help guide treatment planning. In the January 27 online issue of Science Translational Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report how spectroscopic analysis of the biochemical makeup of prostate glands accurately...

Dr. Carol Moreno-Quinn Joins PhysioGenix’s Science Advisory Team

Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) January 27, 2010 — Physiogenix, Inc., www.physiogenix.com, a world-leader in research services and solutions in the field of chronic disease, today announced that Dr. Carol Moreno-Quinn, M.D., Ph.D. will collaborate with the Company as a study director. Dr. Moreno-Quinn has extensive research experience in the fields of genetics, renal and cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Moreno-Quinn has spent five years as an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin. At the...