The conventional methods for measuring free cortisol, the body’s stress hormone, from blood or saliva are quite demanding and require sample processing. The most common method, therefore, involves collecting urine over several days. However, this method requires great perseverance from patients, as collecting every drop of urine over several days can be nearly impossible, even if the patients are hospitalized. This often leads to up to 60% variation in urine-free cortisol measurements in individual patients. Now, researchers have developed a new method for measuring cortisol levels directly from a blood sample, marking a significant advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Researchers from Aarhus University (Aarhus, Denmark) have discovered a groundbreaking method for measuring levels of free cortisol directly from a blood sample. This new method is simple and quick, requiring only a few drops of blood. This contrasts sharply with current practices, which are both cumbersome and ...
Pancreatic cancer ranks as the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths, primarily due to its late detection. Early discovery of the disease, while it’s still treatable, could significantly impact survival rates. For more than a century, scientists have sought to link cancer with cellular energy production and metabolism. The advent of quantitative mass spectrometry has enabled the testing of many such theories. Now, for the first time, researchers have utilized targeted mass spectrometry to demonstrate that pancreatic cancer stems from changes in cellular metabolism that are detectable using a simple blood test. This method could lead to more precise and earlier diagnoses of pancreatic cancer than currently possible with tumor markers or imaging techniques, potentially paving the way for more timely and appropriate therapeutic interventions. In contrast to genomic approaches that measure DNA for early detection and often struggle with false positives and negatives, mass spectrometry can measure extremely low ...
Don Tracy, Associate Editor Teens to be included in both placebo and open label studies for QRX003, a potential treatment for Netherton syndrome. Today, Quoin Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA has given approval to include teenagers aged 14 years and older in two ongoing clinical trials for QRX003, a potential treatment for Netherton syndrome (NS). According to a press release, this marks the first time that teen patients with NS will have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials under an Investigational New Drug Application (IND). Additionally, the studies will accommodate teens currently on off-label systemic therapy, with the focus of generating comprehensive data for QRX003’s development.1 “We are very pleased to announce this exciting development, not just for Quoin’s clinical program, but for the Netherton community as a whole,” said Michael Myers, BSc, PhD, CEO, Quoin, in a press release. “We are frequently petitioned by parents and caregivers that ...
Akero Therapeutics’ preliminary Phase 2b data show that treatment with its MASH drug, efruxifermin, continued to distance itself from a placebo measured at nearly two years of treatment. The latest Akero data build on six-month results reported in 2022. By FRANK VINLUAN Longer treatment with an Akero Therapeutics drug in development for the liver disease MASH led to better results, including improvement in fibrosis, the liver scarring that is a hallmark of the chronic disorder. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, causes deteriorating liver function that can reach the point of requiring an organ transplant. The fibrosis that develops with MASH is classified in four stages. Stage 4, the most severe, is liver cirrhosis. On Monday, South San Francisco-based Akero reported preliminary results at 96 weeks showing that 75% of patients treated with the highest dose of its drug, efruxifermin, showed improvement of at least one stage of fibrosis without worsening ...
“If we don’t move toward accelerated approval, many patients will not be able to receive treatment in a timely manner. For many initial approvals of gene therapies, accelerated approval will become the standard process.” Peter Marks said at a seminar held by the Reagan-Udall Foundation in Washington last week . There are currently more than 10,000 rare diseases, but companies often struggle to bring treatments for these diseases to market due to small patient populations and financial constraints. Accelerated approval is a tool that can advance the development of innovative treatments and ensure that companies do not abandon promising treatments. Peter Marks said: “There are many gene therapies for rare diseases that are almost successful. The key question now is, how do we push them to the finish line smoothly?” For gene therapy for rare diseases, a balance between supervision and science is needed. How to supervise gene therapy more ...
For World Hearing Day, marked on 3 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released new technical guidance on hearing aid service delivery approaches for low- and middle-income settings. This document is designed to provide practical guidance to countries in developing hearing aid services in areas that lack human resources for assessing hearing, as well as fitting and maintaining hearing aids. The guidance, developed with support from the ATScale Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, is based on the principle of task sharing among specialists and trained non-specialists. It includes two approaches, one targeting adults and the other for children 5 years and over, and is accompanied by resources with tips for healthy ear care practices, use of hearing aids and how to support people living with hearing loss. “Over 400 million people with hearing loss could benefit from using hearing devices. However, less than 20% of these needs are fulfilled,” ...
On February 28, 2010, AbbVie and OSE Immunotherapeutics, an immunotherapeutics company, announced a strategic partnership to develop OSE-230, a monoclonal antibody designed to address serious chronic inflammatory diseases, which is currently in preclinical studies. OSE-230 is a first-of-its-kind monoclonal antibody designed to activate the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target ChemR23, which may provide a novel mechanism for relieving chronic inflammation by regulating macrophage and neutrophil function. Dr. Jonathon Sedgwick, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Research at AbbVie, said: “This collaboration underscores our commitment to expanding our immunology portfolio, with the ultimate goal of raising the standard of care for patients suffering from inflammatory diseases worldwide. We look forward to applying our expertise in immunology drug development to advance the development of OSE-230. Nicolas Poirier, Chief Executive Officer of OSE Immunotherapeutics, said: “We are pleased to partner with AbbVie, a global leader in the development and commercialization of ...
Shanghai, China, 29th February 2024 – Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) announced that the supplemental new drug applications (sNDAs) of its adalimumab biosimilar HANDAYUAN for the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis,pediatric plaque psoriasis and other indications have been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA),bringing new hope to pediatric patients and their families. As of now, HANDAYUAN has been approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, plaque psoriasis and uveitis. Autoimmune diseases are a group of diseases caused by the body’s immune system attacking its own organs or tissues[1]. It is estimated that approximately 7.6%-9.4% of the global population suffers from various types of autoimmune diseases[2]. Currently, autoimmune diseases are difficult to cure, and once it occurs, most patients need long-term to lifelong medication. Some autoimmune diseases are particularly dangerous and severely affect the quality of life of patients, posing a threat to their lives and ...
Around 900,000 people in the UK are affected by the progressive neurodegenerative disease Researchers from University College London (UCL), in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, have revealed that impaired spatial navigation could determine the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) before the onset of symptoms. Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, researchers used virtual reality (VR) to test the spatial navigation of 100 asymptomatic adults from the PREVENT-Dementia study. Affecting around 900.000 people in the UK, AD is a neurodegenerative disorder that progressively destroys memory, thinking skills and the ability to carry out simple day-to-day tasks. Researchers recruited adults aged between 43 and 66 years who had a hereditary or physiological risk of AD related to either the APOE-ε4 allele gene, a family history of AD or lifestyle risk factors, including low levels of physical activity, who were around 25 years younger than their estimated ...
In the UK alone, the aggressive form of cancer affects around 52,000 men every year Researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester have revealed that prostate cancer is not just a single disease and is made up of two different evotypes – subtypes of the disease. Published in Cell Genomics, the study, funded by Cancer Research UK and Prostate Cancer Research, used artificial intelligence (AI) to reveal a new form of aggressive prostate cancer. Currently the most common cancer affecting men in the UK, prostate cancer is responsible for around 52,000 cases every year. As part of the Pan Prostate Cancer Group; an international consortium set up by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the University of East Anglia (UEA), researchers applied AI to analyse the genetic data of 159 prostate cancer patient samples across nine countries. Using whole genome sequencing to study changes in ...
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