Every week in England and Wales three babies are born with spina bifida and 13 pregnancies are terminated when a neural tube defect is discovered. Around two thirds of these events could be avoided by adding folic acid to flour
Author: CBI
Blood Sugar Measure May Not Predict Heart Disease
High blood sugar readings have been tied to a greater risk for heart disease. While these blood sugar readings may signal risk of pre-diabetes or diabetes, they may not be a sign that heart disease waits ahead.
Cambridge Biomedical Inc. Attending World Orphan Drug Congress in Washington D.C.
Cambridge Biomedical Inc. announces that their Chief Operating Officer, Dr. John Reddington, will be attending the 4th annual World Orphan Drug Congress in Washington D.C. April 23-25th, 2014
Cambridge Biomedical’s experience with bioanalytical assay development, optimization, validation and diagnostic testing has proved instrumental in assisting biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that are focusing on therapies for orphan and ultra-rare disease in expediting their development programs.
Dr. John Reddington, COO of Cambridge Biomedical, commented that, “Our track record and experience with the needs of the orphan and ultra-rare disease drug development market, combined with our scientific expertise and wide range of technology platforms, has proven essential in reducing the time to market for this critical sector of the market. Throughout our organization we never forget that our primary mission is to support the ultimate end-user: the patient.”
Cambridge Biomedical
Since 1997, Cambridge Biomedical has partnered with our clients by providing a diverse range of services from pre-clinical to post market. Including; assay development, optimization, validation and diagnostic testing. Conveniently located to support the Northeast pharmaceutical development market, yet with a national and global reach. Our personalized project management, approach along with a focus on delivering quality results and regulatory submission ready documentation and rapid turnaround times, ensure we meet our client’s product development timelines.
Take a Look at the First Successfully Transplanted, 3D-Printed Skull
The first 3D printed skull transplant has taken place in the Netherlands — and they’ve released some of the early footage of the successful surgery.
The surgery was performed in the University Medical Center at Utrecht University, after surgeons there began treating a patient with a condition that was causing a thickening of the skull to almost 3 times its normal thickness, putting pressure on the brain.
An ancient virus may be the reason human stem cells can transform
The embryonic stem cells responsible for producing every other type of cell in the human body gained their power from an ancient virus that copied itself into our DNA millions of years ago, according to new research. National Geographic reports that the discoverycould lead to more effective stem-cell treatments for diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, among other ailments.
Use Tobacco To Thwart West Nile Virus And Other Infectious Diseases
West Nile virus is spread by infected mosquitoes and targets the central nervous system. It can be fatal disease and there is currently no cure or drug treatment. It has spread across the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
An international research group has developed a cost-effective therapeutic against West Nile virus and other pathogens. The therapeutics, known as monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and their derivatives, were shown to neutralize and protect mice against a lethal dose challenge of West Nile virus – even as late as 4 days after the initial infection.
Drug-Diagnostic Development Stymied by Payer Concerns
The shift to personalized medicine, which supports medical treatment tailored to individual patient characteristics, has been hindered by uncertainty over the value, accuracy and clinical utility of companion diagnostic tests. Even for the handful of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration with labeling that links prescribing to specific biomarker measures, health plan operators, providers and payers frequently question the need to cover the added testing, according to analysis by Joshua Cohen of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD). Cohn noted at a recent CBI conference on “Precision Medicine and Companion Diagnostics” that only a few therapies have been approved by FDA with co-developed tests to inform prescribing; several more drugs gain links to specific diagnostics post-approval.
New generation of antibiotics may lie with small peptides
As drug-resistant bacteria – or “superbugs” – get stronger and we run out of current antibiotics to kill them, the pressure to find new types of effective drugs increases. Now, a team in Germany suggests small peptides – which can attack bacteria in several different ways – have the potential to form a new generation of antibiotics
2013 was a record breaking year for orphan drugs
In 2013, FDA approved 31 orphan drugs – 5 more than the previous record year (2011) – pushing the total number of orphan drugs approved past the 450 mark. Both orphan drug designations and orphan drug designation requests skyrocketed in 2013
The human nose can detect one trillion different odours, far more than we previously thought.
The human nose can detect one trillion different odours, far more than we previously thought, say US scientists.
Until now, the long-held belief was that we can sniff out about 10,000 smells.
New estimates published in Science suggest the human nose outperforms the eye and the ear in terms of the number of stimuli it can distinguish between.