Monthly Archives: February 2012

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on the Genetic Testing market. The global market for Genetic Testing is forecast to reach US$2.2 billion by 2017. Increasing knowledge about the potential benefits in genetic testing is one of the prime reasons for the growth of the genetic testing market. Advancements in the genetic testing space, aging population and a subsequent rise in the number of chronic diseases, and increasing incidence of cancer cases are the other factors propelling growth in the genetic testing market. San Jose, California (PRWEB) February 28, 2012 Follow us on LinkedIn – Genetic testing represents the most rapidly expanding segment of the molecular diagnostics market worldwide. Growing incidence of genetic diseases unravels new opportunities for genetic testing. The transformation of genetic testing from being a service-driven market to a product-driven market is expected to provide an impetus to the diagnostic companies for the expansion of their operations. The market for screening the newborns, diagnosing rare and fatal disorders, and predicting the probability of occurrence of diseases is likely to expand. Particularly, genetic tests to screen the newborns are expected to expand immensely over the coming years. The US represents the largest market for genetic … Continue reading →

LONDON--(Marketwire -02/28/12)- Laboratories performing molecular or genetic diagnostic testing play a vital strategic role in the success of personalized medicine (PM), but are often the "forgotten" link, according to a new survey of 31 laboratories in five EU countries conducted by Labceutics, a division of Diaceutics, that provides value-enhancing laboratory networks and services for the PM industry. "We wanted to better understand the barriers faced by laboratory leaders as they seek to partner with pharmaceutical companies in the development of companion diagnostic tests for PM," said Maria Fe Paz, Managing Director of Labceutics. "Laboratories' interest in early participation has important implications for the success of pharmaceutical companies' PM businesses." Survey findings included: Laboratories as PM stakeholders have been largely forgotten by pharmaceutical companies, which wrongly assume that diagnostic partners have sufficiently engaged laboratories; Unlike the US, Europe has a fragmented laboratory market with strong country personalities, therefore centralized approaches may be too disruptive; A decentralised laboratory strategy in Europe will enable a "high touch" service among laboratory managers or pathologists and physicians; One-size-fits-all laboratory testing plans or "kit" approaches will encounter slow uptake in Europe; Successful introduction of PM therapeutics and companion diagnostics must include early preplanning with laboratories. "Labs … Continue reading →

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX - News) announced today that it has initiated a phase III pivotal clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adult autologous (an individual’s own) CD34+ stem cells to increase exercise capacity in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI). Chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI) is one of the most severe forms of coronary artery disease, causing significant long-term damage to the heart muscle and disability to the patient. It is often diagnosed based on symptoms of severe, refractory angina, which is severe chest discomfort that does not respond to conventional medical management or surgical interventions. “The prospect of using a person’s own adult stem cells to restore and repair blood flow in CMI is a very exciting concept based on a biological regenerative approach,” said Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., Baxter’s chief science and innovation officer. “The goals of this phase III trial are aligned with Baxter’s overall mission to develop life-saving and life-sustaining therapies and it will help us determine if the therapy can make a meaningful difference for CMI patients.” The trial will enroll approximately 450 patients across 50 clinical sites in the United States, who will be randomized to one of three … Continue reading →

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Younan Xia, Ph.D., an internationally recognized leader in the field of nanotechnology, recently joined the Georgia Institute of Technology as the first Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine. Dr. Xia is the Brock Family Chair and GRA Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, with a joint appointment in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. His research focuses on nanocrystals -- a novel class of materials with features smaller than 100 nanometers -- as well as the development of innovative technologies enabled by nanocrystals. One nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter. These technologies span the fields of molecular imaging, early cancer diagnosis, targeted drug delivery, biomaterials, regenerative medicine and catalysis. “The possible applications of nanotechnology in medicine have only begun to be explored,” said Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance. “Dr. Xia’s expertise and collaborative vision will lead to vital new scientific discoveries that can be transformed into new tools to help people live healthier lives.” Dr. Xia is an international leader in the synthesis of nanomaterials designed to improve the way we live. He has been … Continue reading →

Background Epilepsy is a heterogeneous disorder, with outcomes ranging from immediate remission after taking a first antiepileptic drug to frequent unremitting seizures with multiple treatment failures. Few prognostic models enable prediction of outcome; we therefore aimed to use data from the SANAD study to predict outcome overall and for patients receiving specific treatments. Methods The SANAD study was a randomised controlled trial in which standard antiepileptic drugs were compared with new treatments. Arm A included patients for whom carbamazepine was considered the first-line treatment, most of whom were newly diagnosed with focal epilepsy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive carbamazepine, gabapentin, lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, or topiramate. Outcomes were time to treatment failure overall, because of inadequate seizure control, and because of adverse events, and time to 12 months of remission from seizures. In this post-hoc study we used regression multivariable modelling to investigate how clinical factors affect the probability of treatment failure and the probability of achieving 12 months of remission. Findings For time to treatment failure, we identified several significant risk factors: sex (male vs female, hazard ratio [HR] 0·86, 95% CI 0·75—0·99), treatment history (taking non-SANAD antiepileptic drugs [other than those listed above] vs treatment naive, 1·27, 1·05—1·53), age … Continue reading →