EXTON, Pa., Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ViroPharma Incorporated (VPHM) today announced that Vincent Milano, president and chief executive officer of ViroPharma, will provide an overview of the company's business, including additional maribavir clinical trial data, during the 31st Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. The presentation will be webcast live at 6:30 P.M. ET (3:30 P.M. PT) on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 and may be accessed via the company's website at http://www.viropharma.com. The conference is being held at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The company expects to release full-year 2012 financial results later in the first quarter of 2013. "2012 represented a new beginning for ViroPharma. We believe our execution and achievements throughout the global organization during the year position the company very well for not only success in 2013, but also provides the opportunity for tremendous growth for our shareholders in the years ahead," stated Milano. "ViroPharma has moved beyond Vancocin (vancomycin hydrochloride capsules, USP) and now has a geographically diverse commercial portfolio and a robust, maturing development pipeline. The continued success of Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]), with unaudited 2012 U.S. net sales ofapproximately $321 million, driven by over 900 active patients on prophylactic therapy, … Continue reading →

Hatfield, England (ots/PRNewswire) Eisai today launches Fycompa(R) (perampanel) in Norway as a treatment for partial-onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalised seizures, in people with epilepsy aged 12 years and older.[1] Perampanel is the first in an entirely new class of treatment for uncontrolled partial epilepsy, the most common form of the condition. There are more than 45,000 people in Norway with epilepsy.[2] The successful treatment of partial-onset seizures remains a significant challenge in some patients and the incidence of uncontrolled partial epilepsy remains high despite the availability of many anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Currently, between 20 40% of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy will become refractory to treatment.[3] Perampanel is the first and only licensed AED to selectively target AMPA receptors, a protein in the brain which plays a critical role in causing seizures.[4] This mechanism of action is different to other, currently available AEDs. In addition, perampanel has the added benefit of convenient, once-daily dosing at bedtime[1] and, significantly, is the only new-generation partial epilepsy treatment approved to treat adolescents with epilepsy from launch. Doctors and patients in Norway will welcome perampanel as a new option for the treatment of partial onset epilepsy. It may help people living with … Continue reading →

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Edison Pharmaceuticals today announced the initiation of a phase 2B study entitled, "Safety and Efficacy Study of EPI-743 on Visual Function in Patients with Friedreich's Ataxia." The trial is a placebo-controlled study lasting six months, followed by an extension phase in which all subjects will receive EPI-743. Subjects must be between 18 and 45 years of age, possess genetic confirmation of Friedreich's ataxia, and meet certain disease severity criteria. The primary endpoint of the trial is visual function, with secondary endpoints including neurological and neuromuscular function and disease-relevant biomarkers. More information on study specifics is available on ClinicalTrials.gov. This trial is being conducted with the assistance of investigators from the Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) Clinical Research Network and FARA's Patient Registry. "FARA is excited about the commencement of the EPI-743 Friedreich's ataxia clinical trial, and is working closely with Edison Pharmaceuticals and Clinical Research Network investigators to expedite enrollment," stated FARA President Ronald Bartek. "This trial represents the importance of public-private partnership in drug development and the culmination of FARA-sponsored translational research, initiated with both FARA and National Institutes of Health (NIH) support." Three clinical trial sites have been selected in … Continue reading →

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & HELSINKI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Labcyte Inc. and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) are collaborating to further the development of personalized medicine in cancer treatment. Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology has already revolutionized small-molecule research. Now, FIMM, a European leader in advanced research for new cancer therapies, will apply the technology extensively in its personalized medicine programs. FIMMs groundbreaking use of acoustic liquid handling will demonstrate the technologys role in genetic research, said Mark Fischer-Colbrie, CEO of Labcyte. FIMM has successfully used Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology to generate better data and drive down costs in small-molecule screening for the past three years. This collaboration with such a well-regarded institute will facilitate breakthroughs in personalized medicine. FIMM uses large sample sets with links to detailed patient records and genetic data to discover personalized treatment options at a faster pace. We see an enormous potential in expanding our use of Labcyte acoustic dispensing technology to help discover specialized leukemia treatments, said Professor Olli Kallioniemi, director of FIMM. This research is based on high-throughput drug sensitivity and resistance testing of leukemic cells taken from patients. This new initiative will bring us closer to the clinic and closer to patients. Our … Continue reading →

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Sequenom, Inc. (SQNM), a life sciences company providing innovative diagnostic testing and genetic analysis solutions, today announced preliminary highlights of the Company's 2012 performance and accomplishments. Initial 2012 Performance Results (unaudited) "2012 was a year of remarkable progress for Sequenom. The rapid adoption of the Sequenom CMM's MaterniT21 PLUS by the OB/GYN physician community far exceeded the Company's internal goal and the estimates of industry analysts. The joint recommendation by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society of Maternal and Fetal Medicine (SMFM) for the use of noninvasive prenatal tests (NIPT) such as the MaterniT21 PLUS in high risk pregnancies provided an additional validation for this technology. The company also exceeded the majority of its other goals as it established Sequenom CMM as a leader in the prenatal testing market," said Harry F. Hixson, Jr, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Sequenom. "We look forward to the continued growth of the MaterniT21 PLUS LDT in 2013 and the corresponding increase in test capacity. We plan to work with national and regional payors to establish additional contracts facilitating the availability of the MaterniT21 PLUS LDT to high-risk pregnant women throughout the United … Continue reading →

Having a strong family history of seizure disorders increases the chance of having migraine with aura. Medical evidence has established that migraine and epilepsy often co-occur in patients; this co-occurrence is called comorbidity. Previous studies have found that people with epilepsy are substantially more likely than the general population to have migraine headache. However, it is not clear whether that comorbidity results from a shared genetic cause. Epilepsy and migraine are each individually influenced by genetic factors, explains lead author Dr. Melodie Winawer from Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Our study is the first to confirm a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and migraine in a large population of patients with common forms of epilepsy. For the present study, Dr. Winawer and colleagues analyzed data collected from participants in the Epilepsy Phenome/Genome Project (EPGP)a genetic study of epilepsy patients and families from 27 clinical centers in the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. The study examined one aspect of EPGP: sibling and parent-child pairs with focal epilepsy or generalized epilepsy of unknown cause. Most people with epilepsy have no family members affected with epilepsy. EPGP was designed to look at those rare families with more than one … Continue reading →