CAMBRIDGE, England, and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 4,2012 /PRNewswire/ --Horizon Discovery Ltd (Horizon), a leading provider of research tools to support the development of personalized medicines, and H3 Biomedicine Inc. today announced the launch of SyntheTx, a technology partnership program aiming to become a major supplier of novel oncology targets and early-stage drug discovery programs to the pharmaceutical industry. H3 Biomedicine, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of targeted patient-specific cancer treatments, is the first partner for the program. Additional biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical partners will be sought in the first 12 to 18 months of the program. Professor Alan Ashworth, Professor of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Cancer research (ICR) and pioneer of synthetic lethality screening, will join Horizon's Scientific Advisory Board to provide oversight of the program. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120430/NY96379LOGO ) Horizon and H3 Biomedicine will screen up to 50 currently "undruggable" but key cancer-driving genotypes, with the aim of identifying a range of targets that will be optioned by Horizon and H3 for further development. Any targets not optioned by H3 Biomedicine or Horizon will be made available on commercial terms to the pharmaceutical industry at the end of the program. The program will also capitalize … Continue reading →

Oct 4 2012 Drug addicts are getting older and more over-40s are dying, health officials have said. But younger adults are becoming more savvy about the dangers of addiction and the number of young heroin addicts has dropped to its lowest recorded level, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) said. Paul Hayes, the NTA's chief executive, also rejected suggestions that the Government should do a "hand-brake turn" and start legalising or decriminalising drugs. "Any move towards legalisation would certainly mean an increase in use, particularly in the most problematic drugs," he said. "It isn't (Sir) Richard Branson having an extra spliff that's an issue. It's people who struggle with life in Liverpool and Manchester and the East End of London who are actually going to bear the consequences." Sir Richard is among high-profile campaigners who have called for changes to the Government's drugs policy. The warning came as NTA figures showed the over-40s now make up almost a third of the whole treatment population in England, with more than 16,000 starting a new course of treatment in 2011/12. More over-40s are also dying from drug misuse, up to 802 last year from 504 in 2001, the figures showed. … Continue reading →

Drug addicts are getting older and more over-40s are dying, health officials have said. But younger adults are becoming more savvy about the dangers of addiction and the number of young heroin addicts has dropped to its lowest recorded level, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) said. Paul Hayes, the NTA's chief executive, also rejected suggestions that the Government should do a "hand-brake turn" and start legalising or decriminalising drugs. "Any move towards legalisation would certainly mean an increase in use, particularly in the most problematic drugs," he said. "It isn't (Sir) Richard Branson having an extra spliff that's an issue. It's people who struggle with life in Liverpool and Manchester and the East End of London who are actually going to bear the consequences." Sir Richard is among high-profile campaigners who have called for changes to the Government's drugs policy. The warning came as NTA figures showed the over-40s now make up almost a third of the whole treatment population in England, with more than 16,000 starting a new course of treatment in 2011/12. More over-40s are also dying from drug misuse, up to 802 last year from 504 in 2001, the figures showed. Heroin also remains … Continue reading →