Arthritis Animation Rheumatology

Can-Fite Completed Patient Enrollment For The Confirmatory Phase IIb Trial In Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients With CF101
Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has achieved yet another goal by completion of enrollment of 230 patients in its confirmatory phase IIb RA trial. Approximately 230 patients were enrolled to this study, randomized into 3 groups treated with 0.1 mg and 4 mg of CF101, and placebo. Patients are taking the drug for 12 weeks plus 2 weeks of follow-up. The trial is being conducted in 30 sites in Europe and Israel.

Pegloticase BLA Filing Accepted For Priority Review By FDA
Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVNT) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the Company's Biologics License Application (BLA) for pegloticase, a novel biological drug for treatment-failure gout (TFG) patients. The FDA also granted the Company's BLA with a priority review status which accelerates the review period to six months.

Potential Autoimmunity-Inducing Cells Found In Healthy Adults
It's not just patients with autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that have self-attacking immune cells - healthy people have them too, according to a new report in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. In healthy adults, however, these cells are maintained in an 'off' state, perhaps explaining their innocuous nature.

Phase III Study Showed Rituxan® Decreased The Progression Of Joint Damage In Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis
Genentech, Inc. (NYSE:DNA) and Biogen Idec (Nasdaq:BIIB) announced today that a Phase III clinical study of Rituxan® (rituximab) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not previously been treated with methotrexate (MTX) met its primary endpoint. In this study, known as IMAGE, patients received two infusions of either 500 mg or 1000 mg of Rituxan or placebo for up to two treatment courses in combination with a stable dose of MTX.

Phase III Study Showed Rituxan® Decreased The Progression Of Joint Damage In Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) and Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) announced that a Phase III clinical study of Rituxan® (rituximab) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not previously been treated with methotrexate (MTX) met its primary endpoint. In this study, known as IMAGE, patients received two infusions of either 500 mg or 1000 mg of Rituxan or placebo for up to two treatment courses in combination with a stable dose of MTX.

MabThera Inhibits The Destruction Of Joints In Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis
Roche announced recently that MabThera (rituximab) can significantly inhibit structural damage to joints in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not been treated with methotrexate (MTX), the current standard of care for RA treatment.

Groundbreaking, Inexpensive, Pocket-sized Ultrasound Device Can Help Treat Cancer, Relieve Arthritis
A prototype of a therapeutic ultrasound device, developed by a Cornell graduate student, fits in the palm of a hand, is battery-powered and packs enough punch to stabilize a gunshot wound or deliver drugs to brain cancer patients. It is wired to a ceramic probe, called a transducer, and it creates sound waves so strong they instantly cause water to bubble, spray and turn into steam. Tinkering in his Olin Hall lab, George K. Lewis, a third-year Ph.D.

CrystalGenomics Announces Positive Phase IIa Results For Osteoarthritis Study Of CG100649
CrystalGenomics, Inc. (Seoul, Korea) and CG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Emeryville, CA) announced positive results from a Phase IIa osteoarthritis (OA) study of the efficacy and safety of a next-generation NSAID, CG100649. The CG100649 treatment group met the primary efficacy endpoint by demonstrating a clinically and statistically significant change in the WOMAC(TM) OA score from baseline to Day 21 (p=0.010) compared to placebo.

Preventing A Recurrence Of The Northwick Park Trial
Scientists investigating the 2006 Northwick Park drug-trial disaster that left six healthy volunteers hospitalised say they have developed new pre-clinical tests that could have stopped the trial from ever going ahead. But Dr Stephen Poole, speaking at the British Pharmacological Society's Winter Meeting in Brighton, said that research is still "ongoing" to understand why the drug had such an adverse effect in the clinic but not in pre-clinical testing.

Funding For Building Better Bones And Tissue In The Lab
Tissue engineering holds great promise for the treatment of conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, fibrosis, periodontal disease and traumatic injuries. However, bone and cartilage currently produced in the laboratory don't have sufficient strength to function in the body so they're not clinically viable. Dr.

Hissey Kientz, LLP Warns Duragesic Patch Users About Potential Health Risks Of Fentanyl Overdose
The law firm of Hissey Kientz, LLP wishes to alert patients who use the Duragesic (fentanyl) pain patch of the serious and potentially fatal health risks they may face from the use of this powerful painkilling drug. The Duragesic pain patch was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August 1990 to treat certain patients with chronic pain.

Fighting Gum Disease With Gene Therapy
Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that gene therapy can be used to successfully stop the development of periodontal disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. The findings will be published online Dec 11 in advance of print publication in Gene Therapy.

Third Osteoarthritis Study This Year Reveals Pycnogenol® Lowers Inflammatory Marker CRP
Osteoarthritis (OA), a type of arthritis caused by the breakdown and loss of cartilage, affects more than 20 million Americans. While the most common prescription to treat OA is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), many seek alternative treatments because of the side effects associated with these drugs. Pycnogenol (pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, has been shown to reduce osteoarthritis in multiple studies.

Mutation In Bone Marrow Cancers Blocked By Promising New Drug , May Also Help Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute researchers have found that an experimental drug successfully blocks an enzyme that causes some bone marrow cancers. The oral drug, called CYT387, was tested in mice as well as in human cells. In both cases, it blocked the growth of certain bone marrow cancers called myeloproliferative disorders, also referred to as MPDs. The research was presented Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7 a.m.

$12 Million In Grants To Develop Transplant And Allergy Drugs Received By REGiMMUNE
REGiMMUNE Corporation, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing technologies and products for immune disorders, has announced that it has received two separate grants totaling more than $12 million from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and from National Institute of Biomedical Innovation (NIBIO).