Archives: 2020-01-23

Court of Justice upholds EMA’s approach to transparency

EMA welcomes today’s two appellate judgments by the Court of Justice1 that confirmed, in clear and unambiguous terms, the right of citizens for access to clinical study and toxicology reports submitted to EMA for the purpose of the granting of a marketing authorisation for human and veterinary medicinal products. Source EMA “Transparency is an important feature of the Agency’s

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Discovery of new T-cell raises prospect of ‘universal’ cancer therapy

Researchers at Cardiff University have discovered a new type of killer T-cell that offers hope of a “one-size-fits-all” cancer therapy. T-cell therapies for cancer – where immune cells are removed, modified and returned to the patient’s blood to seek and destroy cancer cells – are the latest paradigm in cancer treatments. The most widely-used therapy,

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Researchers regrow damaged nerves with polymer and protein

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers have created a biodegradable nerve guide—a polymer tube—filled with growth-promoting protein that can regenerate long sections of damaged nerves, without the need for transplanting stem cells or a donor nerve. Source UPMC So far, the technology has been tested in monkeys, and the results of those experiments appeared

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Special delivery: McMaster physicists design ‘super-human’ red blood cells to deliver drugs to specific targets within the body

A team of physicists from McMaster University has developed a process to modify red blood cells so they can be used to distribute drugs throughout the body, which could specifically target infections or treat catastrophic diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer’s. The modified red blood cells are designed to circulate in the body for several

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Exploding cancer cells can cause serious side effects in CAR-T cell therapies

Blocking a protein makes cells shrink instead, causing fewer problems Techniques to genetically modify patient immune cells have revolutionized the fight against hard-to-treat cancers. But they can come with dangerous side effects. Now, researchers have found one reason why. A particularly messy form of cell death sparks severe inflammation in patients receiving CAR-T cell immunotherapy for blood

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ISSCR Issues Statement on Ethical Standards for Stem Cell-based Embryo Models

Original story from the International Society for Stem Cell Research The ISSCR is updating its Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation to respond to recent scientific advances that include the use of pluripotent stem cell (PSC) to create models of early human embryo development. As the science continues to advance, it raises important

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Cancer study may accidentally help researchers create usable blood stem cells

Researchers investigating childhood leukaemia have discovered that increasing MLL gene expression in iPSCs drives hematopoietic stem cell production, so could be the target of new therapies. Researchers have identified that increasing the expression of the normal form of the MLL gene can drive production of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). This not only provides a protocol

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The Lancet Digital Health: Real-time flu prediction may be possible using wearable heart rate and sleep tracking devices

First study to evaluate de-identified data from wearable devices on resting heart rate and sleep finds improved real-time prediction of influenza-like illness in 5 US states compared to current surveillance methods The research, published in The Lancet Digital Health journal, demonstrates the potential of data from wearable devices to improve surveillance of infectious disease. Resting heart rate

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