December 2015

Researchers have identified a protein that helps the body control inflammatory response triggered by invasions of microbial pathogens such as bacteria and viruses

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, announced that Brazil has granted regulatory approval to Dengvaxia®, representing the third successful licensure of the dengue vaccine, which was also approved in Mexico and the Philippines earlier this month.

Exelixis, Inc. announced that it has completed the submission of its rolling New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cabozantinib as a treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received one prior therapy. Exelixis has requested Priority Review as part of the NDA filing.

Drug major Lupin has received final approval from the US health regulator to market Potassium Chloride extended release capsules, used to treat potassium deficiency in the body, in the American market.

Seattle Genetics Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that the companies have initiated a phase 1/2 clinical trial of ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with Opdivo (nivolumab) for patients with CD30-expressing relapsed or refractory B-cell and T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). This is the second of two trials being conducted under a previously announced clinical trial collaboration agreement between Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Seattle Genetics. ADCETRIS is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) directed to CD30, a marker expressed on Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and several types of NHL, which combines the targeting ability of a monoclonal antibody with a highly potent cell-killing agent. Recent preclinical data suggest that ADCETRIS causes immunogenic cell death of tumor cells, providing rationale for combination with Opdivo, a human antibody that targets and inhibits the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1), resulting in T-cell activation. Opdivo is part of a new class of cancer immunotherapy treatments known as checkpoint inhibitors, which are designed to harness the body’s own immune system in fighting cancer by targeting distinct regulatory components of the immune system.

Marketed as a safer alternative to conventional tobacco cigarettes, electronic cigarettes could actually damage cells in ways that could lead to cancer, suggests new research.

People with asthma may be at increased risk of shingles, a common form of painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus, says a new study.

Indians are three times more prone to cardiac arrest than Americans owing primarily to poor lifestyle, eating habits and genetic reasons, medical experts have said.

Eating too much is typically considered as one of the prime reasons for obesity but when people eat what they consider to be healthy food, they eat more than the recommended serving size because they associate "healthy" with less filling, say researchers, including one of Indian-origin.