NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dermatomyositis (DM) is an idiopathic (disease for which cause is unknown) inflammatory disorder of skin and skeletal muscle involvement. Patients with skeletal muscle involvement have polymyositis (PM), and patients without muscle damage and typical skin lesions have amyopathic dermatomyositis. Scleromyositis is overlap syndrome associated with anti-PM-Sci antibodies. Dermatomyositis (DM) can be treated with variety of drugs few of them are:

Abatacept – It is also known as Orencia is a protein that prevents body’s immune system from attacking healthy tissues such as joints. It is a prescription medicine used to treat the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, also prevent joint damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

Baricitinib – It is an oral selective JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Dalazatide – It is formerly known as ShK-186 is a investigational drug designed to selectively target cells that cause autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus erythematosus, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

Get complete access of this report: https://www.profsharemarketresearch.com/dermatomyositis-drug-market-report/

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MNTA) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sandoz’s Abbreviated New Drug Application for Glatopa (glatiramer acetate injection) 40 mg/mL and that Sandoz has initiated the launch of this product in the US. Glatopa was developed under a collaboration agreement between Momenta and Sandoz and is produced in the US.

Glatopa 40 mg/mL is FDA-approved as a fully substitutable, AP-rated generic version of three times-a-week COPAXONE 40 mg/mL therapy for patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). In April 2015, the collaboration’s Glatopa 20 mg/mL product received FDA approval and remained the only generic glatiramer acetate product on the market for over two years.

“This approval further validates the strength of our physicochemical and biological characterization capabilities,” said Craig A. Wheeler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals. “We are very proud to once again be able to provide patients with relapsing-forms of MS with a cost effective, high-quality generic alternative treatment option.”

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The pharmaceutical industry is highly volatile, with promising lead candidates making or breaking a company’s year.

Companies’ financial success is often down to the strategic deals they are able to make with other pharmaceutical companies and research organizations to enable them to develop the next leading drug in the market, observes GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The $8.5 billion agreement between AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) and Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) to co-develop AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) for multiple cancer types puts the two companies at the top for strategic alliance spending for 2017. AstraZeneca just clinched the top spot from Merck with its development deals with Pieris Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PIRS) and MedImmune.

Lisa Marris, healthcare analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Despite this, Merck has had an arguably more successful year. It more than quadrupled its alliance deal values since 2016, and if its subsidiaries are added to the equation, its 2017 deal values rise to $9.5 billion, an increase of 248% from 2016, whereas AstraZeneca and its subsidiaries stayed almost stagnant at $11 billion.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2nZozjz

Tokyo-based Terumo Corporation has announced an investment of £33m in Vascutek Limited, one of its subsidiary companies located near Glasgow.

The investment has been approved for the expansion of Vascutek’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Renfrewshire, to help drive further growth for the global medical device company.

Vascutek produces a wide portfolio of implants with a particular focus on treating patients with aortic disease. These implants have helped to save or improve the lives of over 2 million patients in over 100 countries worldwide. Over 90% of the products made at Inchinnan are exported.

The investment will be used to scale up existing facilities at the site, including two new ‘cleanrooms’ – a carefully controlled manufacturing environment required for the production of the highest quality medical implants.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2smZtzN

Scientists have developed a way to identify biomarkers for a wide range of diseases by assessing the antibodies we are making to the complex sugars coating our cells.

The new, highly sensitive Luminex Multiplex Glycan Array enables the kind of volume needed to establish associations between antibody levels in our blood to these complex sugars, or glycans, and conditions from cancer to autoimmune disease and dementia, they report in the journal Nature Communications.
"For many diseases that kill us every day, there still are no good biomarkers," says Dr. Jin-Xiong She, director of the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Genomic Medicine.

Sugar coating on our cells is hardly icing, rather essential to cell health and ours. It helps cells know what other cells to bind to; its adhesive nature even helps them stick to other cells. It can help ensure a negative charge on the cell surface that keeps cell contents inside and provide protection from bacteria or viruses. It helps ensure that the proteins our cells make stay on task. It even helps our immune system recognize our cells as us.
But the sugar coating can also, often inexplicably, become a target for our immune system, which can dramatically alter cell function and lead to disease.

Like our cells, the beads in the new array are sugar coated. By exposing patient blood or serum to them, the scientists can see which glycans the patient is making antibodies against and how much they are making, looking for trends that could predict disease course, even potentially one day diagnose their disease.
In fact, the scientific team led by She has already used the array to identify a potential biomarker for high risk of ovarian cancer relapse following surgery and standard chemotherapy regimens.

"While we think this new test will eventually enable us to do many things, right now we have evidence it can help determine biomarkers for those at risk for relapse from cancer," says She, corresponding author of the published study.
The ability to quickly look at large numbers of patient samples and glycans is particularly important when data collection is still very much underway to see what it all means, She says.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2Ex8z1J

Anticalin developer Pieris and Antibody-drug conjugate specialist Seattle Genetics have agreed to co-develop three bispecific cancer drugs using Seattle Genetic’s cancer targets and Pieris’ co-stimulatory agonist and anticalin platform.

The partnership aims at combining Pieris’ anticalin platform with Seattle Genetics’ monoclonal antibodies portfolio to treat solid tumours and blood cancers. Under the agreement, Seattle Genetics will have the option to bring up to three bispecific candidates into clinical development. Pieris has the option for co-development and co-commercialisation of one programme in the US market sharing development costs and profits 1: 1. Seattle Genetics will fund the other programmes' development.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2EkoxJd

The wearable medical devices market is expected to reach USD 14.41 Billion by 2022 from USD 6.22 Billion in 2017, at a CAGR of 18.3% during the forecast period.

Factors such as technological advances in medical devices, increasing penetration of smartphones and growing number of smartphone-based healthcare apps compatible with wearable devices, growing preference for wireless connectivity among healthcare providers, and increasing awareness about physical fitness are driving the growth of this market.

The report segments the global wearable medical devices market into type, application, device type, distribution channel, and region.

Based on type, the market is further classified into smartwatches, patches, smart clothing, and activity monitors. The activity monitors segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR with largest market share during the forecast period. This growth is mainly due to the high prevalence of lifestyle diseases, growing adoption of sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles, and increasing awareness of fitness and health.

The global wearable medical devices market, by applications, is segmented into sports and fitness, remote patient monitoring, and home healthcare. The sports and fitness segment is estimated to account for the largest market share in 2017. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing focus on physical fitness among people to improve the quality of life, coupled with the growing trend of tracking health progress.

Based on distribution channel, the wearable medical devices market is segmented into pharmacies, online channel, and hypermarkets. In 2017, the pharmacies segment is expected to account for the largest share of the market. The growth of this segment is mainly attributed to factors such as increasing trend towards self-monitoring and non-invasive monitoring & diagnosis and substantial increase in the supply of wearable devices in pharmacies.

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Pharmaceutical products (medicine) form an important and vital part of any country’s healthcare system. Yet the presence of counterfeit pharmaceuticals has become a global dilemma which poses serious threat to an effective health care system and in some cases, citizen’s constitutional rights to health care. These counterfeit pharmaceuticals are not isolated to so called “poor countries” as it can also effect developing countries, such as South Africa, due to, inter alia illiteracy and improved quality of some of the counterfeit pharmaceutical products.
A consequence of counterfeit pharmaceuticals which contain lower than required levels of active ingredients is the development of drug resistant strains of the diseases which the original pharmaceuticals product is meant to combat. It has been proven that some of the counterfeit medicine commonly contains floor polish, corn starch, dust, potato starch, chalk, acid, heavy metals or arsenic. Against this background, it is not surprising that most countries in Africa are becoming vigilant in their effort to prevent importation or manufacturing of counterfeit medicine.

The difficulty for law enforcement agency to combat counterfeit medicines is because the products are generally being distributed through, illegal online websites and untrustworthy pharmacies whose owners only care about profits and not the wellbeing of their patients. Anti-malaria and antibiotics are some of the most commonly reported counterfeit medicines manufactured and distributed in the World. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 10 to 15% of the global drug supply is counterfeit and Africa accounts for up to 30% of the counterfeit medicine in circulation. A more worrying statistic is that it is estimated that 1 in 10 drugs sold worldwide is counterfeit.

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Boston, Jan. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, today announced the launch of a new patient and care-partner education and preparedness effort. The new initiative will provide those going through the brain tumor medical experience with the information, tools, and guidance needed to play a more active role in their treatment planning and decisions. This effort, including online resources called “The Brain Tumor Experience,” seeks to address gaps in how brain tumor patients and their care-partners obtain and consume information that is vital to receiving personalized care for their diagnosis and at every stage of the brain tumor medical experience.

“The emotion, confusion, and shock that overwhelms a newly diagnosed brain tumor patient and their loved ones is second-to-none,” said David Arons, chief executive officer at the National Brain Tumor Society. “Thus, we are aiming to educate patients and care-partners on the right questions to ask of their medical team and at the right time of their care. We are also providing the means for patients and their care-partners to explore participating in clinical research early in the course of treatment, so, if appropriate, they can consider enrollment in a well-matched clinical trial.”

Read more: http://bit.ly/2rH6H19

(WASHINGTON) — Scientists have created a hair-thin implant that can drip medications deep into the brain by remote control and with pinpoint precision.
Tested only in animals so far, if the device pans out it could mark a new approach to treating brain diseases — potentially reducing side effects by targeting only the hard-to-reach circuits that need care.
“You could deliver things right to where you want, no matter the disease,” said Robert Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose biomedical engineering team reported the research Wednesday.
Stronger and safer treatments are needed for brain disorders ranging from depression to Parkinson’s. Simply getting medications inside the brain, past what’s called the blood-brain barrier, is a hurdle. It’s even harder to reach its deepest structures.
Pills and IV drugs that make it inside trigger side effects as they wash over entire regions of the brain. So doctors have tried inserting tubes into the brain to pump drugs closer to their targets, but that risks infection and still isn’t accurate enough. The most targeted success to date is a cancer treatment, a wafer placed on the site of a surgically removed brain tumor that oozes out chemotherapy.
The MIT team’s next-generation approach: a customizable deep-brain implant that can deliver varying doses of more than one drug on demand.

Read more: http://ti.me/2DAXSr2

Researchers have discovered a new technique that overcomes one of the major challenges of stem cell therapy.

A drug, co-created by UBC researchers, might overcome one of the major challenges of stem cell therapy - their tendency to differentiate, becoming specific tissue cells too early and too quickly. If the drug works as well as it did in lab mice, it could help bring new stem cell treatments closer to reality.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2rEAI1z

THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- As more experimental drugs fail to stop Alzheimer's from destroying human memory, experts now wonder whether research into the devastating brain disease has been marching in the wrong direction.

In recent weeks, a pair of high-profile disappointments have been reported, including one just announced on a trial of the Eli Lily drug solanezumab.

Now, researchers are trying to figure out what might have been missed in the search for an Alzheimer's cure.

Did errors occur in the clinical trials of these drugs, creating the failure of potentially promising therapies? Or has there been a fundamental misunderstanding of the complex nature of Alzheimer's disease.

Read more: http://wb.md/2GilpPj

In both cell cultures and mouse models, a drug used to treat Hepatitis C effectively protected and rescued neural cells infected by the Zika virus—and blocked transmission of the virus to mouse fetuses.

Writing in the current online issue of the journal Scientific Reports, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in Brazil and elsewhere, say their findings support further investigation of using the repurposed drug as a potential treatment for Zika-infected adults, including pregnant women.
"There has been a lot of work done in the past year or so to address the Zika health threat. Much of it has focused on developing a vaccine, with promising early results," said senior author Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program and a member of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2DOBvBO

LONDON (Alliance News) - Spectris PLC said Friday it acquired Concept Life Sciences from private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe for GBP163 million.

Spectris, an engineering firm focused on measuring devices, said it will buy Concept on a debt and cash-free basis using existing cash resources and bank facilities. UK-based Concept provides pharmaceutical testing and environmental consultancy services.

In 2017, Concept generated GBP9.3 million in pro-forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation on pro-forma revenue of GBP48.7 million.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2naBoWW

Boston Scientific is infusing medical device company Millipede with $90 million, an equity investment that comes with the option to acquire the startup outright.

According to the agreement, Marlborough, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) must exercise its option to acquire Millipede before the startup completes its ongoing clinical trial for its heart valve repair device—as long as that trial meets certain undisclosed parameters. If the acquisition does not happen by the end of the clinical trial, which could wrap up by early summer, Santa Rosa, CA-based Millipede has the option to compel Boston Scientific to buy the rest of the company it does not already own. The options of both companies expire at the end of next year.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2rDznbo

One year ago, when Abbott Laboratories snapped up St. Jude Medical, one of Minnesota’s largest and longest-running medical device makers, deal skeptics abounded.

“There was a fair amount of concern and criticism when we acquired St. Jude,” Abbott Labs Chief Executive Miles White recalled Wednesday, noting during a call with analysts that the Little Canada company had struggled to grow for several years before the deal. “But frankly, as you can see in the numbers, there’s growth here and there’s going to be growth here. … I’m really happy with the performance of St. Jude.”

Illinois-based Abbott reported fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday that beat analysts’ adjusted estimates by a penny per share and full-year financials that showed just how much the year-old St. Jude deal has helped the overall company.

Medical devices now comprise Abbott’s largest product group by revenue, with more than $10.3 billion in revenue during 2017, amounting to operational growth of almost 6 percent on the year. Adding the St. Jude Medical’s product pipeline of heart device and pain therapies helped offset operational revenue declines in another major medical device category for Abbott — its $1.1 billion stent division, which slid nearly 2 percent compared to the prior year.

Read more:http://strib.mn/2DMEbji

The pathogenesis of conditions of the eye such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be impacted by gender-based differences in hormone fluctuations.

Newly published data from a team of investigators from Temple University’s Sbarro Institute has found that variations in sex steroid homeostasis have an effect on the physiology of human male retinal-pigment epithelial cells (RPEs), which are impacted by the inflammation caused by AMD.

According to the authors, the data from this study show high clinical significance as it considers these steroid fluctuations as the prompters of locale changes in the retina. These changes then are able to impact the pathological situation that occur along with aging in the non-reproductive systems—like the eye.

“The main goal of our investigation was to define whether male gender can be considered a risk factor in developing age-related retinal disease including AMD,” Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, the director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple University, and lead author, told MD Magazine. “Estrogens have historically been associated with women’s physiology, however, over the last 2 decades, several studies have shown that these hormones play a fundamental role in men.”

Read more:http://bit.ly/2n9J8t3

Our genome contains all the information necessary to form a complete human being. This information, encoded in the genome’s DNA, stretches to between 1 and 2 metres long but still manages to squeeze into a cell about 100 times smaller than a green pea. To do so, the genome has to be compacted.

Now a team led by Jacques Drouin, a researcher at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) and professor at Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine, has identified a key that can open up some parts of the compacted or closed genome. The discovery of this key, a pioneer protein factor, provides novel insight into mechanisms of genome access. The discovery was recently published in Nature Genetics. Like an archaeologist who unearths a long-buried civilization and reveals a whole new culture, this pioneer factor provides access to parts of the genome that were inaccessible due to its compacted state.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2BrEUBu

The European Commission has approved Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) as a treatment for adults with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) whose cancer produces the CD30 molecule.

It had previously given the therapy a conditional marketing authorization for CTCL patients who had at least one earlier treatment.

Adcetris’ approval was recommended by scientists at the European Medicines Agency in November of last year. In Europe, regulatory approval requires an endorsement by the agency, followed by a formal approval by the commission.

“The approval of Adcetris in this setting brings a much-needed, effective treatment option to patients living with CTCL, and I am looking forward to be able to offer this treatment to CD30-positive patients who have received one prior systemic therapy,” Dr. Julia Scarisbrick, a dermatologist from University Hospital Birmingham in the United Kingdom, said in a press release.

“Today’s approval is an important milestone for the CTCL community in Europe, and further reinforces the role Adcetris may have in improving outcomes and quality of life for patients with CD30-positive malignancies,” added Jesus Gomez Navarro, vice president and head of Oncology Clinical Research and Development at Takeda, Adcetris’ maker.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2BtZD7I

Recent laboratory findings have indicated that the proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) lansoprazole is highly active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but there has been no clinical research into this effect.

In a paper in PLoS Medicine (21 November 2017), researchers used data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink to compare the incidence of tuberculosis in people taking lansoprazole with that among those taking omeprazole or pantoprazole, two PPIs that have no known activity against M. tuberculosis[1].

Read more: http://bit.ly/2nb3L88

According to a new report from CPhI, 2018 will be a transformative year for the pharmaceutical market in Japan. The report was release ahead of CPhI Japan, which is set to take place on April 18–20, 2018 at the Big Sight Exhibition Centre, Tokyo, Japan.

Growth is expected for the generic drugs and biosimilars sectors, driven by cost pressures on healthcare systems. In a survey, 59% of domestic respondents believe that biosimilars will be the fastest growing sector. International companies are looking for opportunities to penetrate the local pharmaceutical market, but most believe that having a Japanese partner is key to overcoming obstacles such as brand loyalty and the lack of local knowledge. There could even be acquisitions in the medium term.

In an inaugural study of the perceptions of 500 pharmaceutical companies, Japan was among the top three countries in terms of reputation ranking. Japan was seen to have a higher growth potential than most European countries in the league, falling third behind Germany (first) and the United States (second). Japan also scored positively in “overall competitiveness.”

Read More: http://www.pharmtech.com/cphi-report-predicts-transformative-year-japan-2018

In a new study, researchers at the Université de Montréal have discovered a molecule called Pax7 that opens up parts of the compacted genome, enabling access by transcription factors.

Human DNA spans one to two meters, therefore the only way it can be squeezed into a cell is by compaction. DNA contains all the genes required to produce RNA; the intermediary molecule that codes for protein production and cellular activity. Transcription factors help this genetic information be copied into RNA at various stages throughout a person’s development, including the production of new cells. This enables stem cells to differentiate into specialized cells with different properties and functions.

Read more:http://bit.ly/CompactedGenome

The key factors driving market growth are the growing demand from pharmaceutical industry, rising technological advancements, the huge need for a reduction in production costs and increasing growth in generic medicines and biopharmaceuticals. However, high cost of robots and lack of skilled personnel to work in automated manufacturing units are some of the factors restraining the growth of global pharmaceutical robots market.

The Asia-Pacific is both the dominating and fastest growing market for global pharmaceutical robots during the forecast period 2016-2023, in terms of market revenue share. The increased adoption of robotic machines by the leading pharmaceutical companies headquartered in countries such as Japan and China, and the presence of industrial robotics companies in Asia Pacific, such as Kawasaki Heavy industries, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Fanuc Corporation, Denso Wave, etc., are some of the key factors driving the market growth in the Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, additional factors such as increased investments and funding in the robotics technology, and the growing pharmaceutical industry, etc., are expected to positively influence the growth of the Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical robots market.

Read more: http://bit.ly/PharmaRobots

A study of nasally administered opioid antagonist, naloxone, has shown promising results.
Naloxone is a powerful opioid antagonist that can reverse overdose from heroin and other opioids. Naloxone nasal sprays have been developed as an alternative to injectable naloxone devices. However, there are only limited pharmacokinetic data on the bioavailability of nasally administered naloxone.
Read more: http://bit.ly/2E6cujd

Celgene has signed an agreement to acquire integrated biopharmaceutical firm Juno Therapeutics for around $9bn.

Under the deal, Celgene will purchase Juno’s stock by paying $87 per share in cash.

Juno is engaged in the development of novel cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.

The company has developed cell-based cancer immunotherapies based on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and high-affinity T cell receptor (TCR) technologies to genetically engineer T cells to distinguish and kill cancer.

The acquisition will add JCAR017 (lisocabtagene maraleucel; liso-cel) to Celgene's lymphoma program. It is a CD19-directed CAR T currently in a pivotal program for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

In the US, JCAR017 is expected to receive approval in 2019.

Read more: http://bit.ly/CelgeneJuno