News

Cambridge, Mass., based biomedical company Biogen Idec announced encouraging results of a phase II drug targeting amyloid in Alzheimer’s patients at a Deutsche Bank conference in Boston today.

The recent death of the beloved comedian and actor Robin Williams by suicide took fans by complete surprise and left many in mourning for the master of improvisation. A recent report in Salon provides details from Williams' autopsy report that indicates the presence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), which may explain some of his uncharacteristic behavior of late. In addition to DLB, Williams also suffered from Parkinson's.

Yet another blood test for Alzheimer's disease is being developed--this time by a group of Japanese researchers. The technique could, if approved, be used to screen patients who show no signs of neurodegeneration. 

Cardiff University in Wales has broken ground on a $70 million brain imaging center expected to be "unique within Europe." A range of brain mapping techniques will be implemented to improve researchers' understanding of diseases like multiple schlerosis, schizophrenia and dementia.

A spike in regulatory requirements has been reported by Regulatory Focus according to data released by George Mason University's Mercatus Center for market research in Arlington, Va. According to the numbers, FDA requirements picked up 15 percent from the year 2000 until 2012.

Three biomedical companies from across the globe are banding together with research institutions to develop knowledge about a “super-family” of protein receptors called G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Images of these biomarkers could open the door to a new era of pharmaceuticals.

Toxins produced by highly specialized stem cells work to treat brain cancer. Researchers from Harvard Medical School are the engineers behind these killer stem cells.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has relaunched its Open Payment website. The general impression is that the new site is worlds easier to navigate than its original launch.

A new and tiny camera steals from the sight of the powerful, all-seeing mantis shrimp in order to detect cancers that we currently cannot. The new and rather simple system relies on polarized light, which these shrimps can see in spades, to create a whole new dimension of cancer imaging, according to this report from Smithsonian.

The National Cancer Institute has mounted a search for people who are dramatic outliers in their response to cancer therapies in an effort to improve treatments for common malignancies.

Almost 50 percent of devices and 40 percent of medications administered in the U.S. are produced outside its borders. Around 80 percent of the producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients are internationally based and the speed of global research and commerce is swiftly changing. Clearly, the regulatory framework needs to keep up. With that in mind, the FDA is setting new priorities for the coming years. An official document has been drawn up by the FDA to that effect.

Yet another risk factor for neurodegenerative disease has cropped up in recent studies: Worry among older women. Research conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden provided a score on the scale of neuroticism for 800 women in mid-life and evaluated any potential links to Alzheimer's. Those who peaked on the anxiety scale were two times as likely to develop the disease.