Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. announced that the first healthy volunteers have been dosed in the second human safety study for CBLB502, a drug under development for the treatment of Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). CBLB502 is being developed by Cleveland BioLabs under the FDA’s Animal Efficacy Rule to treat Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) or radiation poisoning from any exposure to radiation such as a nuclear or radiological weapon / dirty bomb, or from a nuclear accident.

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Oraya Therapeutics, Inc. announced that enrollment is now underway for the first ever masked and sham-controlled study to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of radiation therapy for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration . The groundbreaking clinical trial is being conducted at seven European sites, and will include at least 150 patients, with approximately one third of those receiving a sham exposure and the remainder receiving radiation dosing of either 16 or 24 Gray.

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Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent No. 7,638,485 titled “Modulating Apoptosis” covering the method of protecting a mammal from radiation using flagellin or its derivatives, including CBLB502. This patent was already granted by the nine member countries of the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), and two additional nations. Cleveland BioLabs has also filed two additional new patent applications related to Protectan technology in the U.S.

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SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that patient enrollment is complete ahead of schedule for its phase 2 trial of SCV-07 — a small molecule synthetic peptide with immunomodulating properties — for the treatment of severe oral mucositis (OM) in patients with head and neck cancer. Topline results of the oral mucositis trial are expected to be announced in the first half of 2010.

Buffalo Medical Group has implemented an all-digital radiation treatment system. The group has acquired an Elektra Synergy system with image-guided radiotherapy to enable physicians to more precisely and rapidly target tumors during radiation therapy. The system uses a suite of imaging tools to give clinicians 3-D patient images. Installed at BMG’s offices on Essjay Road in Williamsville, treatments on patients began in early November.

Positron Corp, a molecular imaging solutions company focused on Nuclear Cardiology, will be showcasing its newly developed cardiac optimized PET scanner, the Attrius, at the 14th Annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) annual conference in Minneapolis. The demand for Cardiovascular PET imaging is rapidly increasing as it enables the physician to provide better patient care, accurate diagnoses and the potential to reduce unnecessary procedures and radiation exposure. Joseph Oliverio, Chief Technology Officer of Positron said, “The Attrius has a small footprint, robust standard cardiovascular software package, competitive scan times and an affordable cost of entry making the AttriusTM the right choice for enhancing the capabilities of a Cardiovascular practices, while providing better care.”

Hologic, a developer of medical imaging systems and surgical products, has received the FDA’s clearance for its 510k application for the MammoSite ML radiation therapy system. With its multi-lumen design, this new device enables radiation oncologists to shape the radiation dose for typical cases and treat patients who are otherwise not appropriate candidates for traditional brachytherapy.

A research conducted at University of California Irvine Medical Center has developed a new therapy that, if delivered endoscopically, in combination with radiation therapy and chemotherapy, can prove beneficial for patients suffering from advanced esophageal cancer. The new biological therapy (TNFerade), in which an agent preventing tumor is injected, was tried on 24 patients of the highly fatal form of cancer. The treatment has a non-replicating virus, engineered to deliver the gene for a protein that fights cancer.

A recent study conducted at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia indicates that men with early prostate cancer whose PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels have doubled within 6 months of radiation therapy benefit significantly from a hormonal therapy, if initiated sooner. The findings of the research team suggest that the benefit of immediate use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was more in patients whose PSA doubled within 6 months than in patients whose PSA had longer doubling times.

Pancreatic cancer, difficult to detect in the early stages and having incidence of recurring in the postoperative stage, has found an effective treatment in chemo-radiotherapy. Gemcitabine, an effective radio-sensitizer, has led to better results in patients suffering with this form of cancer, increasing survival with a clinical benefit. A study conducted by Pancreatic Diseases Branch of Kyushu University in Japan, using a schedule that infused gemcitabine twice weekly for patients suffering with locally advanced pancreatic cancer gave positive results on the survival rate and median survival time.