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Screening Prevents Aneurysm Deaths, But Questions Remain Over Cost Effectiveness
The national aortic screening programme in the UK should, in due course, prevent about half of all aneurysm deaths in men over 65 and will be extremely cost effective for the NHS, conclude researchers in a study published on bmj.com. However a second study, also published today, concludes that screening is not cost effective and calls for additional research into the long term outcomes and costs of screening.
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Combined Stem Cell Gene Therapy Approach Cures Human Genetic Disease In Vitro
A study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. The study, published in the May 31, 2009 early online edition of Nature, is a major milestone on the path from the laboratory to the clinic.
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Altus Pharmaceuticals Reports Dosing First Patient In A Phase 2 Trial Of ALTU-238 For Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency
Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTU) announced that patient dosing in its Phase 2 trial for ALTU-238 in growth hormone deficiency pediatric subjects began on June 2, 2009. ALTU-238 is a long-acting, extended-release formulation of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH, somatropin), which is being developed utilizing Altus" proprietary protein crystallization technology. ALTU-238 is a ready-to-use liquid suspension of crystallized rhGH that preserves the structure of the rhGH molecule without the need for pegylation, polymerization, or encapsulation and enables administration through a fine gauge needle. The Phase 2 ALTU-238 pediatric trial is being conducted in approximately 18 clinical sites in the U.S. and targets enrolling 36 growth hormone deficient pediatric patients. ALTU-238 has been studied in a series of Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies in healthy and GH deficiency adults.
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HHS Awards $35M Contract To Company In Hopes Of Faster Flu Vaccine Production

The HHS on Tuesday announced its decision to award a $35 million contract to a U.S. company using "insect cell technology" to develop flu vaccines, AFP/Google.com reports (AFP/Google.com, 6/23). CQ HealthBeat reports: "If the Food and Drug Administration approves the new technology [to be safe and effective], Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. will establish the capability to produce a finished vaccine within 12 weeks of a pandemic"s onset and manufacture at least 50 million doses in the following six months." Unlike the conventional method of using chicken eggs to grow flu vaccines - a process that can take four to six months - "[t]he new technology, known as recombinant influenza vaccine, places a gene from a flu virus into an insect virus that can multiply quickly in insect cells, which are then purified for use in a human vaccine," according to CQ HealthBeat. "The cells can be frozen, which would facilitate rapid production of large quantities of vaccine for use against both seasonal and pandemic flu" (Stephenson, CQ HealthBeat, 6/23). "The technology has advanced in recent years to a point that we believe it could help meet a surge in demand for U.S.-based vaccine for seasonal and pandemic flu," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a written statement. "We want to use the technology to help our nation respond to emerging infectious diseases" (HHS release, 6/23). HHS" announcement came one day after creditors filed a petition to force Protein Sciences into involuntary "bankruptcy and liquidation, saying they were owed $11.7 million," the New York Times reports. The article continues, "The series of events raises questions about whether the government is entrusting part of the nation"s influenza defense to a financially shaky or untrustworthy company" (Pollack, New York Times, 6/23). "If testing goes well, the contract could be expanded over five years for a total of nearly $150 million," Reuters/Washington Post reports. The government has allocated $1 billion for the development of a vaccine to protect against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus (Steenhuysen, Reuters/Washington Post, 6/23), which continues to spread globally. A full list of country H1N1 cases and deaths is available here (WHO Influenza A(H1N1) - update 53, 6/24). "We turned out our first batch of doses - about 100,000 - against (A)H1N1 flu last week and we"re continuing to manufacture it," Don Adams, chief executive officer of Protein Sciences Corporation, said (AFP/The Australian, 6/24). GMANews.TV Examines Global H1N1 Vaccine Supply GMANews.TV examines "the race" for countries to secure H1N1 vaccine. The article looks at how "[a]ffluent countries have made advanced orders for the sought-after vaccine" compared to the Philippines, where health officials say they are waiting to first "determine the priority group" for receiving the vaccine. "[T]he Philippines appears to be dilly-dallying, even after the death of a 49-year-old Filipina who became the first A(H1N1)-related fatality in Asia," GMANews.TV writes. The article also examines fears that richer nations may acquire most of the limited H1N1 vaccine supply, leaving already vulnerable populations in developing countries without protection against the virus (Sabangan, GMANews.TV, 6/23). New York Times Examines H1N1 Origin Theory "Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human," the New York Times reports. The article explores this latest theory while acknowledging the scientists themselves "emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it," the newspaper writes (McNeil, New York Times, 6/23). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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