Cephalon and ImmuPharma Sign a $15 million Option Agreement for Late- Stage Experimental Lupus Medication.
FRAZER, Pa. and LONDON, Nov. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cephalon, Inc. and ImmuPharma PLC , a European pharmaceutical company, today announced that the companies have signed an Option Agreement providing Cephalon with an option to obtain an exclusive, worldwide license to the investigational medication Lupuzor(TM) for the treatment of Systemic...

MedPredict's Rheumatology Panel Analyzes Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Gout Markets and Pipelines Following ACR Conference.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- MedPredict Market Research, a global provider of pharmaceutical competitive intelligence and market research, has published a new report providing critical strategic insight for pharma and biotech companies with a stake in the market for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), lupus and gout therapies. ...

MedImmune Presents Data Highlighting its Progressive Inflammatory Disease Portfolio at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MedImmune today announced that researchers will present eight posters from its inflammatory disease program at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, from October 24 to 29, 2008 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. "MedImmune is working...

Interleukin Genetics' Heart Health Genetic Test a Tool for Identifying Patients with Heart Attack Risk Due to Underlying Inflammation.
Interleukin 1B genetic patterns predict life-long tendency to inflammation and related cardiovascular event risk profile WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- News that decreasing inflammation reduces the incidence of cardiovascular disease confirms the important contribution that Interleukin Genetics, Inc.'s , Heart Health Genetic Test will have in...

The role of vitamin D in immune function explored.
KYOTO, JAPAN -- The rationale for proposed clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation as adjunctive therapy in tuberculosis has origins stretching as far back as the tuberculosis sanatorium movement that originated in Germany in the 1800s, Dr. Robert L. Modlin observed. Another relevant milestone was the 1903...

Pediatric SLE's course varies by ethnicity, age.
DESTIN, FLA. -- Ethnicity appears to play an important role in the incidence and clinical manifestations of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus, data from a recent study suggest. Findings from the study of 87 white and 154 nonwhite children showed that more than 60% of age-matched controls without...

Consider EBV in patients with genital ulcers.
DESTIN, FLA. -- Since Epstein-Barr virus is known in rare cases to initially present as severe, painful genital ulcerations without other clinical or laboratory evidence of acute disease, this infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients who present with such lesions. "You won't see...

Look for four signs of serious disease in microhematuria.
STANFORD, CALIF. -- Asymptomatic microscopic hematuria is usually benign in children but should prompt an assessment for the big four signs of serious underlying renal disease--asymptomatic microhematuria and recurrent or persistent gross hematuria, significant fixed (nonorthostatic) proteinuria, hypertension, and azotemia. Patients with these conditions are the ones...

Scientific American: Taming Lupus.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus) afflicts an estimated 1.4 million Americans, including nearly 1 in 250 African Americans age 18-65 years. It affects many parts of the body and at times is life threatening. It has long been known that lupus is an auto-immune disease (as may be the case...

Lupus has many Neuropsychiatric manifestations: headaches, cognitive disorders, psychosis, and seizures tend to occur early in the disease course.
DESTIN, FLA. -- Neuropsychiatric manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus occur in more than 80% of patients during the course of disease, and can pose particular challenges to clinicians caring for these patients. Not only can such manifestations of lupus be difficult to distinguish from infectious or other...