Biogen and Elan Team Up to Fight Multiple Sclerosis with Tysabri

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Wikinvest--Biogen Idec (BIIB)

Wikinvest--Elan (ELN)

Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML)--severe brain infection problem associated with Tysabri that had resulted in a few deaths, Anti-JC Virus Assay was a Key Compenent in Tysabri Clinical Trials 

This is good news for the MS community as patients will now have some assurance that their experimental medicine will not cause PML because of a new Anti-JC Virus Test.

Tysabri problems in the past:  Another Tysabri Brain Infection Reported: 8th PML Infection Since Re-Launch

Data Further Supporting Anti-JC Virus Antibody Assay Presented at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis


Posted on: Saturday, October 16, 2010 - 
GOTHENBURG, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) today announced data further supporting the potential clinical utility of an investigational assay that detects anti-JC virus (JCV) antibodies in human plasma or serum. The detection of anti-JCV antibodies may provide a means to segment, or stratify, multiple sclerosis (MS) patients considering or receiving treatment with TYSABRI® (natalizumab) and assess their risk for developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare, but serious, brain infection. These data have been presented at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Top BioPharma Pipeline Plays August 2010

Image via CrunchBase Stocks currently on my Watchlist for top BioPharma plays in the near future.

1. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX)

Biotechnology Research Report on Valeant's Potiga

On August 11, 2010, we expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee to review the marketing application of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International’s (VRX) Potiga (formerly known as Retigabine), designed for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in epilepsy patients who have become refractory (failing to show response to prior therapy) to anti-epilepsy drugs (AEDs).

Nanotechnology Enables Precise Cancer Targeting

 

 I highly recommend reading about Nanoparticles in cancer targeting therapies. This was posted in GEN (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News) Many Stock Ideas here. I will post more on each company soon. This is the future of Biotechnology.

Nanotechnology Enables Precise Cancer Targeting
Patricia F. Dimond, Ph.D.

Second-generation nanotherapeutics to treat cancer have drawn attention and funding as companies move to improve the efficacy of these treatments and expand their applications. Generally in the size range of 1–100 nm, these drugs have emerged as novel antitumor agents because they have the potential to deliver high concentrations of drugs to cancer cells and cause less toxicity than systemically administered drugs.