Currently browsing category

News, Page 3

Novartis and Xencor enter into bispecific antibody agreement

Novartis has received rights with Xencor to develop bispecific antibodies for treating cancer. “Under the terms of the agreement, Xencor is receiving a $150 million upfront payment from Novartis and the two companies will equally share the cost to jointly develop two Xencor antibodies targeting the CD3 domain,” Novartis said. Novartis would additionally receive rights to develop and commercialize four further bispecific antibodies and to use Xencor's antibody technology in up to 10 additional molecules, the companies said.

Milestones in legal fight over Texas abortion law

The Republican-led Texas legislature passes and Republican Governor Rick Perry signs the law known as H.B. 2, putting new requirements on abortion providers. September 2013 – Before the law is enforced, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers challenge the measure. March 2014 – The New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, a regional federal appeals court covering Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, reverses the lower court and permits much of the law to take effect.

China tightens controls on paid-for internet search ads

China's internet regulator said on Saturday that search engines should tighten management of paid-for ads in search results, making clear which results are paid-for and limiting their numbers. Chinese regulators last month imposed limits on the number of lucrative healthcare adverts carried by Baidu Inc following the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment which he found using China's biggest internet search engine. Wei Zexi, 21, died in April of a rare form of cancer, and the case sparked widespread public anger.

Previous exposure to dengue may make Zika worse, scientists find

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists studying the Zika outbreak in Brazil say previous exposure to another mosquito-borne virus, dengue, may exacerbate the potency of Zika infection. The scientists said their results, published in the journal Nature Immunology, suggested that some dengue antibodies can recognize and bind to Zika due to the similarities between the two viruses, but that these antibodies may also amplify Zika infection in a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement. This effect is already known with dengue, they said, and is thought to explain why, when a person gets dengue fever a second time, the infection is often more serious than the first.

House Speaker Ryan unveils Republican alternative to Obamacare

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan unveiled a Republican healthcare agenda on Wednesday that would repeal Obamacare but keep some of its more popular provisions. The proposal is part of Ryan's blueprint, titled “A Better Way,” which offers a Republican alternative to the Democratic Party on policy issues ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Earlier this month, Ryan, the country's highest-ranking elected Republican, released initiatives on national security and combating poverty.

Rx pizza: 1 free meal can sway doctor prescribing

CHICAGO (AP) — As little as one free meal from a drug company can influence which medicines doctors prescribe for Medicare patients, according to a study using Medicare records and recently released data from the health care law’s Open Payments program.

Feeding Peace: This Week In Daily Giving

This week at The Pollination Project, we recognize seven grantees whose projects are bringing peace to their communities. Volunteers in Maryland engage in sustainable gardening to provide to the less fortunate while in North Carolinian youth affected by incarceration are provided leadership opportunities. With visions of compassionate…

Boxing school in Rio slum shows sport’s power before Olympics

By Daniel Flynn and Nacho Doce RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Beneath a street lamp in one of Rio de Janeiro's slums, 19-year-old boxer Wanderson de Oliveira does pull-ups from a metal bar outside the Fight for Peace academy while two skinny young boys watch intently. Much of the Complexo da Maré, a teeming neighborhood of 140,000 people near Rio's international airport, remains in the grip of drug gangs despite efforts to break their hold on the city's poor districts ahead of the August Olympic Games. For many young residents like Oliveira, the academy offers a glimpse of an alternative: a chance to build discipline and self-esteem through boxing and martial arts.

Kentucky court grants injunction against abortion clinic

A Kentucky appeals court on Wednesday granted Republican Governor Matt Bevin a temporary injunction against a Lexington abortion clinic his administration said was not properly licensed. In a 3-0 ruling, the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned a March decision from a lower court judge that denied the governor an injunction against EMW Women's Clinic. In Wednesday's order, the judges said the state's Cabinet for Health and Family Services had the right to regulate how abortions were performed and how clinics were licensed.

Italian former PM Berlusconi’s heart surgery went well: source

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had heart surgery on Tuesday and a source from his party said the operation went well. A hospital statement said Berlusconi had been placed in intensive care, as planned, but gave no more details. An official at Milan's San Raffaele hospital said the four-time premier would remain in intensive care for 48 hours and that he would be sedated at least until Wednesday.