Coffee proved to be a potential prostate cancer risk reducer. The study was done by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers and published in May 17, 2011, in an online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“Few studies have specifically studied the association of coffee intake and the risk of lethal prostate cancer, the form of the disease that is the most critical to prevent. Our study is the largest to date to examine whether coffee could lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer,” said senior author Lorelei Mucci, associate professor of epidemiology at HSPH. Lethal prostate cancer is cancer that causes death or spreads to the bones.

The study examined the association between coffee consumption and the risk of prostate cancer, particularly the risk for aggressive prostate cancer among 47,911 U.S. men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study who reported their coffee consumption every four years from 1986 to 2008. During the study period, 5,035 cases of prostate cancer were reported, including 642 fatal or metastatic cases.

Among the findings:

• Men who consumed the most coffee (six or more cups daily) had nearly a 20% lower risk of developing any form of prostate cancer.
• The inverse association with coffee was even stronger for aggressive prostate cancer. Men who drank the most coffee had a 60% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer.
• The reduction in risk was seen whether the men drank decaffeinated or regular coffee, and does not appear to be due to caffeine.
• Even drinking one to three cups of coffee per day was associated with a 30% lower risk of lethal prostate cancer.
• Coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke and less likely to exercise, behaviors that may increase advanced prostate cancer risk. These and other lifestyle factors were controlled for in the study and coffee still was associated with a lower risk.

The results from this study need to be validated in additional populations that have a range of coffee exposure and a large number of lethal prostate cancer cases. If confirmed, the data would add to the list of other potential health benefits of coffee. The authors currently are planning additional studies to understand specific mechanisms by which coffee may specifically lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer.

The newly granted European Patent No. EP 1636352 entitled “Improvement in virus Production,” covers the material, process and use of the VIRUSMAX technology that is the basis for the Microbix/Hunan Joint venture – which is underway to build Asia’s largest influenza vaccine production facility and the third largest vaccine plant in the world. The first phase of the facility is expected to be fully operational in 2013.

Crucible International Biotechnologies Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Microbix, is facilitating the start-up and operation of this joint venture and will advance the commercialization of its VIRUSMAX™ technology in other markets, which are protected by patents that run well beyond the next decade. The new facility in China will ultimately have the capacity to produce more than 100 million doses of seasonal annually, and up to 300 million doses of a pandemic influenza vaccine in the event of an outbreak to immunize against a single strain of influenza .

William J. Gastle, Microbix’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “With the European patent in hand, Microbix’ vaccine enhancement technology has patent protection in the world’s largest markets. We can now look for further opportunities for VIRUSMAX, beyond the China market, with a dominant patent estate.”

MicroCHIPS, Inc. is pioneering programmable implanted devices designed to improve the health of millions of people with critical conditions that require careful monitoring and therapy. The company announced today that the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark Office has granted U.S. Patent No. 7,892,221, Method of Controlled Drug Delivery from Implant Device. This patent in conjunction with U.S. Patent No. 7,070,590 provides broad coverage for the design and fabrication of reservoir-based medical devices used for implantable drug delivery systems.

“The granting of this patent provides the fundamental building blocks for programmable medical drug delivery implants to address various diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and cancer,” said Robert Langer, ScD, Institute Professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.

MicroCHIPS’ miniaturized systems are adaptable to implants and catheters as well as on-body delivery systems, external pumps, pens and infusion systems. Currently, the MicroCHIPS technology is embodied in the company’s medical implants that are part of a clinical trial to treat osteoporosis in women. The trial is evaluating the pharmacokinetics of precise delivery of human parathyroid hormone (hPTH 1-34) from a programmable, wireless implanted device.

“This patent and technology portfolio combined with the on-going MicroCHIPS clinical trial focused on delivery of human parathyroid hormone will demonstrate the viability of controlled release from programmable or pre-programmable devices,” said Michael Cima, PhD, the Sumitomo Electric Industries Professor of Engineering at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.

An international study headed by a UC Davis scientist describes how a component of a potential HIV vaccine opens like a flower, undergoing one of the most dramatic protein rearrangements yet observed in nature. The finding could reveal new targets for vaccines to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. A paper describing the work was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the new study, researchers from the U.S., Sweden and France explored the structure and behavior of the HIV envelope protein complex, which could potentially serve as a component of a vaccine aimed at eliciting the human immune system to generate antibodies against HIV.

“By opening up these less exposed regions, we might be able to raise more broadly cross-reactive antibodies to HIV,” said R. Holland Cheng, professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis and senior author of the study.

HIV infects a type of white blood cell called the CD4 T cell, weakening the immune system and leading to AIDS. HIV attaches to these cells through the envelope protein complex, which is made up of three gp120 proteins and three gp41 proteins, Cheng said.

First, the gp120 protein attaches to a CD4 protein on the victim cell’s membrane. Then it uses gp41 to punch a hole through the membrane.

UC Davis graduate student Carlos Moscoso and project scientist Li Xing, working in Cheng’s laboratory, used a cryoelectron microscope to study the structure of the complex and how it changes when it is exposed to a piece of the CD4 protein. A cryoelectron microscope derives three-dimensional images of complex protein structures from samples frozen in liquid nitrogen.

They found that when the HIV protein complex attaches to a CD4 protein, it rotates and flattens, exposing more of the gp41 proteins in the middle — probably allowing the gp41 protein to get closer to the cell membrane so it can lock on.

It also potentially exposes an area of the virus that would be vulnerable to attack by the immune system, Cheng said. If a person were vaccinated and had antibodies to such a protein region, they might be able to stop the virus at the point of invading the CD4 T cell.

The gp120 protein itself varies considerably between strains, so it has been difficult to make an effective vaccine against it. But these hidden protein regions vary less between different strains of HIV, Cheng said.

Cheng’s group is part of the HIV Research and Design consortium formed by the National Institutes of Health to pursue new targets for HIV vaccines. In future work, the consortium plans to test potent antibodies from HIV-positive people who have survived without developing AIDS to see if the antibodies recognize the new potential vaccine targets.

]]> http://www.nextlex.com/blog/hiv-protein-unveils-vaccine-target/feed/ 0 http://www.nextlex.com/blog/optimer-pharma-inc-recieved-a-new-uspto-patent/ http://www.nextlex.com/blog/optimer-pharma-inc-recieved-a-new-uspto-patent/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:24:35 +0000 The Nextlex Desk http://www.nextlex.com/?p=171 Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announced that USPTO has issued a patent( Patent No. 7,906, 489) for Method of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) treatment with Fidaxomicin. The company is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing hospital speciality product te treat serious infections.

“The issuance of this patent provides strong intellectual property protection for fidaxomicin, enhancing our drug candidate’s present value,” said Pedro Lichtinger, President and CEO of Optimer. “Fidaxomicin is now protected by four issued patents and we are continuing our efforts to expand our patent portfolio for this important medical innovation.”

 Fidaxomicin is a narrow spectrum antibiotic being developed for the treatment CDI. In two Phase 3 trials, fidaxomicin was equally effective in clinical cure when compared to vancomycin, the only FDA approved product for CDI. Most importantly, fidaxomicin reduced the risk of recurrence by 47% compared to vancomycin. Optimer has filed marketing applications in the United States and the European Union for fidaxomicin for the treatment of CDI and for reducing the risk of recurrence when used for treatment of initial CDI.

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Alzheimer Vaccine

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc. A biopharmaceutical company received a new USPTO patent for Alzheimer Vaccine, RECALL-VAX. Patent for the RECALL-VAX has been issued in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and corresponding patent applications are pending in Canada, China, Japan and Israel.

The vaccine is a boon for most of people suffering from the dreadful disease Alzheimer, which is a most common form of dementia characterized by progressive memory loss and cognition lead to death. Recall-VAX is is a method to immunize people to produce highly specific natural antibodies against the beta amyloid (“Aβ”) protein before it causes irreversible damage by accumulating in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The vaccine has the potential to delay onset or prevent Alzheimer’s disease in individuals susceptible by age, genetic or other risk factor. The approach can be applied to additional therapeutic targets associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions. Professor Benjamin Chain, Department of Immunology, UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences, London, UK, is the inventor of RECALL-VAX Professor Chain, brother of Dr. Daniel Chain, Intellect’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is a member of the Company’s scientific advisory board

Dr. Daniel Chain commented: “This new patent from the USPTO is yet another important milestone for the Company and is indicative of the type of ground breaking research we do that is aimed at discovering and developing drugs that can fundamentally transform the way Alzheimer’s disease is treated and ultimately prevent the onset of the disease. Intellect has two immunotherapy approaches: The more advanced of the two is the ANTISENILIN® platform, which uses recombinant monoclonal antibodies as highly specific drugs to prevent the accumulation of soluble Aβ in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The ANTISENILIN® technology underlies products under development by major pharmaceutical companies, such as Ponezumab in Phase 2 and Bapineuzumab in Phase 3 clinical trials, respectively. RECALL-VAX pinpoints the same unique molecular signatures at the ends of Aβ to reproduce the same type of specificity that can be obtained using ANTISENILIN® monoclonal antibodies. However, instead of administering antibodies to patients, RECALL-VAX involves injecting a small piece of Aβ coupled to an innocuous bacterial protein with the goal of allowing the patient’s immune system to generate antibodies that uniquely bind Aβ. A vaccine of this nature, which is analogous to a flu shot, could be viewed as the ultimate quest in Alzheimer’s research. We look forward to developing drug candidates based on RECALL-VAX technology with the aim of ultimately testing the vaccine in human clinical trials.”

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In this process Dr. Helen Mc Carthy packaged a gene into nanoparticle 400 times smaller than the width of human hair, allowing it to be delivered straight into breast cancer cells in the laboratory. The gene called iNOS, is targeted specifically to breast cancer cells using the above said transport system which produces a poisonous nitric oxide which kills  the cells outright or making them more vulnerable to being destroyed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As this approach leaves normal healthy breast cells unaffected, this would overcome many of the toxic side effects of current treatments.

Dr McCarthy said: “A major stumbling block to using gene therapy in the past has been the lack of an effective delivery system. Combining the Designer Biomimetic Vector with the iNOS gene has proved successful in killing breast cancer cells in the laboratory. In the long term, I see this being used to treat people with metastatic breast cancer that has spread to the bones, ideally administered before radiotherapy and chemotherapy.”

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Aurora Algae Inc announced that USPTO has issued a patent ( Patent No 7,868,195 ) for Method of extracting Lipid from Algae.

The company represents the high performance premium algal based products for pharmaceutic, nutrition and aquaculture. The patent covers the novel and more efficient amohyphilic extraction method which focuses on oil from Algae having high commercial applicablity.

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Dyadic International, Inc. is a global biotechnology company that uses its patented and proprietary technologies to conduct research, development and commercial activities for the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzyme and protein products and solutions for the bioenergy, industrial enzyme and biopharmaceutical industries. They were issued a new patent ( U.S. Patent No. 7,883,872 ) for “Construction of Highly Efficient Cellulase Compositions for Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose”.

The invention relates to a novel beta glucosidase gene and its corresponding enzyme which can be used in combination with other enzyme to convert lignocellulosic containing biomass into glucose. Glucose and other fermentable sugars form the basis for the production of multiple types of biofuels including ethanol and butanol, as well as various specialty chemicals and other biomaterials for a variety of industries. The patented beta-glucosidase gene and the corresponding enzyme was isolated from Dyadic’s patented and proprietary C1 fungus and was also identified through the genome annotation project conducted in conjunction with Scripps Florida.

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New findings allows the researchers to snap the pictures of small molecules that avoid scientist prying eyes. The method will allow the researchers to study the structure and activity of drug, molecule for fuel and other material.

The detail study of the structure allow the researcher to make a movie of of molecule interacting with each other. “This will be extremely interesting in just about all biological systems,” says physicist Henry Chapman of the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg. Chapman is a member of the two international teams who report the technique’s success February 2 in separate Nature papers. “After all, the reason we want to obtain high-resolution 3-D images of proteins is to work out how they work and what they do.”

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