Autoimmunity News

Thursday, December 04, 2008 RA Improving Due to Better Management, Not New Drugs
Better monitoring and more aggressive use of old drugs, especially methotrexate, have contributed more to recent improvements in RA outcomes in Spain than the arrival of new drugs such as TNF inhibitors...

Monday, November 24, 2008 Scleroderma Stem Cell Transplants Advance, Phase III Studies Recruiting Patients
Pilot data on systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients treated with autologous stem cell transplants suggest durable improvements in skin thickening and lung function. Phase III randomized trials are still open to enrollment...

Friday, November 21, 2008 EntreMed Reports Antiangiogenic Role of 2ME2 Demonstrated in RA Models
Preclinical results for 2ME2 (Panzem^® or 2-methoxyestradiol) in rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated that 2ME2 involutes rat collagen-induced arthritis and suppresses synovial VEGF and bFGF gene expression...

Thursday, November 20, 2008 BioLineRx, Yissum Sign a Licensing Agreement for the Development of an Anti-Leptin Compound for the Treatment of IBD
BioLineRx signed an exclusive license agreement with Yissum Ltd to develop and commercialize BL-5040, an antagonist of leptin with anti-inflammatory properties for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)...

Monday, November 17, 2008 Vitamin D Levels Linked to OA Cartilage Loss, OA Pain, and SSc Disease Activity by ACR Researchers
Low vitamin D levels are associated with faster progression of joint damage, bone loss, and pain in OA and with higher levels of inflammatory markers and vascular complications in systemic sclerosis, suggesting that more attention to vitamin D supplements might be in order...

Friday, November 14, 2008 Salix's APRISO™ Granted FDA Marketing Approval for Maintenance of Remission of Ulcerative Colitis
Apriso is a locally-acting aminosalicylate (5-ASA) and is the first and only mesalamine product approved by the FDA for once-a-day dosing for the maintenance of remission of UC in adults...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008 Genentech, Biogen Idec Rituxan Phase III Data in RA Patients Showed Patients who Received Fixed Interval Re-Treatment Maintained Treatment Response; Positive Phase III Data Also Reported for Rituxan plus MTX in Biologic-Naïve RA Patients, Immune Response in Rituxan-Treated Patients Yielded Mixed Results in Phase II Study
Rituxan, in combination with MTX, is indicated to reduce signs and symptoms and to slow the progression of structural damage in adult patients with moderately-to-severely active RA who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF antagonist therapies...

Thursday, October 30, 2008 Old Malaria Drug Reduces Diabetes Risk in RA, Protects Kidneys in Lupus
The inexpensive old drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) shows remarkable protective ability against diabetes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and against renal disease in patients with lupus...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 Lupus Kidney Failure Rate Skyrocketing in Black Women
For the first time, African Americans, who comprise 13% of the US population, account for nearly half of all cases of kidney failure due to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Most affected are black women, whose risk of end-stage renal disease due to lupus nephritis is nearly 10 times that of white women...

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Centocor Reports Efficacy of Remicade^® vs Azathioprine in Treatment of Crohn’s Disease
Azathioprine is not approved in the US for the treatment of CD but is approved in some countries outside the US and is widely used by gastroenterologists and other physicians in the US to treat CD patients...