AMSTERDAM, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- FDA Approves IND Application for Reviroc(TM)

Biopharmaceutical Company Kiadis Pharma announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kiadis Pharma's investigational new drug ("IND") application to allow the start of a clinical phase III study for its product Reviroc(TM) in the United States. Reviroc(TM) is under development for the elimination of cancer cells from an autologous graft in bone marrow transplantations for end-stage blood cancer patients.

ORLANDO, Florida, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Liberty Alliance Launches Public Special Interest Group to Enable an Internationally Interoperable Healthcare Identity Management and Information Exchange System

LONDON and NEW YORK, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

LinkShare, a leading pay-per-action marketing network, unveiled today a new publisher dashboard that enables publishers to more easily and effectively manage their affiliate marketing programs. Publishers who participate in LinkShare's global network will have quicker access to programs, links, and commission reports than ever before.

LONDON, February 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Global DataCenter Management (GDCM) today announced the appointment of Daniel Tautges to President of its Operations-Express business unit, in a move to accelerate its investment in the US market.

Michael Evans, CEO of GDCM, said: "We are delighted that Daniel Tautges has joined us as we enter a new chapter for GDCM. Daniel brings with him a wealth of experience in high growth organisations, the data center space, and the enterprise management software market."

SANTA CLARA, California, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

Finesse Solutions, LLC, a manufacturer of measurement and control solutions for life sciences process applications, announced the appointment of John O'Connell as its Vice-President of Sales and Business Development. Mr. O'Connell is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in the automation industry. John was most recently at OSIsoft where he successfully initiated partner programs for strategic customers in the life sciences and power industries. Prior to joining OSIsoft, Mr. O'Connell was a partner at Technology 2 Market a sales and marketing consulting firm, and held executive positions at Krohne Inc. a leading manufacturer of flow and level measurement systems.

NUREMBERG, Germany, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Eco-Experts Call for Clear Climate Concepts for Organic Farming

All consumers and experts would agree that, whenever a person eats organic products, they are also doing something for the environment. But does an organic apple from Argentina protect the climate more or better than a conventional apple from a nearby orchard? This seems to be an area, in which the organic sector still has some catching up to do, if one is to believe the experts that came together last Thursday to discuss issues affecting the organic sector.

INDIANAPOLIS, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- If approved, bone formation agent for osteoporosis would be available for new patient population

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) has issued a positive opinion recommending approval of FORSTEO(R) (teriparatide [rDNA origin] injection) for the treatment of osteoporosis associated with sustained, systemic glucocorticoid therapy in women and men at increased risk for fracture. The opinion issued by the CHMP will need to be ratified by the European Commission before the new indication is considered approved.

A paper by Professor Fabrizio Schifano at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Pharmacy, which has been published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, indicates that 1,022 people died between 1990 and 2004 in instances where the presence of cocaine/crack cocaine was detected.

In this descriptive and correlational study, Professor Schifano reviewed the number of mentions on death certificates during the specified period, last year use of cocaine; treatment demand, number of drug offenders; seizures, prices and average purity levels.

Expressive writing --writing about one’s deepest thoughts and feelings—may help change the way cancer patients think and feel about their disease.

In one of the first studies published in an oncology journal about the benefits of writing therapy, researchers say those who immediately reported changes in thoughts about their illness also reported a better physical quality of life three weeks later.

“Previous research suggests expressive writing may enhance physical and psychological well-being,” said Nancy P. Morgan, M.A., writing clinician and director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Arts and Humanities Program. “But most of those studies involved three to five writing sessions that were conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. Here, we found that just one writing session in a busy cancer clinic where the patients are frequently interrupted can still have a positive impact on patients.”

Scientists at the University of Michigan have shown that their new metabolic imaging instrument can accurately detect eye disease at a very early stage. Such a device would be vision-saving because many severe eye diseases do not exhibit early warning signals before they begin to diminish vision. The testing is noninvasive and takes less than 6 minutes to administer to a patient.

Victor M. Elner, M.D., Ph.D., and Howard R. Petty, Ph.D., report their findings in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. The women had been recently diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri (PTC), a condition that mimics a brain tumor and often causes increased pressure on the optic nerve that can lead to vision loss.

The study grew out of Petty and Elner’s observation that metabolic stress at the onset of disease causes certain proteins to become fluorescent. To measure the intensity of this flavoprotein autofluorescence (FA), they designed a unique imaging system equipped with state-of-the art cameras, filters, and electronic switching, together with customized imaging software and a computer interface.