Pharmacology/ Therapeutics News for December 2016

Pharmacology/ Therapeutics News Archive

Fat fuels the road to cancer cell spread

Cancer cells spread to other sites in the body through promoting the growth of new ‘roads’ to travel on. In a study to be published on December 26th in the top scientific journal, Nature, an international and multidisciplinary team of researchers, led by Prof. Dr. Peter Carmeliet (VIB-KU Leuven), discovered how a shift to increased fat utilization is required for the development and growth of these ‘roads’, termed lymphatic vessels – a special kind of blood vessels. This discovery paves the way towards developing therapeutics to limit lymphatic vessel growth in cancer by targeting fat utilization.

AstraZeneca and Lilly to develop second potentially disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease AstraZeneca and Lilly to develop second potentially disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly and Company today announced a worldwide agreement to co-develop MEDI1814, an antibody selective for amyloid-beta 42 (Aß42), which is currently in Phase I trials as a potential disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This agreement builds on the existing collaboration related to AZD3293, a BACE inhibitor in two pivotal Phase III trials.

Frequent sauna bathing protects men against dementia

Frequent sauna bathing can reduce the risk of dementia, according to a recent study carried out at the University of Eastern Finland. In a 20-year follow-up, men taking a sauna 4–7 times a week were 66% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those taking a sauna once a week. The association between sauna bathing and dementia risk has not been previously investigated.