Autism cases continued to increase in California after the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal was eliminated from most childhood vaccines, according to a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study, conducted by researchers at the California Department of Public Health, suggests that exposure to thimerosal is not a primary cause of autism. Diagnosed cases of autism and related conditions, known collectively as autism spectrum disorders, have increased in recent years. Thimerosal was eliminated from most vaccines by 2001. A 2004 report by the Institute of Medicine cited the lack of data supporting thimerosal as a cause of autism, but recommended that trends in autism diagnoses be observed as exposure to thimerosal decreased. The researchers said continuing evaluation of the trends in the prevalence of autism for children born in recent years is warranted to confirm their findings.

Redwood City, California-based Genomic Health said it entered into a collaboration with Pfizer on the development of a genomic test to estimate the risk of recurrence following surgery for patients with Stage I-III renal carcinoma, clear cell type, that has not spread to other parts of the body. The clear cell type of renal carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults, affecting an estimated 25,000 people each year in the United States. As part of the collaboration, the companies will apply the same molecular technology and clinical strategy Genomic Health used to develop its Oncotype DX breast cancer test. Many early-stage renal carcinoma patients experience a recurrence of their cancer, but the company said there is no accurate way to identify the most aggressive cancers in advance. This collaboration further expands our efforts to develop genomic tests for a variety of cancers that allow physicians and patients to individualize treatment decisions. The company did not release financial terms of the collaboration.

Foster City, California-based Gilead Sciences and the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in San Francisco entered into a multi-year research collaboration focusing on the HIV Vif protein. Vif promotes destruction of a potent host antiviral factor, which is critical for the effective growth and spread of the virus in infected patients. Groundbreaking work at Gladstone showed that Vif interferes with the potent antiviral function of a naturally occurring cellular factor APOBEC3G which if incorporated into budding HIV virions, causes lethal mutations in the virus that blocks its ability to grow in the next cell. Under the agreement, Gilead will provide undisclosed research support as well as downstream royalty payments and milestone fees on inhibitors of Vif action resulting from the collaboration.

 

San Jose-based Tacere Therapeutics, a developer for RNA interference-based therapeutics, said it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Pfizer to develop and commercialize its Hepatitis C virus compound, TT-033. The collaboration will focus on completing all necessary studies for submission of an investigational new drug application, as well as clinical development and commercialization of TT-033. Under the terms of the agreement, Tacere and Pfizer will form a joint steering committee to oversee preclinical research and development efforts for TT-033. Pfizer will fund all aspects of the collaboration, including the preclinical development work and will have exclusive worldwide rights, excluding all Asian countries, to commercialize products that result from the collaboration. During the initial phase of the collaboration, Pfizer will provide Tacere with funding in order to complete the necessary IND-enabling studies for TT-033. In addition, Tacere will be eligible to receive milestone payments through successful achievement of development, approval, and commercialization milestones resulting in total potential payments to Tacere of over $145 million. Upon commercialization of TT-033 Tacere would be entitled to receive royalties on net sales by Pfizer. TT-033 is a novel therapeutic product containing three separate RNAi elements targeted against the Hepatitis C virus itself.

 

Intense, long-lasting anxiety increases risk of heart attack by 30 to 40 percent, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study, from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, found that longstanding anxiety markedly increases the risk of heart attack, even when other common risk factors are taken into account. The researchers said they are seeing anxiety as a significant factor beyond what can be explained by blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol, age, cigarette smoking, blood sugar levels, and other cardiovascular risk factors. They also said the role of anxiety in hiking heart attack risk is unique from other psychological factors such as anger, hostility, and type A behavior. 

For the first time, a UCLA study shows that the central nervous system can reorganize itself and follow new pathways to restore the cellular communication required for movement. The discovery, published in the journal Nature Medicine, could lead to new therapies for the estimated 250,000 Americans who suffer from traumatic spinal cord injuries. An additional 10,000 cases occur each year, according to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which helped fund the UCLA study. When spinal cord damage blocked direct signals from the brain, under certain conditions the messages were able to make detours around the injury. The message would follow a series of shorter connections to deliver the brain’s command to move the legs. The researchers showed that the nervous system had rerouted messages from the brain to the spinal cord, and that these nerve cells were critical to the animal’s recovery. The UCLA team’s next step will be to learn how to entice nerve cells in the spinal cord to grow and form new pathways that connect across or around the injury site, enabling the brain to direct these cells. If the researchers succeed, the findings could lead to the development of new strategies for restoring mobility following spinal cord injury.

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine have shown the effectiveness of a potential alternative to the existing smallpox vaccine that can replace the current biodefense stockpile for this lethal virus. The researchers found that the modified vaccinia virus Ankara produced the same antiviral response in human and animal studies as the current smallpox vaccine, Dryvax. The study is part of a national effort to develop a replacement for the Dryvax vaccine, which causes serious complications in some people. The results are published in the Journal of Virology. The researchers said though Dryvax was effective during the eradication campaign in the 1960s and 70s, its manufacturing methods are outdated by today’s standards, and it is also associated with significant risk of adverse reactions for immune-compromised individuals.

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles have found that women with IBS cannot effectively turn-off a pain modulation mechanism in the brain, which causes them to be more sensitive to abdominal pain, compared to women without IBS. The findings, published in of the Journal of Neuroscience, may lead to a greater understanding of irritable bowel syndrome and new treatment approaches. IBS affects 10 to 15 percent of the U.S. population and causes discomfort in the abdomen, along with diarrhea and/or constipation. Currently there is no cure and treatments only lessen symptoms. Previous research in the field has shown that the brain can prepare for pain in ways that either inhibit or amplify the sensory experience. When anticipated pain is perceived as escapable and potentially dangerous—such as burning your hand on a hot stove—most people tell their brain to amplify the pain response, which is like increasing the volume on a stereo amplifier, in order to react faster and minimize possible tissue damage. The current study showed that IBS patients cannot turn down the amplifier of the pain response, even when expected pain is not dangerous, which makes them more sensitive to even mild discomfort.

Santa Clara, California-based Affymetrix and San Diego-based Illumina said that they have entered into a settlement agreement to resolve their patent litigation. Under the terms of the settlement, Illumina agreed, without admitting liability, to make a one-time payment to Affymetrix of $90 million. Affymetrix agreed to dismiss all lawsuits it had brought against Illumina. Illumina agreed to dismiss its counterclaims in the relevant lawsuits. In exchange for the payment, Affymetrix granted Illumina, its affiliates, and its customers a perpetual covenant not to sue for making, using or selling any of Illumina’s current products, evolutions of those products and services related thereto. In addition, Affymetrix extended the covenant not to sue for four years for making, using or selling Illumina products or services that are based on future technology developments. The covenant not to sue covers all fields other than photolithography, the process by which Affymetrix manufactures its arrays and a field in which Illumina does not operate.

BayBio, Northern California’s biotechnology trade association, called on legislators to address a list of policy concerns as it released its annual report on the region’s life sciences industry. The group said the industry now accounts for a $6 billion payrolls with 90,000 employees and includes nearly 1,400 companies in the region. But it said action must be taken if it is to continue to grow. The agenda highlighted by the group include increased funding of at least 5 percent a year for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, patent reform legislation that protects the nation’s leadership in the life sciences, and investment in both people and technology at both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.