New Drug on the Horizon for Stroke Victims

Thrombotech believes they have a fighting chance to help save millions of people from death and severe disability after a stroke with their new drug, THR-18, a peptide derived from Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAl-1).

As of right now, the only drug available for ischemic stroke victims is tPA (tissue plasminogen activator).  If given within three hours of the stroke symptoms' initial appearance, tPA dissolves the blood clots that are blocking the flow of blood to the brain, but, tPA has major limitations, it can cause dangerous hemorrhaging in the brain, swelling of the brain and damage to the nerves.

When co-administered with the drug tPA, THR-18 has been shown in a variety of animal studies and documented in Nature Neuroscience, volume 9 2006 issue, to reduce infarct size, brain swelling and edema, damage to neurons, and incidence of both hemorrhaging and mortality.

When THR-18 binds with tPA, it was found that THR-18 prevents the deleterious opening of the blood brain barrier following tPA administration and has the potential to extend tPA's therapeutic time window from three hours to nine hours.

Ruth Ben-Yakar, Thrombotech's CEO, said, "It's important to understand that neuro-protective drugs, which protect the brain from damage due to lack of oxygen, all have failed.  This is very unfortunate, yet this is part of the reason I believe in this drug."

After successfully completing phase l toxicity tests, Thrombotech is embarking on phase lla clinical trials required to meet FDA's guidelines, if all goes well, THR-18 could be on the market as early as 2017.

"If these results are extended to humans, they could usher in a new era of thrombolytic therapy for stroke, which is the leading cause of disability in the world and the third leading cause of death in the United States after cancer and heart disease."  -John Hopkins neurologists Ted M Dawson and Valina L Dawson

Source:
Thrombotech
Israel 21c  

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Implantable Wireless Device Developed by Stanford Engineers

At the 2012 International Solid-State Circuits Conference held Feb. 19-23 in San Francisco, CA, Stanford's assistant professor of electrical engineering, Ada Poon, demonstrated a tiny, wireless, self-propelled medical device that can be implanted or injected into the human body traveling through the bloodstream to deliver drugs, perform analysis, and possibly even to break up blood clots or remove plaque from arteries.

According to Poon, such devices could revolutionize medical technology, applications include everything from diagnostics to minimally invasive surgeries.

Poon's devices consist of a radio transmitter outside of the body sending signals inside the body to an independent device that picks up the signal with a 2 millimeters square antenna, which is small enough to travel through the bloodstream.

"There is considerable room for improvement and much work remains before such devices are ready for medical applications, but for the first time in decades the possibility seems closer than ever", said Poon.

Also contributing to this research were Stanford doctoral candidates Daniel Plvonka and Anatoly Yakovlev.

Source:  Stanford Report

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Coumadin Recall

After Bristol Myers-Squibb determined that the effectiveness of their Coumadin, also called warfarin, a common blood thinner, may change over time due to the ingredient, isopropanol, not meeting quality specifications, the FDA announced the Recall on Monday, July 12th.

Isopropanol is used to keep the Coumadin's active ingredient in a crystalline state, the changing levels of isopropanol could increase or decrease the amount of the active ingredient in the tablets. In some cases, the dose may be too high, which can increase your risk of bleeding. For others, the dose could be too low, increasing your risk of blood clots, heart attack and stroke.

Coumadin recall:
Coumadin 1 mg tablets, physician sample blister packs:
Lot numbers: 9A48931A, 9A48931B and 9A48931C
Expiration Date: January 2012

Coumadin 1 mg tablets, hospital unit dose blister packs:
Lot numbers: 8F34006B, 8K44272A, 8K46168A, 9F44437A, and 9K58012B
Expiration Date: June 2011 - Nov. 2012

Any adverse reactions should be reported to the FDA's MedWatch adverse events reporting program at www.fda.gov/medwatch .