A Successful Partnership:GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences

British pharma titan GlaxoSmithKline is building on research carried out by Rockville,Maryland biotech firm Human Genome Sciences.Two of GSK's pipeline projects are based on HGS technology.
Darapladib is an inhibitor of the Lp-PLA2 enzyme,which is believed to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke.It is a potentially important new treatment for prevention of cardiovascular events.The candidate drug discovered by GSK using an HGS technology is in a Phase 3 trial for efficacy and safety of treatment.
Albiglutide is a biological product created by HGS and licensed by GSK IN 2004.It is designed to act throughout the body to help maintain blood glucose levels and control appetite.This potential long term treatment for type 2 diabetes is also in a Phase 3 trial.
HGS has a substantial financial interest in both of these GSK products which its research has had a formative influence on.
GlaxoSmithKline and Human Genome Sciences are also co-owners and developers of Benlysta,the first new lupus treatment approved in the U.S. in 50 years.
GlaxoSmithKline(GSK),Human Genome Sciences(HGSI)

Exercise Counters Cell Damage

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco have confirmed that stress can cause physical damage to cell nuclei.In a stressed person,protective strips of DNA called telomeres are shortened,exposing the chromosomes they cap to unraveling.Chromosomes are rod-shaped bodies within the cell nucleus.Short telomeres are believed to be linked to diseases such as type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease,as well as premature death.
The UCSF study of post-menopausal female caregivers also found that those who engaged in vigorous exercise for as little as 42 minutes over three days did not suffer from shortened telomeres.Their physical activity seemed to protect their immune cells from the corrosive effect of stress.
The Centers For Disease Control recommend that adults get 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week,or 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week.

Women Having More Strokes

Women aged 35-64 are about three times more likely than men of that age to have a stroke,says a new study by researchers at USC's Keck School of Medicine.They found that women had better blood pressure,homocysteine and triglyceride levels than men.On the other hand,61.9% of the women had abdominal obesity-a known stroke risk factor for women-while 50% of the men in the study did.Other stroke risk factors for women are elevated homocysteine-an amino acid-in the blood,as well as a history of heart attacks and diabetes mellitus.
Amytis Towfighi,principal investigator of the study,an assistant professor of neurology at Keck,said further investigation is needed to understand this sex disparity in mid-life stroke prevalence,which has apparently sharpened in recent years,judging by the results of an earlier study.Better management of coronary artery disease,diabetes and abdominal obesity may help middle-aged women to avoid strokes.
The study was presented at a February conference of the American Stroke Association in San Antonio,Texas.The Keck School of Medicine is a world leader in medical research and education,as well as clinical practice.