Clinical Research Advantage Receives Silver Best in Biz Award for Executive Team of the Year

Clinical Research Advantage (CRA) received a national honor in this year’s Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts. CRA received the Silver Award for Executive Team of the Year.

“We are honored to receive this level of recognition from the Best in Biz Awards.”

Mark S. Hanley, Chief Executive Officer, and David Bruggeman, President and Chief Operating Officer, were recognized for their strategic vision and leadership in growing the company to become the largest and most therapeutically diverse integrated site network in the clinical trials industry.
“2012 has been an exciting year for Clinical Research Advantage. This year, the company expanded its operations while forging innovative partnerships that will continue to improve the quality of clinical trials,” said Bruggeman. Buy Furoxone (Furazolidone) pills online without prescription “We are honored to receive this level of recognition from the Best in Biz Awards.”
More than 400 entries were received in this year’s awards program, from a wide array of public and private companies of all sizes and from a variety of industries and regions in the U.S. and Canada.
Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2012 were determined by an independent panel of 32 judges from top-tier news, business and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms, such as ABC, Businessweek, Computerworld, ECT News Network, Entrepreneur, eWeek, Examiner, Financial Times, Forbes, FOX News, Hartford Business Journal, IDG Ventures, IEEE Institute, Inc., Insight Media, King Features Syndicate, Lab Reviews, Network World, The News and Observer, PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, South Florida Business Journal, Tech-Gaming, Techtalk, Upstart Business Journal, USA Today and ZDNet.
About Clinical Research Advantage
Tempe, Arizona-based Clinical Research Advantage, Inc. (CRA) is a provider of a range of research services to pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations. As a leading trial management organization, CRA operates from 38 sites across 17 geographic markets nationwide, helping trial sponsors bring drugs to market more quickly and efficiently. Founded in 1992, CRA has successfully completed more than 1,800 clinical trials on behalf of its clients.

New Patents Issued to Diffusion Pharmaceuticals

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a biotechnology company focused on innovative cancer treatments, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted it patent numbers 7919527 and 8030350, entitled “Bipolar Trans Carotenoids Salts and Their Uses” and “Trans Carotenoids, Their Synthesis and Uses,” respectively. These patents include compound, composition, and methods of use relating to Diffusion's lead molecule, trans sodium crocetinate (TSC), as well as the entire family of first-in-class new chemical entities in the Company’s pipeline of therapeutic candidates. Diffusion Pharmaceuticals is commercializing this family of first-in-class drugs to treat serious or life-threatening medical conditions characterized by hypoxia or oxygen deprivation at the cellular level. Enrollment is currently underway in a multi-center Phase I/II study of TSC for the improved treatment of newly diagnosed primary brain cancer patients. Buy Adalat CC (Nifedipine) pills online without prescription

“Bipolar Trans Carotenoids Salts and Their Uses”

“These new patents are important additions to our intellectual property portfolio, providing strong protection through at least 2027,” said David G. Kalergis, Diffusion’s CEO.
Currently the Company has 7 issued U.S. patents, 10 issued foreign patents and more than 70 pending patent applications filed in all major international markets.
About TSC
Trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) is a proprietary, first-in-class oxygen diffusion enhancing compound formulated for IV delivery. Based on a novel mechanism of action, TSC safely re-oxygenates hypoxic tissue without causing hyper-oxygenation of normal tissue. Published studies demonstrate a tripling of survival and superior tumor control when TSC is combined with radiation and chemotherapy in animal models of primary brain cancer.
About Diffusion Pharmaceuticals
Diffusion Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage company developing first-in-class drugs which target the numerous unmet medical needs characterized by oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) at the cellular level. These proprietary small molecules work by a novel mechanism of action that enhances the diffusion of oxygen selectively to hypoxic tissue. Potential breakthrough clinical applications include oncology, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and respiratory disorders. Diffusion’s lead program is the use of TSC in the treatment of solid cancerous tumors. A phase I/II clinical study of TSC dosed concomitantly with radiation and chemotherapy in newly diagnosed GBM patients is currently enrolling patients. Diffusion Pharmaceuticals, which is privately held, is located in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Antipsychotics Heart Attack Risk Among Elderly With Dementia

A study published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, reveals that antipsychotic drugs can increase the risk of heart attack in older patients with dementia. Older patients with dementia are often prescribed antipsychotics in order to control symptoms, such as hallucinations, physical aggression, and agitation. Earlier studies have indicated that the use of antipsychotic agents (APs) was associated to an increased risk of stroke, as well as death from all causes. As a result, safety warnings were issued in several countries.

However, the risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI) with the use of APs in patients treated with dementia "remains poorly examined." Buy Synalar pills online without prescription

Using the Quebec, Canada, prescription claims database, Antoine Pariente, M.D., Ph.D., then of the Université de Montreal, Canada, now of Université Bordeaux Ségalen, France, and colleagues, set out to determine the risk of heart attack associated with the use of APs in individuals with dementia treated with cholinesterase inhibitors (Chls).

During the study period (January 2000 - December 2009), the researchers identified 37,138 patients aged 66+ who had Chl treatment. 29.5% (10,969) of these patients began AP treatment during the study period. The researchers compared these patients with 10,969 non-AP users.

The researchers said:

"Our study results indicate that the use of APs is associated with a modest increase in the risk of MI among community-dwelling older patients with treated dementia. The increased risk seems to be highest at the beginning of treatment and seems to decrease thereafter, with the first month of treatment accounting for the highest period of risk."

According to results from the study, 1.3% of patients had a heart attack within one year of starting AP treatment. The risk of MI after starting AP treatment were 2.19 for the first 30 days, 1.62 for the first 60 days, 1.36 for the first 90 days, and 1.15 for the first year.

In addition, the team conducted a self-controlled case series (SCCS) study among the 804 individuals who had a heart attack after starting AP. Results revealed incidence rate ratios of 1.78 for the 1-30 day period, 1.67 between days 31-60, 1.37 for days 61-90, 1.18 for the remaining exposure period, and 0.80 for the withdrawal period.

The authors concluded:

"Because AP use is frequent in patients with dementia (29.5 percent in our study population), the increased risk of MI may have a major public health effect, which highlights the need for communicating such risk and for close monitoring of patients during the first weeks of treatment."

Invited Commentary in the same journal

Sudeep S. Gill, M.D., M.Sc., and Dallas P. Seitz, M.D., of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, write in an invited commentary:

"The increased risk for death associated with antipsychotic use has raised several important questions, and among them is the question of how exposure to these drugs leads to death.

Important lessons about the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease may underlie the observed association between antipsychotic drug use and AMI (acute myocardial infarction) that is described by pariente et al, but we must await further research to clarify the mechanisms contributing to this association.

Meanwhile, physicians should limit prescribing of antipsychotic drugs to patients with dementia and instead use other techniques when available, such as environmental and behavioral strategies, to keep these patients safe and engaged."