Baxter's immune-system drug may be effective for Alzheimer's disease

Here's a snippet from the Chicago Tribune:

An immune-system drug produced by Baxter International Inc. helped preserve "thinking" abilities and reduced the rate of brain shrinkage in a small group of patients with Alzheimer's disease who have been studied for 18 months, new research released Tuesday shows.

Researchers presented this information at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Toronto. It was a small study where 16 of 24 patients had better cognitive response and improved memory function when they were treated with Baxter's Gammagard. The patients were those who had mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Researchers hope that Gammagard (a biologic derived from plasma) will change the course of Alzheimer's disease. If that's the case,then it would truly be a disease-modifying therapy. The idea behind Gammagard is that it can help the body's immune system to clear the brain of amyloid, a sticky, plaque-like substance thought to be key in the development and progression of Alzheimer's. Isn't it great to see new research unfolding innovative ways to treat conditions like Alzheimer's disease?

Novartis Produces First Batch of Swine Flu Vaccine

Novartis has produced a batch of experimental swine flu vaccine. Don't get your hopes up quite yet. The vaccine hasn't in been tested in humans yet. Instead of using eggs, this vaccine was deveoped using cell-based technology. In other words, the vaccine was made using cells, not eggs. I also heard that Baxter has completed testing and evaluation and is now in full-scale production of a commercial H1N1 vaccine using its Vero cell culture technology.

The WHO (Word Health Organization) is anticipating that swine flu (H1N1) vaccines should be ready and available by this fall. Let's hope that they are effective in controlling and reducing outbreaks this upcoming flu season as we face this pandemic.