New clinical data on Vasogen's heart failure candidate...Johnson and Johnson publish on potential asthma candidate

Todays Headlines from across the DailyUpdates network (June 27th)

• Breaking News (from DailyUpdates-Cardiovascular Disease): New phase III data on heart failure candidate, Velacade: There is a clear need for new treatments for heart failure, as associated mortality and morbidity rates are high. Nearly 5 million Americans and 6.5 million Europeans have heart failure and each year, in the US alone, 550,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed and nearly 300,000 deaths are registered. The five-year survival rate for patients with heart failure is only 50%. The late-stage heart failure pipeline is weak in terms of quantity and quality, 81% of products are in Phase I and II of development (see our feature (Chronic and Acute Heart Failure). Today’s featured press release highlights one late stage candidate, Vasogen’s anti-inflammatory, Celacade. The release announces initial results from the 2,414-patient phase III ACCLAIM trial. While the ACCLAIM study did not reach the primary endpoint of significantly reducing the risk of death and cardiovascular hospitalization in the total population, this endpoint was met for the subgroup of 692 patients with New York Heart Association Class II chronic heart failure [Source: Vasogen Release]

Featured Journal Article (from DailyUpdates-Immunology & Inflammatory Disorders): Johnson and Johnson researchers publish on new integrin antagonist for the potential treatment of asthma There is a positive outlook for the respiratory market over the next five years, which will experience a sustained period of growth driven by the expansion of sales in existing classes, the launch of major new products, and the results from several landmark studies. Global asthma/COPD sales should grow to $23 billion by 2014, with inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting bronchodilator combinations set to be the leading class by value in 2014, followed by leukotriene antagonists, and anticholinergics (see our feature on Asthma and COPD). Today’s featured journal article focuses on earlier stages of the asthma pipeline. The study published by Johnson and Johnson researchers describes potent antagonists designed to target alpha(4)beta(1) integrin, a cell surface molecule on eosinophils and neutrophils that induces inflammation in the lung by facilitating cellular infiltration and activation. The lead antagonist was found to be active in two animal models of asthma [Bioorg Med Chem. 2006 Jun 15;14(12):4208-16]