Latest news with #FoodandDrugAdministration-approved
Business Journals
16-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Charlottesville's Springbok Analytics signs New York Liberty as first WNBA client
A look at the imaging created by Springbok Athletics. Charlottesville's Springbok Analytics has added the New York Liberty to its growing pro sports clientele. It's the first WNBA franchise to sign with the startup. The addition comes after a full deployment with the inaugural Unrivaled basketball season, which ran from January to March. Springbok's Food and Drug Administration-approved imaging services, which use AI to turn 2D MRI scans into 3D interactive analyses, are used by teams across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, Premier League and NCAA. The company's technology analyzes muscle and skeletal structures, providing detailed 3D visualizations and metrics, including muscle volume, composition and fat infiltration. Its technology was invented at the University of Virginia by a team of researchers including Dr. Silvia Blemker, a biomedical engineer at the university and a Springbok co-founder. Springbok Analytics is a former participant of NBA Launchpad participant, the league's initiative to pilot emerging technologies, and has worked with three leagues for various studies: the NBA on knee health, the NFL on hamstring injuries and Major League Baseball on pitcher health. Earlier this year, the company closed a $5 million Series A round that was led by Chicago's Transition Equity Partners and included participation from the NBA, Charlottesville's CAV Angels and Green Bay, Wisconsin's Titletown Tech, among many others. Transition, CAV Angels and Titletown also participated in the company's $3 million seed round in 2023.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. claims 'leaky' measles vaccine wanes over time. Scientists say he's wrong.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the measles vaccine is "leaky" because its effectiveness wanes over time, something medical experts dispute. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who now oversees the nation's federal health agencies, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing a "very good job" of controlling the measles outbreak that has infected more than 700 Americans in 25 states as of April 10. But Kennedy suggested the vaccine effectiveness wanes at a rate of nearly 5% a year – an assertion not backed by scientists. "People get measles because they don't vaccinate," Kennedy said Tuesday during a press conference. "They get measles because the vaccine wanes. The vaccines wane about 4.8% per year ... So, you know, it's a leaky vaccine, and that problem is always going to be around." Kennedy's remarks came during a press event Tuesday with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. The event, titled Make Indiana Healthy Again, touted steps the state was taking to improve health. During a question and answer session with reporters, Kennedy said the doctors need to know how to treat measles, including its attacks on the lungs and body. Measles does not have any Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments, just the vaccine to prevent the disease. "We can't rely simply on the vaccine," Kennedy said. "We also have to know how to treat measles." In case you missed: RFK Jr., West Virginia's governor and why you shouldn't comment on someone's weight Scientists disputed Kennedy's claim that the measles vaccine's effectiveness wanes over time. "He's dead wrong," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The measles vaccine protects you for the rest of your life. The notion that it's a leaky vaccine is dead wrong." Offit said people who received one dose of the measles vaccine between 1968 and 1989 or two doses of the vaccine since then have lifelong immunity to the highly-infectious disease. He said the vaccine stimulates memory cells, which confer lifelong immunity. Measles was eliminated in the U.S. by 2000 but has resurfaced with periodic outbreaks, mostly among people who are not vaccinated. In the current outbreak, 97% of measles cases occurred in unvaccinated patients or those whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the CDC. Did you see? What experts need you to know about the MMR vaccine The CDC confirmed 712 cases as of Friday but Offit said there are likely far more cases because the disease spreads rapidly among unvaccinated populations. The current outbreak has spread rapidly in a Mennonite community in Texas, and people within the community might be reluctant to seek medical help, Offit said. "I've had more than one public health official, including people on the ground, who said this could be between 3,000 and 5,000 cases," Offit said. "This is the worst measles epidemic we've had in 30 years." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. claims measles vaccine is leaky. Experts disagree.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Incyte Stock Was Tanking This Week
A less-than-encouraging clinical trial for an investigative medicine was the news driving down Incyte (NASDAQ: INCY) stock over the past few days. The gloom this produced was pushing the biotech's share price down by nearly 11% week to date as of Friday before market open. On Monday, Incyte published the top-line results from two phase 3 trials of its povorcitinib, a treatment aimed at combating moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), also known as acne inversa. This is a chronic and inflammatory skin condition that can result in scarring, among other complications. In each of the trials, the drug met its primary endpoint of a significant (50%-plus) reduction from baseline in abscess and inflammatory nodule count versus a placebo, with no advances in abscess or draining tunnel count. Both of the tested doses achieved similar results. Although the biotech touted this as a success, some analysts were expecting better, given the drug's encouraging performance in phase 2 trials. If eventually approved and commercialized, povorcitinib will have competition, particularly with UCB's well-established and Food and Drug Administration-approved Bimzelx. Nevertheless, Incyte asserted that the phase 3 trials support its planned regulatory submission of its investigational drug. Biotechs are always heavily dependent on their pipeline, even commercial-stage ones like Incyte that already have approved medicines on the market. Povorcitinib still might be approved, given its performance against the placebo; however, at the moment, it isn't looking like much of a breakthrough medication. Before you buy stock in Incyte, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Incyte wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $726,481!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 835% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 164% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of March 18, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Incyte. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Incyte Stock Was Tanking This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Los Angeles Times
20-03-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
City of Hope Opens Trial to Test Bone Medication for Early Type 1 Diabetes Treatment
The study explores whether denosumab, a widely used therapy for osteoporosis and bone tumors, can regenerate beta cells, which produce insulin City of Hope, one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a top research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, is leading a phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating an osteoporosis medication as a way to improve beta cell health in people with early type 1 diabetes. The study, which is now open, will explore whether denosumab, a human monoclonal antibody that is Food and Drug Administration-approved for the treatment of osteoporosis and bone tumors, can protect and regenerate beta cells, which produce insulin to regulate blood sugar, in type 1 diabetes patients. Type 1 diabetes arises when a person's immune system destroys beta cells, and they no longer make the needed amount of insulin to stay healthy. However, in the early stages of type 1 diabetes, some beta cells are still alive and functioning. The phase 1/2, randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of denosumab for improving beta cell function and blood sugar control among patients with early type 1 diabetes, who continue to make some insulin. 'This is an exciting new application of a known medication that, in addition to potentially protecting and/or expanding the beta cells that remain in early type 1 diabetes patients, might also be able to help other patients with diabetes to increase beta cell number and/or function,' said Fouad R. Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., the Arthur D. Riggs Distinguished Chair in Diabetes & Metabolism Research at City of Hope and the trial's co-principal investigator. 'We are actively working to enroll qualified patients and look forward to seeing where this trial leads us.' In the bone, denosumab works by inhibiting a protein called RANKL (Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor Kapp-B Ligand), blocking its interaction with the receptor RANK, thereby reducing bone damage. 'We have found that the same RANKL/RANK pathway can destroy beta cells,' said Rupangi Vasavada, Ph.D., City of Hope associate professor in the Department of Translational Research & Cellular Therapeutics and the trial's co-principal investigator. 'Previous studies in our lab by Nagesha Guthalu Kondegowda, Ph.D. have shown that denosumab can inhibit this detrimental pathway and improve beta cell health by protecting, increasing the number and/or improving the function of beta cells.' By protecting and preserving beta cell function, the medication could slow down the progression of type 1 diabetes and improve blood sugar control. Primary funding for this clinical trial comes from Breakthrough T1D, formerly JDRF, the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization. The trial is also funded by and part of The Wanek Family Project for Type 1 Diabetes at City of Hope, which seeks to find cures for the disease. Patients are being recruited at City of Hope in the Los Angeles area and at two other locations: University of Alabama at Birmingham (led by Anath Shalev, M.D.) and Indiana University (led by Carmella Evans-Molina, M.D., Ph.D.). Participants must be adults, ages 18 to 50, with early type 1 diabetes, who are less than five years from initial diagnosis and have residual beta cell function.
