CAP Hepatitis C Program
Week Ending 12/18/11
Weekly Hepatitis C News Update
Congress to Restore Federal Syringe Exchange Funding Ban as Part of 2012 Spending Package
“As part of the 2012 spending package being voted on today, Congress is restoring a ban on using federal funding for syringe exchange programs that reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases. The ban, enacted in the 1980s and repealed in 2009, was largely responsible for hundreds of thousands of Americans contracting HIV/AIDS directly or indirectly from the sharing of used syringes. Advocates warn that restoring the ban will result in thousands of Americans contracting HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C or other infectious diseases next year alone.”
http://stopthedrugwar.org/trenches/2011/dec/17/congress_restore_federal_syringe
Merck Sharpe and Dohme and Roche commence HCV studies
“Merck Sharpe and Dohme has begun a new clinical partnership with Roche on the development of new therapy options for hepatitis C virus (HCV).”
http://www.zenopa.com/news/801242794/Merck_Sharpe_and_Dohme_and_Roche_commence_HCV_studies
100 screened for deadly Hepatitis C
“It has screened 624 Stoke-on-Trent men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 since July last year. Of those people, 100 have been treated for Hepatitis C and 43 have been completely cured and discharged.”
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/100-screened-deadly-Hepatitis-C/story-14156523-detail/story.html
Pharmasset, Inc. (VRUS) to Change Design of Hepatitis C Treatment Study, Says Trial Change Won’t Affect Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) Takeover
“Pharmasset, Inc. announced today that the company will amend the design of the QUANTUM Phase 2b trial of the guanine nucleotide analog PSI-938 and discontinue all treatment arms with a regimen containing PSI-938.”
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?StoryID=244014&full=1
Pendleton needle program aims to prevent disease
PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — “The 20-something woman approached the van looking jittery and conflicted. Seeing that the back of the delivery-style truck was open, she meandered there. The boxy truck, with
Umatilla-Morrow Alternatives Health Van written on the side, was parked at Pendleton’s Stillman Park.”
http://www.necn.com/12/17/11/Pendleton-needle-program-aims-to-prevent/landing_health.html?&apID=8a4e1965882047cfbbbb957d4c0cdb73
U.S. Will Not Finance New Research on Chimps
“The National Institutes of Health on Thursday suspended all new grants for biomedical and behavioral research on chimpanzees and accepted the first uniform criteria for assessing the necessity of such research. Those guidelines require that the research be necessary for human health, and that there be no other way to accomplish it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/science/chimps-in-medical-research.html?_r=1
Study: Hep C Doesn’t Impair Women’s Cognitive Faculties
“Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) doesn’t damage women’s cognitive function—mental tasks such as attention, memory and the abilities to solve problems and make decisions—according to Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) data published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
and reported by aidsmap. The researchers confirmed, however, that HIV infection alone is independently associated with cognitive impairment.”
http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/HIVhepC_Womens_Cognition_1667_21615.shtml
Boehringer Ingelheim Completes Patient Entry For Phase III Trial Program In Hepatitis C
“According to Boehringer Ingelheim’s announcement, the company’s large-scale Phase III clinical trial program for BI210335, an investigational, oral protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) has randomized the final patient for treatment.”
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239040.php
Lorren Sandt
Executive Director
Caring Ambassadors Program
P.O. Box 1748
Oregon City, OR 97045
503-632-9032
503-632-9038 – FAX
Choice, health, and wellness for people with long-term disease.
HepCChallenge.org ~ LungCancerCAP.org ~ CaringAmbassadors.org
