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Lloydspharmacy Reveals Britons Play Russian Roulette With Worlds Deadliest Disease
According to new research* carried out by Lloydspharmacy, the UK"s leading community pharmacy chain, around 2.1million British holidaymakers and travellers are ignoring the need to protect themselves against malaria.

White House Submits Sotomayor's Questionnaire To Senate Judiciary Committee
The Senate Judiciary Committee"s vetting of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama"s nominee for the Supreme Court, officially began Thursday when the White House delivered her written responses to a comprehensive questionnaire designed by the committee"s leadership, Roll Call reports. The questionnaire -- developed by Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) -- will be used as part of preparations for Sotomayor"s as-yet-unscheduled round of confirmation hearings (Stanton, Roll Call, 6/4).Sotomayor disclosed a large amount of information in the questionnaire, such as her net worth and a timeline for when she learned that she was under consideration by the White House as a potential replacement to retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter (Perine, CQ Today, 6/4). According to Roll Call, Sotomayor"s responses might offer members of both parties "fodder to support or oppose her nomination."Leahy, who has the authority to schedule the confirmation hearings, said in a statement that Sotomayor "has advanced the confirmation process by promptly complying with this Senate requirement, and now the Senate should promptly schedule hearings to fairly consider her nomination to our highest court," adding, "The unfair attacks that have been leveled at her from outside the Senate are all the more reason to give her the chance to respond." Earlier this week, he said that he would announce a start date for the hearings after Sotomayor"s responses were received (Roll Call, 6/4). Meanwhile, Sotomayor on Thursday continued another round of private meetings with senators on Capitol Hill, including a few GOP senators who earlier had expressed concerns about her past comments and actions, CQ Today reports (CQ Today, 6/4).Questions Over Sotomayor"s Position on Abortion-Rights Issue RemainIn related news, USA Today on Friday examined how Sotomayor in the past 17 years as a federal judge "has left no clear footprints revealing" her position on abortion-rights issues. This week, some Democratic senators in private meetings with Sotomayor attempted to seek answers, while advocates on both sides of the debate are urging senators to question her about her views on Roe v. Wade during the expected confirmation hearings. On Wednesday, following a meeting with Sotomayor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that she believes Sotomayor has respect for judicial precedent. Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said, "I don"t have concerns about this nominee in the sense that I think there is something on the record (against abortion rights)," adding, "We just think it"s important for Supreme Court nominees to say where they stand." Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, agreed, noting the lack of a definitive position on abortion rights in Sotomayor"s record. Feinstein also said that she will persist on abortion-rights issues. "I remember what it was like when abortion was illegal, and the lives of young, desperate women were in jeopardy," she said, adding that she is concerned "Americans no longer appreciate what it would mean if (abortion rights) were taken away" (Biskupic, USA Today, 6/5).
News of the day
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Awards Prestigious Fellowships To 17 Top Young Scientists
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting exceptional early career researchers and innovative cancer research, named 17 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its May 2009 Fellowship Award Committee review. The recipients of this prestigious, three-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country. The Fellowship is specifically intended to encourage the nation"s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding ($140,000 each) to work on innovative projects.
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Alnylam Joins GSK In Donating Intellectual Property To Patent Pool For Neglected Tropical Diseases

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY) announced that Alnylam will contribute more than 1500 issued or pending patents on its RNA interference (RNAi) technology patent estate to the patent pool established by GSK earlier this year. Alnylam is the first company to add its patents to the approximately 800 patent filings GSK provided to populate the pool in March. The company"s RNAi platform provides an innovative approach to drug discovery and development through "gene silencing," a technology that targets the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. "We are delighted that Alnylam will join GSK in this important programme by adding their unique RNAi technology to the patent pool," said Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer of GSK. "The key objective of the pool is to make it easier for researchers across the world to access intellectual property that may be useful in the search for new medicines to treat neglected tropical diseases. The more companies, academic institutions and foundations that join the pool, the more effective it will be. Alnylam"s announcement today is therefore a welcome and significant step forward." The patent pool was formed to aid in the discovery and development of new medicines for the treatment of 16 neglected tropical diseases (NTD), as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in the world"s Least Developed Countries. By adopting a more flexible approach to intellectual property, the patent pool will facilitate access to compounds and technologies for organisations that want to conduct research on treatments for these neglected diseases. "We are committed to the innovation of medicines for patients, so we cannot ignore the potential of our technology to make a difference in the discovery of important new medicines for neglected diseases that afflict millions of people each year," said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. "We are very proud to be joining GSK in this unique and bold vision of social responsibility for some of the world"s poorest nations." Through today"s contribution, Alnylam is providing RNAi intellectual property, technology and know-how on a royalty-free, non-profit basis in the Least Developed Countries via licensing agreements with qualified third parties. Such organisations will be engaged in research efforts focused on discovery of new medicines for NTD and their distribution to Least Developed Countries. In the near term, Alnylam RNAi technology is expected to help validate novel drug targets for the discovery and development of treatments for the targeted NTD in least developed countries. For example, the technology has already helped to identify new targets for malaria treatments. , , In the future, RNAi therapeutics may themselves be developed and used directly in the treatment of more neglected tropical diseases. About the patent pool The diseases targeted by the pool are the 16 diseases identified by the FDA for its own Neglected Tropical Diseases initiative. These are tuberculosis, malaria, blinding trachoma, buruli ulcer, cholera, dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever, racunculiasis, fascioliasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil transmitted helminthiasis and yaws. The geographic focus of the pool will be the world"s Least Developed Countries as identified by the United Nations and includes much of western and central Africa as well as several countries in Southeast Asia. About RNA Interference (RNAi) RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. RNAi therapeutics target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific messenger RNAs (mRNAs), thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals


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