is dreaming of Nicosan4All ;-)
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How Nigeria lost its breakthrough sickle-cell drug to an Indian company in 2003
snip...
Thus, exclusive rights to the patent were ultimately sold to a US-based, Indian-owned company, Xechem International, in 2003, a move that angered many Nigerians. Local scientists claimed that the sale of rights to the patent was illegal and against the national interest, but the government called their bluff, saying that the move would allow mass production of the drug.
The following year, Xechem managed to secure an “orphan drug” status for Niprisan in the United States in 2004 and in the European Union in 2005.
This qualified it for financial incentives to produce drugs considered unprofitable to develop, an article by Quartz explained. Xechem established a production plant in Nigeria and the drug was launched into the Nigerian market as Nicosan in 2006.
But in subsequent years, Xechem Nigeria failed to scale up its operations to its 50,000 capsules a day target. It was producing only about 10,000 and 15,000 capsules, making the drug scarce and expensive for locals at $25 per month supply. The situation was blamed on a series of mismanagement, litigation cases and corruption allegations faced by Xechem International and its Nigerian counterpart. ...
... more at link below:
How Nigeria lost its breakthrough sickle-cell drug to an Indian company in 2003
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I was able to have the worthless shares removed from my trading account - some 2 million shares - and with proper documentation was able to have a tax loss assigned [Canada].
... interesting... is that the niprisan/nicosan patent assigned to Swift?
Had my (5mil+) shares retired by the broker in March and licked my wounds... ... will also let nicosan4all.org expire this month ... kept it going for 5 or 6 years just in case... eh?
What a sad and mean story this has been... got into Xechem about 2003 - and overloaded... so it goes... Hope everyone survived in some shape or fashion ... I have had some good fortune since those depressing years... attitude of gratitude... worth the practice imo All The Best ~ Steve
L-glutamine also appears in clinical trials (phase III) ... this has been around a long time and I think is also of Nigerian origin?
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01179217?term=NCT01179217&rank=1
Nigeria: Produce Drugs With International Standards, Pate Tells NIPRD
By Ruby Leo, 13 March 2012Comment (1)
The minister of State for Health Dr. Muhammade Pate has challenged the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development ( NIPRD) to produce herbal products of International standard that could compete with products developed in India and China.
This according to him, and would engender economic development and employment generation. Dr. Pate made this known when he paid a visit to NIPRD Headquarters to access their contribution to the health sector.
He stressed that the Health sector is not only for health delivery but could also be a catalyst to stimulate economic growth and create employment for the teeming population of Nigerians.
Dr. Pate stated that the market for herbal products is growing due to increasing reliance on alternative medication globally; he therefore challenged NIPRD researchers and scientists to package their products professionally for international and local markets.
Earlier, The Director- General of NIPRD, Profesor Gamaniel disclosed that NIPRD had discover drug leads on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis TB, Malaria, diabetes, and Asthma but added that the institute requires funds to proceed on clinical trials.
He also stated that NIPRD would soon commence the resuscitation of NIPRISAN production and therefore called on the minister of state for health to support the implementation of clinical trials on the various drugs leads.
The NIPRD Boss noted that some of the challenges encountered at the institute include poor funding, power supply and inadequate research and development consumables, and pleaded with the minister to critically look in to the issue of funding, power and the commissioning of the main Laboratory Complex.
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LaMonte Forthun
Mar 13 2012, 11:59
I can only imagine what was going through Prof. Gamaniel's head as Dr. Pate was "challenging" NIPRD to produce products to International standards. I'm guessing that Dr. Pate hasn't been briefed on the fact that NIPRD's flagship product, NIPRISAN, was basically hijacked by the creditors of Xechem, the company that had the license to produce it.
In July, it would be three years since those creditors took Xechem into Receivership, closed the doors of the company and shut down production, preventing those that had been depending on the product from getting it. Let me repeat that - THREE YEARS… NIPRD has had to sit back and deal with those creditors dragging their feet while trying to decide what to do with the company. When NIPRD decided they had waited long enough and was going to move on and find someone else to produce their product, they had to deal with legal action by those creditors (this was two years ago).
I don't challenge the fact that the creditors should get paid, but their interests should not have been put in front of those with Sickle Cell or NIPRD's. Production should have been restarted while the interested parties dealt with the financial issues in the background. The challenge here is for all those not involved to get out of the way and let NIPRD do what NIPRD needs to do to get NIPRISAN back on the market.
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One thing is sure, the man has a balls! Someone should do something with his...
...nothing new under our sun eh? ...
Yes, thanks for this Elis... 2 months... hope runs eternal
A few years too late Mr. SEC ... no?
The Commission is of the opinion that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension of trading in the securities of the above-listed companies.
Therefore, it is ordered, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that trading in the securities of the above-listed companies is suspended for the period from 9:30 a.m. EST on February 2, 2012, through 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2012.
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ha ha... surely you meant 1B ...eh?
I still retain half of your recommendation lol
point being that it is a case of coulda - shoulda for the X three, four or five years ago...
Pfizer Negotiates Global Rights to GlycoMimetics’ Phase II Sickle Cell Crisis Drug
Pfizer negotiated exclusive worldwide rights to develop GlycoMimetics’ pan-selectin antagonist GMI-1070, in a deal which could be worth $340 million to GlycoMimetics in up-front and development, regulatory, and commercialization milestones, plus additional sale royalties. GMI-1070 is currently undergoing Phase II trials for the treatment of vaso-occulsive crisis associated with sickle cell disease.
Under terms of the deal Pfizer gets global rights to the drug for all potential indications, including sickle cell crisis. GlycoMimetic will complete the ongoing Phase II study, and then Pfizer will take over all further development and commercialization activities.
GlycoMimetics is developing a pipeline of carbohydrate mimic compounds for the treatment of a range of diseases. Lead candidate GMI-1070 is a synthetic glycomimetic that is designed to inhibit all three selectin types, E-selectin, L-selectin and P-selectin, which are implicated in inflammatory processes. In addition to its lead indication of sickle cell disease-associated vaso-occlusive crisis, the compound is separately in early clinical development for the potential treatment of blood cancers.
The firm’s preclinical portfolio is headed by another small molecular weight glycomimetic compound GMI-1051, which is in development for the treatment or prevention of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, probably in combination with antibiotic therapies. GlycoMimetics says in vitro studies suggest GMI-1051 strongly inhibits the functions of the bacterial virulence factor lectins, PA-IL and PA-IIL lectins.
Earlier preclinical-stage programs include compounds that target both E-selectin and CXCR4 for the potential treatment of blood cancers, and a family of high-affinity, small molecule E-selectin-specific anti-inflammatory drugs that are currently being optimized for oral availability.
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/pfizer-negotiates-global-rights-to-glycomimetics-phase-ii-sickle-cell-crisis-drug/81245806/
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Company to start production of sickle cell drugs in December
The drug does not cure sickle cell but reduces the frequency of the ailment.
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM), Mr. Roberts Orya, has promised that the production of 'NIPRISAN', a Sickle Cell drug, will commence within 60 days.
Orya disclosed this in Washington DC, saying: "I believe that as soon as I get back to the country, we will sign the MoU and then we commence the process. Give and take, we should be looking at 45 to 60 days; we should commence the production of NIPRISAN by December.”
He explained that the Minister of State for Health, Alhaji Mohammed Pate, has taken the production of the drug as his priority and that so far, the delay in commencing production was caused by some challenges among the stakeholders. Orya however promised that the production would commence as soon the MoU was signed.
The drug, NIPRISAN, was formerly known as Nicosan and was discovered by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD). The drug used to be produced by Xechem Nigeria Limited but the Federal Government stopped its production two years ago because of financial problems.
The drug which is produced with extracts from four botanical plants indigenous to Nigeria does not cure sickle cell anaemia, a disease of black people, but reduces the frequency of the ailment.
NEXIM has obtained more than N700 million in loans from Diamond Bank and Bank PHB for the production of the drugs in the country.
“We have the highest exposure and that is why we are driving the process,” Orya said.
http://dailytimes.com.ng/article/company-start-production-sickle-cell-drugs-december
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Production of sickle cell drugs’ll commence December –NEXIM DG
Monday, 03 October 2011
THE Managing Director, Nigeria Export and Import Bank, Mr Roberts Orya, has promised that the production of “NIPRISAN,” a sickle cell drug, will commence in the next 60 days.
Orya disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Washington DC, United States (US).
“I believe that as soon as I get back to the country, we will sign the MoU (memorandum of understanding) and then we commence the process.
“Give and take, we should be looking at 45 to 60 days, we should commence the production of NIPRISAN by December,” he said.
Orya said the Minister of State for Health, Alhaji Mohammed Pate, has taken the production of the drug as his priority, adding that the delay in the commencement of its production was caused by some challenges among the stakeholders.
NAN reported that NEXIM had syndicated more than N700 million in loan with Diamond Bank and Bank PHB for the production of the drugs in the country.
“We have the highest exposure and that is why we are driving the process,” Orya told NAN in the interview.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government, two years ago, stopped the production of NIPRISAN, formerly known as “Nicosan,” due to issues bordering on finance.
Nicosan, which was discovered by the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), was produced then by Xechem Nigeria Ltd.
The drug, produced with extracts from four botanical plants in Nigeria, does not cure sickle cell anaemia, but only manages to reduce the frequency of the ailment.
http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/29045-production-of-sickle-cell-drugsll-commence-december-nexim-dg
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Amazing how quickly the ticker for our Zechem disappeared. Swift bought the assets to protect his azz (rights to the lawsuit came with the assets) and pulled the plug on the registration. What a shame on shame... pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered... me thinks i fell into the latter category where Swifty did not. Cheers fellow Xechemers of the past 8 years or so.
Thinking is a disease of the (our) minds... and you do have a choice - rather than finding "something suspect even in the humblest believer", perhaps consider that the believer is willing to accept, not by 'thinking', but rather by 'being', that there is something beyond our knowledge of how the universe operates - that can affect what transpires in the limited world that we perceive.
While thinking has it's place in our daily experiences, it greatly impacts what we perceive, and so 'right' thinking is paramount. Correct thinking includes thoughts in alignment with that which is beyond reason and is the basis of Faith. While it has been said that 'as we think, so we are', ultimately it is by learning how to stop thinking that we enter (the) 'living' - and we do this by 'being'. Being is a state of presence and awareness beyond thought, not unlike that state of being achieved in practiced meditation. Thought, however, is energy and the laws of cause and effect apply. Faith excludes thinking that might cause the energy of the thought to deviate from (manifesting) the desired outcome.
I also am not privy to the secrets of the universe and it's creator, and none of it really has much to do with Xechem at this stage except perhaps to allow those of us who have watched this company collapse, the satisfaction of knowing that we have done all we really can or could in an attemp to help this company to survive and thus allow those afflicted with SCA to receive some relief. IMO.
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I share Lochute's pain
ho hum - 50 m ...
Yes, I suspect you are right in that the data referred to is from their own 'observations' while 'dispensing' product. It would take such a tremendous effort now to produce Nicosan, even in a limited amount with required testing for efficacy of these small batches... seems it will remain a dream. 'Tis a dismal failure for 'human' beings.
It is this part that is re-surfacing again that has me speculating on what has transpired as material event(s) and to which shareholders have not been witness:
Nigeria to re-launch indigenous sickle cell drug
Stories by Onche Odeh Head Education & Science
For the over four million people in Nigeria with sickle cell disorders, this might be cheery news. That the government of Nigeria is fine-tuning plans to begin the commercialisation of Nicosan, a herbal based sickle cell medicine made by home-grown scientists with input from the Nigerian Institute for Pharmaceutical Research (NIPR).
The research institute is also developing an immune stimulant that could be a major boost to HIV/AIDS treatment in the country, the Director General of NIPR, Prof. Karniyus Gamaliel, has revealed.
Gamaliel who spoke told Daily Independent in Abuja disclosed that, an end to the troubles that truncated the commercialisation of the medicine is in sight, as the government of Nigeria is currently holding on to the licence for the production of the medicine until it finds a credible firm that would be handed the rights to produce the medicine for commercialisation.
The medicine, hitherto named Niprisan was made from the extracts of West African plants known to a Nigerian family. The licence for its production was subsequently given to American firm, Xechem until the Nigerian government withdrew it in 2009 as a measure to save Nicosan from the internal squabbles that engulfed the company.
“The drug was produced in Nigeria between 2002 and 2006, after which time there was a change in management of the company that caused inner wrangling among the company that led to a comatose. What we did then was to withdraw the licence for Nicosan from the company pending when we find a credible company,” Gamaliel said.
Developed at NIPR under the U.S. Patent number 5,800,819-September 1, 1998. It was found after Phase I, Phase IIa, IIb and subsequent clinical trials conducted by NIPRD in Nigeria to be highly efficacious in reducing crisis among sickle cell sufferers.
A chronology of progress made towards the commercialisation of Nicosn shows that Xechem International, an American company, acquired the exclusive world-wide rights to it in August 2002. It was officially launched in Nigeria on July 6, 2006, during which period Gamaliel said the drug was being produced in Nigeria.
A Phase IIb trial of Nicosan was conducted at an army base hospital in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria between 1996 and 1997. The company had reported that 73 per cent of the 30 patients who participated in the study experienced no crisis during the 12 month trial period and that the remaining 27 per cent experienced less frequent and less severe crises.
At that point, the government of Nigeria took over the company, which was then liquidated. There have since been several efforts by both Xechem and fresh investors to take over the company and recommence production.
A court dismissed a US$25 million suit against the Nigerian government for withdrawing its licence.
Gamaniel was quoted by Scidev.Net as saying that a committee to resolve all the issues concerning Nicosan has been constituted.
According to Scidev.net, the committee is to look into all the court suits and counter suits and ensure it is all resolved and a competent company appointed to manage the production.
Established drug, hydroxyurea, acts in SCD as an antisickling agent, however not all patients respond to this drug and some experience adverse effects, including myelosuppression. But Nicosan, with possibly less adverse effects also appears to work through a strong antisickling effect, according to the makers.
http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=20875
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Interesting how these 'things' that we have always 'known' are gradually/slowly being exposed and brought out into public scrutiny. IMO it will still be many years before something is actually done... speaking of 'done' ... we have the reasons why NIPRD is suffering from lack of funding... lots of painful lessons for the common investors, lots of fruitful gains for the 'other' investors.
Adventrx uses stock to buy sickle cell treatment
By Keith Darcé
Tuesday, February 15, 2011 at 8:52 a.m.
A sickle cell and a healthy red blood cell as seen under a microscope.
San Diego drug developer Adventrx Pharmaceuticals said Monday that it will use 40 percent of its stock to purchase Houston-based SynthRx and its experimental treatment for a painful blockage of blood vessels in people with sickle cell anemia.
“I believe this acquisition will be remembered as a transformative one for Adventrx,” Brian Culley, the company’s chief executive officer, said during a conference call with stock analysts.
Shares of Adventrx rose 5 cents, or more than 2 percent, to close Monday at $2.21.
The company revealed the deal was in the works in January but withheld the name of the acquisition target and other details.
Owners of SynthRx will receive 4 percent of Adventrx’s stock as an upfront payment. The rest of the shares will be delivered when the Food and Drug Administration accepts a new drug application for the Houston company’s main drug candidate and approves the therapy for sale.
Privately held SynthRx owns an experimental molecule known as poloxamer 188, which was originally tested as a heart attack medication but ran into trouble when contaminants related to the drug’s manufacturing process caused kidney problems.
SynthRx revived 188 in a purified form as an experimental treatment for sickle cell crisis, but the company ran out of money midway through a Phase 3 clinical trial and largely shelved the therapy in 2004.
Sickle cell crisis occurs when deformed red blood cells begin to pile up in the blood vessels that supply oxygen to organs and tissue. The condition causes pain, can damage the eyes and kidneys, and can trigger brain hemorrhaging and strokes.
The SynthRx drug, which has received an orphan drug designation from the FDA, is a molecule that lowers the surface tension of water in the blood, making the cells more slippery and less prone to clumping, Adventrx said.
There is no FDA-approved treatment for the condition.
The ability of 188 "to loosely bind and, almost like a Band-Aid, cover the hydrophobic region of the (red blood) cell and enhance viscosity, allows the cell to continue to deliver oxygen without the logjam effect," Culley said.
Adventrx initially will seek clearance to prescribe the drug to children, Culley said. Testing the treatment in adults is more challenging because pain resulting from sickle cell crisis often is hard to distinguish from chronic pain often associated with the broader disease, he said.
A Phase 3 trial could start in early 2012, and the company expects to spend up to $25 million bringing 188 to market, he said.
After raising $50 million in investor funding over the last 18 months, Adventrx won't have any problem covering those development costs, Culley said.
"I think we're really in a good position," he said.
keith.darce@uniontrib.com (619) 293-1020 Twitter @keithdarce
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/15/adventrx-uses-stock-buy-sickle-cell-treatment/
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Compound May Prevent Sickle Cell Pain Crises
Main Category: Vascular
Also Included In: Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 01 Feb 2011 - 1:00 PST
A new compound appears to prevent the traffic jam of cells that causes debilitating pain crises and associated mortality in sickle cell disease, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.
The aptamer, developed by Archemix Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., appears to work by occupying sticky receptors lining the walls of small blood vessels where sickle-shaped red blood cells and white blood cells can pile up, according to the study published in Blood. The cell traffic jam occludes blood and oxygen flow, causing pain, organ damage and, eventually, death.
"Many people are focusing on developing new therapies for sickle cell disease because right now, there is only one FDA-approved choice (hydroxyurea, a chemotherapeutic agent)," said Dr. Diana R. Gutsaeva, MCG physiologist and molecular biologist and the study's first author. "We think this aptamer has potential to be one of those new therapies."
Patients can become resistant to hydroxyurea, which was approved in1998 as the first treatment for adults with sickle cell disease.
In a mouse with sickle cell disease, administering the aptamer prior to a pain crisis-provoking stressor reduced adhesion of sickle red blood cells by 90 percent and white blood cells by 80 percent, the researchers report. The animals also had increased blood flow velocity and reduced mortality.
MCG researchers believe the drug can now move to clinical trials where it has potential for treating an acute pain crisis - now primarily treated with narcotics - as well as avoiding one, if a tablet form becomes available. The current liquid form must been given intravenously or injected under the skin.
The Food and Drug Administration already has approved one aptamer to treat macular degeneration and others are under study for cardiovascular disease and blood disorders. MCG also is exploring the potential of inhaled nitric oxide in treating a sickle cell pain crisis. Results of a small clinical study, led by Dr. C. Alvin Head, Chairman of the MCG Department of Anesthesiology and published in October 2010 in the American Journal of Hematology, showed that inhaling nitric oxide provides better pain control than standard self-administered morphine.
The new aptamer targets P-selectin receptors, which are highly expressed in sickle cell patients. "The aptamer locks them up so they do not function," said Dr. Tohru Ikuta, MCG molecular hematologist and a study co-author. "There are almost no good compounds that inhibit cell adhesion and many that do are toxic." At least in their animal studies, the new compound wasn't toxic and didn't provoke an immune response, Ikuta said.
"... (T)hese results represent an exciting development offering the possibility of a much-needed, novel, targeted therapy for patients with SCD," Dr. David J. Anstee of the Bristol Institute for Transfusion Sciences, wrote in a commentary. He noted that further studies are needed to ensure the compound does not produce a harmful immune response.
The research was funded by Archemix Corp., Southeastern Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
Source:
Medical College of Georgia
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/215227.php
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Adventrx agrees to buy sickle cell drug company
By Keith Darcé
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 8:13 a.m.
San Diego drug developer Adventrx Pharmaceuticals said Friday that it agreed to acquire another biotechnology company, whose main drug candidate treats a painful blockage of blood vessels in people with sickle cell anemia, in exchange for 47 percent of Adventrx’s stock.
The deal is worth $20.24 million based on the closing price of Adventrx shares prior to the acquisition announcement.
Adventrx officials wouldn’t name the privately-held target company or say where it is located.
Shares of Adventrx were down 41 cents, or 14 percent, to $2.52 in early trading after the announcement.
Owners of the target company will receive 19 percent of Adventrx’s stock as an upfront payment. The rest of the shares will be delivered when the Food and Drug Administration accepts a new drug application for the target company’s main experimental therapy, identified as TPC, and approves the drug for sale in the United States.
The milestone payments will be made in cash if Adventrx shareholders fail to approve the stock exchange, as required by stock market regulations.
Sickle cell anemia patients sometimes experience something called a sickle cell crisis, when the deformed red blood cells in their body begin to pile up in blood vessels. The condition can block the flow of oxygen-carrying blood, cause pain, damage eyes and kidneys, and trigger brain hemorhaging and strokes.
TPC, which has received an orphan drug designation from the FDA, is a molecule that lowers the surface tension of water in the blood, making the cells more slippery and less prone to clumping, Adventrx said.
Adventrx will spend between $15 million and $25 million over the next three years on a Phase 3 trial of TPC, the company said.
A Phase 3 trial of the experimental drug previously was initiated by the target company and another investor. However, that study was suspended when money for the test ran out, Adventrx said.
keith.darce@uniontrib.com (619) 293-1020 Twitter @keithdarce
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/07/adventrx-agrees-buy-sickle-cell-drug-company/
Well said ! ~ S
Production of Nicosan to begin in weeks-NIPRD DG
Stories by Emeka Umejei, Reporter, Lagos
• Gamaniel
LAST UPDATED AT Wed Dec, 08 2010
The Director-General (DG) of Nigeria Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Professor Karniyus Gamaniel, disclosed that production of Nicosan, an effective drug for treatment and management of sickle-cell anemia will soon be resuscitated.
“The minister has set up a committee on the resuscitation of the Nicosan and I am sure in the next few months or weeks, Nicosan would be back may be not in large scale because what Government has done is to ask NIPRD to produce on social production. As a social responsibility to people that need Nicosan,” Gamaniel stated.
“The process takes long, NAFDAC has to inspect the facility, the council has to approve the person that is going to be in charge whose license is going to be used to re-establish it and then we start producing. We would produce for a while and in the mean time work out for a competent pharmaceutical company who will be licensed for production.”
Gamaniel, who spoke to Daily Independent in his Abuja office said Nicosan as proven effective in the management of sickle cell anemia crises and treatment.
“Nicosan does not cure but manages sickle; from our study the number of crises that victims undergo reduces significantly and the number of hospital visits. I have seen people who had bad situation but when they started using the drug their situation changed. If Food and drug administration (FDA,USA) can admit the product as orphan drug, then Nigeria should be proud that we made this kind of discovery,” Gamaniel stated.
Stating further, Gamaniel said Nicosan stopped being produced following what he described as management problem with the company that got the production license.
“Since 2008 it has not been in production because there was a management problem with the company that got the license from NIPRD to produce Nicosan, they dragged themselves to court and all that.So, NIPRD under the directive of the minister of health withdrew their license which was even challenged in a court in the United States of America(USA),” Gamaniel disclosed .
“NIPRD has never taken anybody to court but for withdrawing her license based on lay down agreements, the shareholders took NIPRD to court in the US. So, we had to pay money to sponsor lawyers to go to the US and engage a resident lawyer to defend us .We won the case but we lost money. It was an unfortunate situation because if we had that money today and we dedicate it to Research and Development of our herbal, taking into consideration the processes that we have set up we would move forward. “
Happy Holidays All Xchemers ! Sounds like a Xmas present for SCD sufferers eh?
Thanks for posting this item. There are certainly some encouraging possibilites for Nigeria.
"There are lots of things we don't do because we have no money," Gamaniel told Nature. For instance, the institute needs 50 million naira in addition to its running costs to mount an 800-patient phase III clinical trial on its anti-malaria drug.
In addition, one of the institute's flagship laboratories, set up in 2005 with a grant of US$25 million from NIAID, is lying idle. NIPRD needs about US$180,000 a year to cover maintenance costs and ensure a constant supply of electricity, Gamaniel says.
Joseph Okogun, a consultant phytochemist for NIPRD, says that without funding for this lab they cannot carry out essential analyses of the structures of chemical compounds in their tuberculosis drug candidate, which is a mix of herbal extracts that have been shown to slow the growth of the tuberculosis bacterium.
You drinking again? Nice to see you expound on the Truth! U GO Girl! ... Keep in touch ~ S
Study of Children with Sickle Cell Anemia Stroke Prevention Stopped
Posted by Bea Lang on Friday, June 25, 2010, 11:47
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has stopped a clinical trial evaluating a new approach to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke in children with sickle cell anemia and iron overload because of evidence that the new treatment was unlikely to prove better than the existing treatment.
Sickle cells are red blood cells with sickle hemoglobin become C-shaped, stiff, and sticky when they release the oxygen they carry. The deformed cells impede blood flow, causing severe pain and organ damage. About 10 percent of children with sickle cell disease suffer a stroke. Having experienced one, they are at high risk of having another unless they receive preventive treatment. Sickle cell disease affects more than 70,000 Americans.
The study tested whether the drug hydroxyurea, the only FDA-approved drug for treating sickle cell anemia, known to prevent complications of sickle cell disease in adults, was as effective as transfusions, the standard therapy, in reducing the risk of recurrent strokes. The study had 133 participants between the ages of 5 and 18 who had already experienced a stroke. Without further preventive measures, these children were at high risk of another stroke as well as life-threatening conditions due to iron overload. All had been receiving the standard treatment of blood transfusions for at least 18 months and had high levels of iron before entering the study.
The study also compared approaches to remove excess iron, a consequence of regular blood transfusions. Participants who were switched to hydroxyurea underwent regular phlebotomy (blood removal) to eliminate excess iron that had accumulated from their earlier transfusions and the others who continued to receive transfusion therapy were given standard oral iron-removal drug deferasirox, and phlebotomy did not reduce liver iron better than deferasirox therapy. Analysis of the available data indicated that continuing the trial was unlikely to show that phlebotomy would provide a greater benefit than deferasirox to control iron accumulation.
“Protecting our participants is an important factor in determining whether to stop a trial,” said Susan B. Shurin, MD, acting director of the NHLBI, who is a board-certified hematologist and pediatrician. The NHLBI is part of the National Institutes of Health. ” When an experimental treatment fails to meet its predetermined goals, it is best to return participants to standard treatment as soon as possible.” By the time the trial was halted, approximately one-third of participants had completed the study, during which they were treated and monitored for 30 months. At enrollment, participants were randomly assigned to either the alternative or the standard treatment group. The study’s independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) reviewed interim results from the trial and recommended stopping the study. The NHLBI accepted the recommendation and stopped the study on May 6.
N strokes occurred in the 66 participants who received the standard therapy of blood transfusions and deferasirox, but seven strokes occurred in the group of 67 participants who received hydroxyurea with phlebotomy. Study participants and their families have been contacted, and they will discuss future care options with their health care providers.
http://techcombo.com/2010/06/25/study-of-children-with-sickle-cell-anemia-stroke-prevention-stopped-123/
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The burden of sickle cell disorder
OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA 29/06/2010 08:00:00
Nigeria has the largest burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) in the world. Statistics available at the lone national centre for the disease, the National Sickle Cell Centre, Idi Araba, Lagos, said over 40 million Nigerians are carriers of the S gene.
This number far exceeds the total population of every other affected African country and, indeed, of several of them put together.
This is because carriers of the sickle cell gene (Hb AS) have over the past years, flourished and multiplied in tropical sub-Saharan Africa because their carrier status protected them from succumbing to the deadly falciparum malaria prevalent in the country.
Consequently, about 150,000 Nigerian children are born each year with sickle cell anaemia (HbSS), the prevailing type of sickle cell disorder in the country.
Survival of these children beyond childhood is largely dependent on their access to appropriate care and because most of them are born into poor underprivileged families, very few of them survive childhood.
On the other hand, the survival of those with access to good care, at all ages, is steadily improving although many challenges to their quality of lives and life spans still remain.
According to the Chairman, the National Sickle Cell Centre, Prof Olu Akinyanju, the level of awareness of SCD is low for an old disorder with a irth rate of one in 50 babies.
The reasons is that the affected children rarely survived childhood, and were, therefore, less likely to be encountered in secondary schools, universities and in the workplace.
The Professor of Medicine said despite SCD’s two per cent birth incidence, the estimated population of SCD-affected persons in Nigeria is about one million, owing to a high rate of premature deaths.
Unfortunately, the increasing awareness has not been matched by the development of a well-resourced national policy. This has curtailed the dissemination of accurate and unbiased public information and education about the disorder and has fuelled the growth of myths, misinformation, inappropriate treatment, frustration and stigmatisation.
The Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN) was established to address the problems of SCD in Nigeria in a systematic, scientific and sustainable manner.
According to the Professor of Medicine, the Foundation has achieved its first goal of developing, in accordance with WHO recommendation, a comprehensive National Sickle Cell Centre in Lagos. It is the first of its kind in Africa.
"It took 10 years to complete. All the funds were raised from Nigerians, mainly from the private sector. I recommend that each state should have a Sickle Cell Centre that will supervise the programmes and activities of all Sickle Cell Clubs within that state.
"In turn, the state Sickle Cell Centre should collaborate with the National Sickle Cell Centre (NSCC) so that the problems of SCD in Nigeria can be addressed in a co-ordinated and accountable manner. We believe that it is important for the Sickle Cell Centres in each state to be largely autonomous non-governmental institutions run by committed and appropriately informed people in collaboration with the state’s health services. In this way, they will be shielded from excessive bureaucracy, political manipulations and policy inconsistency of successive governments."
Giving the reason for this suggestion, Prof Akinyanju said: "An example should be illustrative. The development of the first centre in Nigeria, ‘The Sickle Cell Anaemia Centre’ in Benin City, was promoted by the wife of the then Military Governor of the former Bendel State of Nigeria, the late Mrs Jackie Ogbeha. She invited me and many wealthy indigenes of Bendel State to the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos to raise funds for the project. To her credit, the two-floor Centre was duly erected in the attractive Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Benin, but its trustees and management structure were not sorted out before her influential position as the First Lady of the state ended abruptly, with military precision.
"Consequently, the centre became the property of the state government and was initially used as a cosy hospital for senior civil servants and other privileged citizens. It later reverted briefly to its intended use as a centre for people with sickle cell disorder.
"The centre is now the property of the Edo State government, but only the ground floor is allowed for sickle cell use. The entire first floor has, for some time now, accommodated the offices of the state Commissioner for Health and his Permanent Secretary. Sickle Cell workers in the state are unhappy but powerless to do anything about the usurpation and I am sure that Mrs. Ogbeha must be turning in her grave," said Akinyanju.
Comments (1 posted):
akansa on 29/06/2010 14:47:11
Nothing is working in Nigeria, the only thing that works is CORRUPTION. In a country where the Sickle patient population is even more than some country in Africa, is it not time for the government of the day to know that it is a problem they need to solve with urgency? Well i don't blame them, perhaps none of them is a victim, had it been they i'm they will start working. Maybe because my own brilliant son is a victim make me too interested in the issues. Who's guilty? Government or the populace?
http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/health/3831.html
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Govt asked to improve sickle cell treatment
Monday, 21st June, 2010
By Andante Okanya
THE Government should improve the facilities for treating people with sickle cell anaemia to enable them live a comfortable life, the chairperson and founder of the Sickle Cell Association of Uganda (SAU) has said.
“In Uganda, we have only one sickle cell unit and this is at Mulago. The Government has to do more to invest in a fully-equipped unit,” Ruth Nankanja said on Saturday.
She was speaking at a press conference held at the proposed SAU centre at Kawanda-Namalere in Wakiso district to mark the World Sickle Cell Day on June 19.
Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic blood disorder where red blood cells form an abnormal and rigid sickle shape. It is hereditary and affects millions of persons globally.
Nankanja called for extensive research on the condition, saying many people are dying, yet they can be saved.
According to SAU, 20% of Ugandans carry the sickle cell gene, while over 30,000 babies are born with sickle cells.
Some of the symptoms of the disease include yellowing of the whites of the eyes (jaundice), severe pain and swelling of the fingers and toes and body tissue damage.
According to the World Health Organisation, the disease causes 60% of deaths worldwide, with 80% occurring in low and middle-income countries.
Nankanja urged the Government to follow Ghana’s example, which this year started screening babies for the disease, such that treatment is started as soon as the condition is detected.
SAU has also scheduled a sickle cell awareness and educational week which will run from July 26 to 30.
One of the activities lined up is a corporate fundraising dinner for the construction of a modern sickle cell centre at Kawanda-Namalere.
Currently, tests for sickle cell are carried out in clinics in Kampala at sh30,000.
In October 2008, Miriam Mulumba, now aged 9, became the first Ugandan to be cured of the sickle cell disease after undergoing a bone marrow transplant operation.
The operation, carried out in the US, cost $250,000 (sh500m), and was paid for by the US Airforce.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/723421
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Sickle cell: Early diagnosis can increase life expectancy
By BUKOLA ADEBAYO Wednesday, 9 Jun 2010
Sickle cell
Medical experts lament that though over 40 million Nigerians are carriers of the sickle cell disorder, governments at all levels are yet to see it as a disease that requires public health action, reports BUKOLA ADEBAYO.
Hers was a sad end to a life of struggle with ill health.
After the 20-year old Ms. Abimbola Egunjobi completed her secondary school in Nigeria, she enrolled for the Advanced Levels programme in a London school. Considering the numerous crises she had had to grapple with as a sickle cell anaemia patient, everyone thought the worst was over as she marked her second decade alive. But, as is usually the case with most sickle cell anaemia patients, she paid the ultimate price on February 5, 2003, leaving her parents and siblings to mourn their indescribable loss.
A roommate of hers in school was so disturbed by the news of her death that she vowed never to marry an individual with even an AS genotype!
The idea, said the roommate, was to make sure that no one ever goes through the many crises her friend passed through while her short life lasted.
According to medical experts, Sickle-Cell Disease, or Sickle-Cell Anaemia (SCD or SCA) or drepanocytosis, is a genetic blood disorder characterised by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells’ flexibility and results in a risk of various complications. The sickling occurs because of a mutation in the haemoglobin gene.
The term ‘disease’ is applied because the inherited abnormality causes a pathological condition that can lead to death and severe complications. Indeed, in sickle cell, life expectancy is shortened, with studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 in males and 48 in females.
Sickle cell anaemia is a serious disease in which the body makes sickle-shaped red blood cells. In other words, the red blood cells are shaped like a “C,” while the normal red blood cells are disc-shaped and look like doughnuts without holes in the centre.
Normal blood cells move easily through the blood vessels. Red blood cells contain the protein hemoglobin. This iron-rich protein gives blood its red color and carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
On the other hand, sickle cells contain abnormal hemoglobin that causes the cells to have a sickle shape. Sickle-shaped cells don’t move easily through the blood vessels; they are stiff and sticky and tend to form clumps and get stuck in the blood vessels.
The clumps of sickle cells block blood flow in the blood vessels that lead to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections and organ damage.
Sickle cell anaemia is one type of anaemia, which is a condition in which the blood has a lower than normal number of red blood cells. This condition also can occur if the red blood cells don’t have enough hemoglobin.
Red blood cells are made in the spongy marrow inside the large bones of the body. Bone marrow is always making new red blood cells to replace old ones. Normal red blood cells last about 120 days in the bloodstream and then die. They carry oxygen and remove carbon dioxide (a waste product) from the body.
In sickle cell anaemia, a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells occurs because sickle cells don’t last very long. Sickle cells usually die after only about 10 to 20 days. The bone marrow can’t make new red blood cells fast enough to replace the dying ones, hence the crises usually experienced by sufferers.
Sickle cell anaemia is an inherited, lifelong disease. People who have the disease are born with it. They inherit two copies of the sickle cell gene—one from each parent.
People who inherit a sickle cell gene from one parent and a normal gene from the other parent have a condition called sickle cell trait, which is different from sickle cell anaemia. People who have sickle cell trait don’t have the disease, but they have one of the genes that cause it. Like people who have sickle cell anaemia, people who have sickle cell trait can pass the gene to their children.
According to the chairman of the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, Prof. Olu Akinyanju, over 40 million Nigerians are carriers of the sickle cell gene. And as frightening as it is, statistics say, about 150,000 babies are born yearly with the sickle cell anaemia.
However, contrary to what used to obtain, Akinyanju said, sickle cell disease is no more a death sentence, as evidence has shown that affected persons can live normally and as long as possible.
Sickle cell anaemia varies from person to person, he said. “While some people who have the disease have chronic (long-term) pain or fatigue (tiredness), with proper care and treatment, many people who have the disease can have improved quality of life and reasonable health much of the time,” he said.
He also said that due to adequate care, the average life expectancy of an American with SCD, which was seven in 1973, increased to 53 years in 2003, which is far higher than the average life expectancy of the population of healthy Nigerians, put at 43 years, all because America invested in research, training and treatment of the disease.
Speaking in the same vein, a Senior Medical Officer at the National Sickle Cell Centre, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Dr. Toriola Femi-Adebayo, said the government should adopt the policy of new-born screening for early diagnosis of sickle cell disorder. This, she said, would help to reduce some health complications.
Asked why private hospitals were not doing it, she said neo-natal screening was a capital intensive project that also required a multidisciplinary approach, which will only be beneficial to Nigerians if done in government-owned hospitals.
Femi-Adebayo said that though sickle cell anaemia was not yet regarded as a disease that required public health action from the government, there had been no foreign aid or grant to sponsor the schemes and treatment.
“It has to be a policy from the government. After screening, those with the disorder should be counselled by genetic counselors, and appropriate treatment initiated,” she explained.
Better still, Femi-Adebayo said, another major advantage of the screening was that it would ensure that statistics of babies born with the disorder in the hospitals are known and provisions can be made based on the figures provided.
In an effort to eradicate SCD, some religious organisations, especially the churches, hold counselling sessions for intending couples, while many advise their members to do medical tests to determine their genotypes before proceeding further in the relationships. This, they do, to stop marriages that would have been contracted by two people who are carriers of deadly diseases, including sickle cell.
Despite the lofty intentions behind this monitoring, some critics say the practice could cause stigmatisation of those affected, or lead to denial and falsification of genotype status by people living with sickle cell disorder or healthy carriers. All this, they argue, could be counterproductive to the efforts to manage the disorder in the country.
According to a genetic counsellor with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria in Lagos,
Mrs. Ayo Otaigbe, discouraging sickle cell carriers from getting married would not stop the incidence of children being born with sickle cell anaemia in Nigeria.
She said that as a genetic counsellor, she ensures that couples at risk are given accurate, full and unbiased information that offers guidance but allows them to make their own decisions.
She recommended pre-natal diagnosis for pregnant women at risk, where a sample of chorionic villus (placenta cell) is taken for test when pregnancy is about 11 weeks. “The snag is that PND, for now, is expensive for most people that require it,” Otaigbe lamented.
“It is a very sensitive test, some equipment costs as much as millions of naira. It is also expensive abroad, but their governments have made provision for it,” she said. She explained that if PND shows that a foetus has sickle cell anaemia, couples could make informed decisions about the issue.
She said a PND test could help parents who would be having sickle cell children to garner medical information that would increase the life expectancy of the child.
One of the problems contributing to the complications of SCD is the management of the disorder. According to Otaigbe, parents of affected children only get to know the genotype of their kids at a later stage, especially after a major crisis. This, she said, could cause premature deaths in babies.
Otaigbe, who is also the president of Sickle Cell club in Nigeria called on the government to ensure that babies have their genotypes tests done, and SS children registered in sickle cell clinics for proper management.
Sickle cell sufferers and their parents are also encouraged to join sickle cell clubs where they can associate and learn more about the disorder.
“The genotype test should be made compulsory for all babies brought to the hospital. If we detect their status on time, we can treat them by referring them to the appropriate quarters. But how many hospitals in this country have sickle cell clinics?” she asked.
Comments :
Nigeria has already got the research to stop sickle cell completely. It is called NICOSAN, developed my NIPRD, and this medication stops crises permanently. But due to greed and corruption, NICOSAN is no longer in production. Instead of bemoaning the fact that people with sickle cell just have to deal with it...the government needs to push Diamond Bank, Bank PHB and NEXIM to come to a resolution so that the factory can be reopened and production can start yet again.
Posted by: Tosin Ola , on Thursday, June 10, 2010
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201006090504510
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Biotech executives pessimistic about industry's survival, survey finds
New Jersey Business News
By Susan Todd/The Star-Ledger
May 25, 2010, 8:00AM
Luis Enrique Ascui/Bloomberg Biotechnology has always faced big odds.
Typically, the smallest of drugmakers have pursued breakthrough products from new science without the luxury of steady revenue or a guarantee of success. The global recession and the collapse of the financial markets only intensified the gamble for most biotech companies.
"A legacy of the recession may be that traditional biotech, particularly as it is perceived as an engine for industry innovation, may be fading into the background," according to a survey of 281 senior executives from the life sciences industry during two months in late 2009.
The Economist Intelligence Unit collaborated with DeLoitte’s Global Life Sciences and Health Care Industry Group on the survey in an effort to assess the effect of the worldwide recession on the life sciences, which generally includes pharmaceutical, medical device as well as biotech companies.
Nearly half, or 44 percent, of the life sciences executives surveyed said between 20 and 40 percent of the existing biotech companies are likely to disappear as a result of the recession. There is less optimism among biotech executives — 68 percent of them believe the economic slowdown will erase as much as 40 percent of the biotech industry.
Another dismal outcome: Nearly 51 percent of the executives said they believed the availability of venture capital was hardest hit by the recession.
New Jersey, which has nurtured biotech in the shadow of some of the world’s largest drug makers, has experienced minimal fall-out from the recession. There are 250 biotech companies in the state, ranging from the giant Celgene to the tiny Soligenix.
Debbie Hart, president of the trade group, BioNJ, said only one company, New Brunswick-based Xechem, closed its doors during the recession. Xechem filed for bankruptcy last year. Others have slashed jobs and shelved projects in an effort to survive the tough environment, she said.
In April, the federal government created a prospective lifeline for part of the biotech industry.
A special tax credit program will provide $1 billion over a two-year period to help eligible companies retain scientists and continue their research on new medicines.
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/05/biotech_executives_pessimistic.html
Thanks for the search and post Elis ~ S
Dana Air Nigeria, SSVF Raises N7.4m for Sickle Cell Centre
May 18, 2010 by Bunmi Awolusi
Award-winning airline, Dana Air and the Sri Sai Vandana Foundation (SSVF) have generated the sum of N7, 353,657.00 towards the activities of the National Sickle Cell Centre through the Dana Air in-flight envelope donation scheme. The scheme, which is in partnership with the Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, was initiated in August 2009 as part of Dana Air’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.
A Director of the Sickle Cell Foundation, Abiola Ogunbiyi, who confirmed the donation, expressed appreciation to the management of Dana Air for its commitment towards alleviating the burden of the sickle cell disorder in Nigeria. In her words, “With about 40 million Nigerian healthy carriers of the sickle cell gene and over 150,000 babies born each year with the symptomatic sickle cell anaemia, Dana Air’s contribution has a positive impact on the lives of those suffering from the disorder, with many lives saved from avoidable death.”
Commenting on the in-flight donation scheme, Chairman of Dana Group and the Sri Sai Vandana Foundation, Ramesh Hathiramani, said that the success recorded so far is as a result of the generosity of Dana Air guests. He thanked all who have made contributions to the National Sickle Cell Centre through the scheme while soliciting for their continued support.
The Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria was established in November 1994, as a non-governmental and non-profit making organization dedicated to the proper care and control of sickle cell disorder in Nigeria. The National Sickle Cell Centre is strategically located opposite the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Its programmes include clinical & laboratory services, genetic counseling service, prenatal diagnosis, newborn screening, research, capacity building, advocacy and education.
Sri Sai Vandana Foundation is a charitable trust, serving as an avenue through which Dana Group and its subsidiaries fulfill her corporate social responsibility to the society. The Foundation has, since 1995, been involved in a lot of community development projects as well as providing support to foundations or organizations that share the same objectives.
http://nigerianbulletin.com/2010/05/18/dana-air-nigeria-ssvf-raises-n7-4m-for-sickle-cell-centre/
Emmaus currently has one of the few sickle-cell treatments to ever reach late-stage trials. It is readying for the possible commercialization of the L-glutamine treatment that already has been fast-tracked for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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McKinnell named to Emmaus board
Published 05/19/2010
Former Pfizer Inc. chief executive Henry McKinnell Jr. has joined the board at privately held Emmaus Medical Inc., which has been developing a remedy for sickle cell disease.
"His knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and global experience will be invaluable as our company positions itself for significant near term growth," said Yutaka Niihara, head of Emmaus Medical, in a statement.
Emmaus currently has one of the few sickle-cell treatments to ever reach late-stage trials. It is readying for the possible commercialization of the L-glutamine treatment that already has been fast-tracked for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Lee Howard
http://www.theday.com/article/20100519/BIZ02/305199959/-1/BIZ
Thanks for the time invested in your post(s) here.
Shame on those leaders of Xechem who did not follow through on their publicly stated intent!
Xechem International, Inc. announced that the Company and one of its subsidiaries, Xechem, Inc., filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois (the Bankruptcy Court) to suspend all litigation and to restructure its debt.
The Company intends to work with all of its constituencies to reach mutually acceptable resolutions and to exit bankruptcy as expeditiously as possible. The Company's operations are expected to continue as normal throughout the bankruptcy process, while the Company executes on its reorganization plans. The Company's other subsidiaries are not part of this Chapter 11 filing. The Company's Nigerian subsidiary, Xechem Pharmaceuticals Nigeria Limited, will continue its normal operations of the manufacturing and sale of NICOSAN, a drug approved for marketing in Nigeria for the management of Sickle Cell Disease.