Un buen relax en Thailandia: el Santhiya Resort & Spa

En la misma playa de Thong Nai Pan Beach, al norte de la isla de Ko Phan Ngan, descansa este resort bañado por las azules aguas del mar y abrazado por un entorno paisajístico de gran belleza. Thailandia en pura expresión porque el tiempo parece detenerse cuando se traspasan sus puertas. Todas sus habitaciones, suites y villas están decoradas en estilo tailandés y equipadas con todo lo necesario para una lujosa y confortable estancia con vistas panorámicas a la selva o al mar.

Las exclusivas Pool Villas cuentan con jacuzzi y piscina privada en la terraza. La habitación más lujosa es la Santhiya Supreme Deluxe, con detalles especiales y pequeñas rocas que forman parte de la decoración. El hotel dispone de diversos restaurantes y bares donde degustar todo tipo de comidas y refrescos. Mención especial merece el Chantara Restaurant, especializado en cocina Thai y con espectaculares vistas sobre el mar y la bahía. La piscina, junto a la playa cuenta con una gran cascada artificial.

**Para más información en: http://www.santhiya.com/

Bird flu jumps to pigs

The H5N1 bird flu virus may be evolving the ability to spread from mammal to mammal, says a team who have discovered that pigs in Indonesia have been infected with the disease since 2005. It's one step in the frightening chain of events that could lead to human transmission and a pandemic.
The H5N1 bird flu kills 60 per cent of the people it infects. However, most infections occur after direct contact with an infected bird and the disease does not appear to spread well between humans. As long as human to human transmission remains rare, the virus cannot cause a flu pandemic.
This could change. One way the virus could develop the ability to spread among humans is to first infect pigs, which have many biochemical similarities to humans. Flu viruses adapted to pigs have less trouble adapting to humans than do bird flu viruses – one pig-adapted virus caused the swine flu pandemic in 2009.
Chairul Nidom of Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia, and colleagues in Japan, have been tracking H5N1 in pigs since 2005 in Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the avian flu virus. They now report that between 2005 to 2007 when the avian flu peaked, 7.4 per cent of 700 pigs they tested also carried H5N1. There have been sporadic reports of H5N1 in pigs, but this is the first time the extent of the problem has been measured.

-Poultry to pig
In each case, the virus in pigs closely resembled H5N1 from nearby outbreaks in poultry, suggesting it has jumped from the bird to the pig population. That and the small proportion of pigs infected suggests the virus cannot yet spread between pigs. "If the virus was better adapted to pigs it would have spread like wildfire," says Ab Osterhaus of the University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, a flu expert not involved in the research.
Since 2007, avian flu outbreaks have diminished in poultry and in people in Indonesia and the investigators found that the the rate of infection in pigs has similarly dropped. Although pigs are still carrying signs of recent infection.
This means the virus could still be spreading and evolving because the team discovered, to their surprise, that infected pigs show no symptoms. "H5N1 viruses could easily evade detection as they spread through Indonesia in asymptomatic pigs," warn Nidom and colleagues.
And there are worrying indications that H5N1 is already evolving. Nidom says that in one pig, the virus had developed the ability to bind to a molecule present in the noses of both pigs and humans. That's exactly the kind of change that could allow it to spread between people.
"This shows we should keep a close watch on pig flu, as it can change rapidly," warns Osterhaus. The European Union is heeding the call and is funding a scientific collaboration called FLUPIG, to study how bird flu adapts to pigs and how pig flu spreads to people. It will meet for the first time later this month.
Journal reference: Emerging Infectious Diseases , DOI:10.3201/eid1610.100508

**Published in "New Scientist Health"

Cost-cutting bacteria reap benefits of energy thrift

Bacteria are cheapskates. When producing proteins that end up outside the cell, they act like cut-rate builders by using the least costly materials they can.
Cells must expend energy to make the amino acids that are building blocks for proteins. Each of the 20 different amino acids has a different energy cost, with the most expensive, tryptophan, requiring more than six times as much energy as the cheapest, glycine. Matthew Chapman, a microbiologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, wondered whether bacteria would prefer to use cheaper amino acids in proteins that would be lost from the cell, because they have no way of recovering these proteins for later recycling.
To find out, Chapman and his student Daniel Smith looked at every protein in Escherichia coli bacteria and calculated the average energy cost of the amino acids used in each. Proteins exported from the cell cost about 12 per cent less than average, they found.
The researchers then compared the proteins of a diverse set of 25 bacterial species. In every case, they found, proteins that ended up outside the cell were cheaper than those that remained within – an economy that saves the cell about 8.7 per cent of the proteins' construction cost, and about 1.5 per cent of the cell's overall energy bill. Though that sounds like a small advantage, such cells should outnumber their less thrifty cousins 15 to 1 after 250 generations. "I think there's a lot of room for this sort of economical evolution," says Chapman.
The results accord well with earlier work showing that cells also use cheaper amino acids to build their most abundant proteins. "This really seems to be an important evolutionary force," says Dan Krane, a bioinformatician at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

Journal reference: mBio, DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00131-10

**Published in "NewScientist Life"

Funciona en perros una nueva investigación para tratar el linfoma

Investigadores de la Universidad de Illinois (Estados Unidos) han identificado una nueva diana farmacológica para el tratamiento del linfoma y están probando un posible fármaco en perros que padecen la enfermedad. A bajas dosis, el componente, llamado S-PAC-1, detenía el crecimiento de los tumores en tres de los seis perros evaluados e inducía una remisión parcial en un cuarto de ellos. Los resultados del estudio se publican en la revista 'Cancer Research'.
El nuevo componente se dirige a una enzima celular, la procaspasa-3, que cuando se activa desencadena una cascada de reacciones que elimina a la célula cancerígena.
La procaspasa-3 supone una diana farmacológica atractiva para las terapias frente al cáncer ya que los cánceres suelen interferir con la mortalidad celular mortal y porque muchos tumores, entre ellos el de mama, colon, pulmón, linfoma, melanoma e hígado, contienen elevados niveles de procaspasa-3.
El nuevo componente es una versión modificada de un fármaco evaluado antes por los investigadores, el PAC-1, que tenía efectos neurológicos dañinos. Los científicos desarrollaron un derivado del componente que no podía llegar al cerebro y lo evaluaron en perros de compañía con linfoma. En los animales, el componente S-PAC-1, estabilizó o redujo el tamaño de los tumores en la mayoría de los animales sin causar neurotoxicidad. Otros efectos secundarios fueron leves y se han eliminado en posteriores diseños del fármaco.
El estudio en las mascotas es inusual ya que la mayoría de estudios examinan los efectos en ratones y si el componente muestra seguridad se prueba en humanos. Los seis perros empleados en este estudio eran pacientes veterinarios que habían desarrollado la enfermedad de forma espontánea. Las similitudes entre el linfoma humano y el canino apoyan los resultados del estudio.
Según explica Tim Fan, codirector del estudio, "si se examinan las firmas genéticas del linfoma canino y el humano, éstas son muy similares y su respuesta a la terapia es también muy similar. Por ello existen muchas razones para ser optimistas sobre que un componente que tiene algunos efectos en los canes pueda tener un efecto similar en humanos".

Weight Loss May Release Pollutants Into Bloodstream, Researchers Say

There may actually be an unhealthy downside to losing weight. A new study finds that blood levels of substances known as persistent organic pollutants were higher in people who had lost weight compared to people who maintained or gained weight.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are compounds created by humans in industrial processes and have been linked to a wide range of illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia, and heart disease. The study appears in the International Journal of Obesity.
Persistent organic pollutants are stored in fat tissues in the body. But when the amount of fat is decreased -- as through weight loss -- they may be released into the bloodstream, where they may enter vital organs, such as the heart and brain.

--The Study
In the study, researchers compared levels of seven common persistent organic pollutants in 1,099 adults who participated in a national health study in 1999-2002.
They found levels of POPs were significantly higher in adults who had experienced more weight loss. This effect was slightly higher in people who had maintained their weight loss for 10 years or more, compared with people who had sustained it for only one year.
Researchers say the findings may help explain why some studies have suggested, though not proven, that the risk of heart disease, dementia, or death may sometimes increase after weight loss.
However, it's still unclear whether this release of the persistent organic pollutants associated with weight loss or pre-existing obesity-related illnesses are responsible for this increase in risk. Further study will be needed to determine whether this release of persistent organic pollutants is responsible for any negative health effects following weight loss.

**Published in "Web MD"

Business confidence higher in pharma sector - report

More than half of senior executives in the pharmaceutical industry are more confident about their prospects now than at the beginning of the year, according to an international study on economic recovery.
The research, conducted by law firm Eversheds, shows that the drugs sector is "one of most optimistic areas of the global economy and has taken a proactive approach to combating the economic climate". It reveals that businesses in the sector "have been most focused on increased customer relationship management (CRM) activity to aid recovery over the last 18 months".
Eversheds’ Tools for Recovery report, which polled more than 1,000 senior business figures across China, the USA, Europe and the United Arab Emirates, also found that pharmaceutical companies are planning to invest in three key areas over the next 12 months – changing products and services (48%), CRM activity (45%) and increasing staff reorganisations (45%).
This follows some tough decisions during the last 18 months, the report says, "with 55% of pharmaceutical businesses cutting discretionary spending, while 39% had to make redundancies".
Janet Knowles, head of the life sciences team at Eversheds, said that "while economists have signalled the official ending of the recession, there is little doubt that challenging economic conditions persist". Despite this backdrop, "most pharmaceutical companies have survived and even thrived".
She went on to say "there are encouraging signs of a general trend towards reducing cost-cutting measures in the year ahead and a greater desire to invest and focus on growth.”
Across all sectors, the report found that one in four senior executives is less confident now than at the beginning of the year, though "the mood varies greatly from country to country". Pessimism is most pronounced in the USA, "while optimism in the East continues to soar".
The study argues that businesses in China and Russia "have led the charge in trying to drive demand, by searching for new market opportunities". China is also leading the way in international expansion, with almost three quarters of those surveyed looking to expand into an average of more than two foreign markets in the next 12 months. Just 18% of companies in the USA are seeking out international opportunities.

Links
http://www.eversheds.com/

**Published in "Pharma Times"

B-MS to buy ZymoGenetics in $885 million deal

Bristol-Myers Squibb is buying ZymoGenetics, which is quarter-owned by Novo Nordisk, giving it full ownership of a hepatitis C drug the firms are developing.
Under the terms of the deal, B-MS is acquiring ZymoGenetics for $9.75 per share in cash, leading to a purchase price of $885 million, or $735 million net of cash acquired. The price represents a premium of around 84% premium over the company’s closing share price yesterday.
The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and shareholders holding 37% of the outstanding shares of ZymoGenetics’ common stock have entered into agreements with B-MS to support the transaction. Novo, which has a stake of nearly 26%, is part of that group and chief financial officer Jesper Brandgaard said "we find the offer from B-MS attractive".
For its cash, B-MS is getting full ownership of the companies' joint experimental hepatitis C drug, pegylated-interferon lambda, which is in Phase IIb. It is also getting the rights to Recothrom a recombinant thrombin approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use as a topical haemostat to control non-arterial bleeding during surgical procedures.
The acquisition also includes IL-21 protein, a cytokine currently in Phase II as a potential immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, plus access to an earlier-stage pipeline of six biologics, including an anti-IL-31 antibody, currently in pre-clinical development for atopic dermatitis. B-MS is also gaining potential milestone and royalty payments from six partnered programmes in various stages of clinical development by Merck KGaA and Novo Nordisk.
B-MS chief executive Lamberto Andreotti said that "building on our leadership in virology, we are developing a strong portfolio to help patients with hepatitis C" and in addition, "ZymoGenetics brings proven capabilities with therapeutic proteins and revenue from a marketed specialty surgical biologic". He added that the acquisition "is another example of our strategic, targeted approach to business development.”
In 2010, the transaction is expected to be dilutive to earnings per share by $0.03 in 2010 and by $0.07 in 2011.

Links
www.bms.com
www.zymogenetics.com

**Published in "Pharma Times"