Devices

Polymer Sponges Could Soak Up Toxic Chemo Drugs: Researchers

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are helping to develop and test materials for a new device that can be inserted into a vein to soak up, like a sponge, tumor-fighting drugs before they can widely circulate in the bloodstream and cause side effects. Researchers say the drug-capture system could also potentially be used with antibiotic treatments to limit their side effects.

Researcher X. Chelsea Chen says the lab is testing polymer membranes, which help current to flow in a fuel cell that converts hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. The polymer material includes polyethylene, and another polymer containing sulfonic acid, which has a negative electric charge. Some chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin, have a positive charge, and so the polymer material attracts and binds the drug molecules. “In our lab experiments, the current design can absorb 90% of the drug in 25-30 minutes,” Chen says.

Chen and other researchers are also working on next-generation ChemoFilter devices that use a different mix of materials and different methods to remove drugs from the body. And researchers at Caltech in Pasadena, CA are working to coat ChemoFilter membranes with DNA segments that can bind with specific drug molecules. “DNA could be great to remove a lot of different chemotherapy drugs,” another researcher says.

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome