JeannyTSY site, Health & Beauty

Blumarine Spring-Summer 2012 Collection

2012-01-24T13:07:00.008+07:00

’Shrooms May Help Treat Depression: Study

2012-01-24T10:07:00.000+07:00

By Makiko Kitamura - Jan 24, 2012 3:00 AM GMT+0700

Psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms, may help people with depression, based on two studies that suggest that the drug could have an enduring effect on patients.

In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 30 healthy volunteers took psilocybin intravenously and had their brains observed with magnetic resonance imaging scanners. Activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is hyperactive in depression, was consistently lowered, according to the research led by David Nutt and Robin Carhart-Harris of Imperial College London.

A second study, to be published Jan. 26 in the British Journal of Psychiatry and conducted by the same researchers, found that psilocybin enhanced volunteers’ recollections of positive personal memories, compared with those who took a placebo.

“Our findings support the idea that psilocybin facilitates access to personal memories and emotions,” Carhart-Harris said in a statement. “This effect needs to be investigated further but it suggests that used in combination with psychotherapy, psilocybin might help people recall positive life events and reverse pessimistic mindsets.”

Timothy Leary

Magic mushrooms, also known as “’shrooms,’’ have been used for centuries in healing ceremonies and were employed extensively in psychotherapy in the 1950s, according to Carhart- Harris. The fungi, favored by former Harvard University psychologist Timothy Leary, who founded the Harvard Psilocybin Project, are typically eaten but can also be dried and smoked or made into a tea.

Psilocybin mushrooms are a schedule I substance in the U.S., which means the government considers them to have a high potential for abuse and no legitimate medical purpose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The findings provide support for further research, and Carhart-Harris plans to follow up with a controlled study of 60 patients with depression that may start by the end of this year, he said today in a briefing in London.

As a treatment option, psilocybin may provide an “enduring benefit” after a single dosage, compared with expensive anti- depressant medications that need to be taken daily and have side effects, Nutt said. No negative effects were observed among the study participants, Carhart-Harris said.

The authors cite a recent study by Roland Griffiths at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine in Baltimore, which found that depression scores in terminal cancer patients were significantly decreased six months after treatment with psilocybin.

The research at Imperial College London was funded by the Oxford, England-based Beckley Foundation; the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation in New York; the Santa Cruz, California-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies; and the Heffter Research Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in London at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

Alberta Ferretti Pre-Fall 2012 2013 - Milano

2012-01-17T16:59:00.005+07:00

Golden Globe award

2012-01-17T10:27:00.007+07:00

Actor George Clooney appears on stage during the 69th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actress Nicole Kidman arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actress Kate Winslet holds her award for best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television for "Mildred Pierce" during the 69th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Presentor and actor Johnny Depp speaks on stage at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actress Kate Winslet arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Kate Winslet poses with her award for best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television for "Mildred Pierce," backstage at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actress Nicole Kidman (L) and her husband, musician Keith Urban, arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Presentor and actor Johnny Depp (L) and show host Ricky Gervais laugh on stage at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actresses Natalie Portman (L) and Meryl Streep pose as they arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actress Meryl Streep, winner of the best performance by an actress in a drama motion picture for her role in "The Iron Lady", poses in the photo room at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, January 15, 2012

Actress Meryl Streep shows off her Golden Globe award for the best performance by an actress in a motion picture - drama for her work in " The Iron Lady" during her arrival at the The Weinstein Company after party following the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actress Angelina Jolie poses as she arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actress and director Angelina Jolie's purse and jewelry are seen as she arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actress and director Angelina Jolie's shoes are seen as she arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie arrive at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012.

Actress Charlize Theron poses as she arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Actress Charlize Theron arrives at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 15, 2012

Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2012

2012-01-13T16:09:00.005+07:00

Roberto Cavalli S/S 2012 Ad Campaign shows four top models: Naomi Campbell, Karen Elson, Kristen McMenamy and Daphne Groeneveld. Steven Meisel shot the campaign in the studios situated on Pier 59 in New York. Look at the full campaign

Celebrities accept awards at People's Choice Awards

2012-01-12T22:28:00.005+07:00

Actress Alyson Hannigan and actor Jason Biggs present an award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Faith Hill arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Adam Sandler accepts the Favorite Comedic Movie Actor award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Lea Michele accepts the Favorite TV Comedy Actress award for her role in television series "Glee" from presenter Don Cheadle at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Host Kaley Cuoco speaks on stage at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Nina Dobrev accepts the Favorite TV Drama Actress award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Lea Michele (R) accepts the Favorite TV Comedy Actress award as presenters Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle (C) look on at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Demi Lovato holds the award for favorite pop artist from presenters Vanessa Hudgens (back R) and Josh Hutcherson (back L) at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Presenter Jesse Tyler Ferguson (C) holds an award high in the air so winner Ellen DeGeneres has to leap for it after she won for Favorite Daytime TV Host, as Sharon Osbourne (R) watches at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Emma Stone accepts the Favorite Movie Actress award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Neil Patrick Harris and host Kaley Cuoco (R) perform a comedy routine with a pair of dancers at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actors Frank Grillo (2nd L), Liam Neeson (2nd R) and Dermot Mulroney (R) present an award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Television host Ellen DeGeneres accepts the Favorite Daytime TV Host award at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

2012 People's Choice Awards

2012-01-12T22:06:00.005+07:00

Host Kaley Cuoco, from television series "The Big Bang Theory," poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress, dancer and singer Julianne Hough poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress, dancer and singer Julianne Hough poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Scottish actor Ewan McGregor arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Scottish actor Ewan McGregor arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Host Kaley Cuoco, from television series "The Big Bang Theory," poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Australian actor Liam Hemsworth and singer Miley Cyrus arrive at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Miley Cyrus arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Vanessa Hudgens poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Vanessa Hudgens poses as she arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Canadian actress Nina Dobrev arrives at the 2012 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles January 11, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]
taken from : China Daily

Jolie's directorial debut 'Blood and Honey'

2012-01-12T21:57:00.006+07:00

Angelina Jolie arrives for the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie she wrote and directed, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Brad Pitt points as he arrives for the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie written and directed by Angelina Jolie, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie speaks during an interview before the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie she wrote and directed, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Brad Pitt speaks during an interview before the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie written and directed by Angelina Jolie, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie speaks during an interview before the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie she wrote and directed, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie smiles during an interview before the premiere of "In the Land of Blood and Honey", a movie she wrote and directed, in Washington January 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Royal couple attend premiere of 'War Horse'

2012-01-10T22:50:00.006+07:00

Britain's Prince William (L) and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the UK premiere of 'War Horse' on the eve of her 30th birthday, at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the UK premiere of 'War Horse' on the eve of her 30th birthday, at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Director Steven Spielberg (R) and producer Kathleen Kennedy attend the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Peter Mullen attends the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Nicholas Bro attends the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Matt Milne attends the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Joey, the equine star of the film 'War Horse' is led by a handler at the UK premiere in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Britain's Prince William attends the UK premiere of 'War Horse' at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Celine Buckens attends the UK premiere of the film 'War Horse' in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the UK premiere of 'War Horse' on the eve of her 30th birthday, at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends the UK premiere of the movie 'War Horse' on the eve of her 30th birthday, at the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London January 8, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Celebrities attend Palm Springs film festival

2012-01-10T22:29:00.004+07:00

Angelina Jolie poses on the red carpet as she arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]
Brad Pitt (R) holds the hand of Angelina Jolie down the red carpet as they arrive at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Brad Pitt (R) poses with Angelina Jolie on the red carpet as they arrive at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actors Tom Hanks (L) and Thomas Horn arrive at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

(L - R) Actors Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn arrive with Director Stephen Daldry at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Glenn Close arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Olivia Wilde arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Jonah Hill arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Olivia Wilde arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Charlize Theron arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Charlize Theron arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Glenn Close arrives at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie (L) poses with Brad Pitt on the red carpet as they arrive at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

George Clooney (R) poses with Stacy Keibler at the 23rd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala in Palm Springs, California January 7, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Lady Gaga performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square

2012-01-06T14:44:00.004+07:00

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg kiss each other during celebrations in the New Year Eve ball in Times Square in New York, January 1, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg activate the New Year's Eve ball during celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg activate the New Year's Eve ball during celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg activate the New Year's Eve ball during celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga kisses a crystal ball after performing during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Singer Lady Gaga (C) performs during New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square in New York, December 31, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Hervé Léger Pre-Fall 2012

2012-01-04T08:45:00.006+07:00

Ondria Hardin by Tom Allen for Numéro Tokyo No. 52 December 2011

2012-01-03T22:16:00.003+07:00

Title: Boyish charm
Magazine: Numéro Tokyo No. 52 December 2011
Model: Ondria Hardin
Photographer: Tom Allen
Stylist: Heathermary Jackson

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' premieres in New York

2011-12-29T15:41:00.004+07:00

Cast member Rooney Mara arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Joely Richardson arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York, December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Robin Wright arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Daniel Craig arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Kate Mara arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York, December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Kate Mara arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York, December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Embeth Davidtz arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Robin Wright arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rooney Mara arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rooney Mara arrives for the premiere of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" in New York December 14, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Eva Herzigova by Alan Gelati for S Moda

2011-12-29T14:13:00.004+07:00

Supermodel Eva Herzigova sparkles and shines for the December 17th edition of S Moda. Captured by Alan Gelati with styling by Isabel Moralejo, Eva is a sultry vision in festive looks from labels such as Miu Miu, Dior, Marni and Louis Vuitton.

What you need to do to sleep well?

2011-12-29T08:54:00.003+07:00

Good sleep - is the key to not only health, but also beauty.

Health and beauty must go to bed no later than 10 pm and get up before 8 am. In any case, must sleep at least eight hours.

Let's talk about prosaic lack of sleep. "Chronic sleep deprivation (sleep less than 7 hours per day) disrupts the immune system, but also made it difficult for skin cells - the known dermatologist Dr Nick Lowe. - More research papers confirm the fact that sleep deprivation leads to premature skin aging. " Other studies have shown a dependence of the lack of sleep and increase the level of "stress hormone" cortisol. High levels of this hormone affects the production of collagen, which, respectively, not the best way affects the state of our skin. Sleep problems - this is a problem with food. Tired people are not focusing on the choice of foods or products.

Sleep problems - this is a problem with weight. Our biological clock affect our rhythm of life. And when night falls, they send the body to signal that you should sleep, and when a light is a signal for active work. When we do not sleep at night, we feel hungry and start eating that leads to overweight.

To improve sleep, you can resort to aromatherapy sachet to buy bedding, pillows and spray all kinds of oil. After a good sleep - the guarantee of health and beauty. And who knows, maybe you wake up in the kiss of a prince who has traveled around the world in search of his princess.

Moschino Cheap And Chic Pre Fall 2012 Collection

2011-12-28T22:10:00.007+07:00

Source : style.com

The Queen of Hip-Hop - V Magazine January 2012

2011-12-27T21:49:00.004+07:00

This publication presents photos from V Magazine January 2012 project The Queen of Hip-Hop.

New From Fashionista Chiara

2011-12-27T21:05:00.007+07:00

Good day!
Offered to meet new ladies fashion images Chiara.

Nathalia Oliveira by Stefano Viti for Fashion Gone Rogue

2011-12-26T22:38:00.006+07:00

Cleanliness – Nathalia Oliveira stars in this minimal story shot by Stefano Viti for FGR’s latest exclusive. Outfitted by Francesca Piovano, Nathalia sports a wardrobe of loose-fitting silhouettes in a mix of neutral and bold hues. Mussed hair by Gianluca and colored eyebrows by Roman bring some flair to the simple ensembles.

Norma Luisa Dress

Pierre Ancy Dress

SLVR Adidas by Dirk Schoenberger Dress, Mila Schon Shoes

Frankie Morello Top, Cacharel Jacket

Piazza Sempione Top & Jacket

Wolford Top, Norma Luisa Bottoms

Piazza Sempione Jacket & Pants

CO TE Top, Frankie Morello Bottoms

Pierre Ancy Dress

Norma Luisa Dress

C’n’C Costume National Shirt & Pants

Photographer: Stefano Viti
Stylist: Francesca Piovano
Hair: Gianluca @ W Management
Makeup: Roman @ W Management
Model: Nathalia Oliveira @ Elite Milan
Assistant Photographer: Riccardo Oggionni

Source: fashiongonerogue.com

Missoni Pre-Fall 2012 Collection

2011-12-26T09:18:00.007+07:00

Meryl Streep Covers Vogue January 2012

2011-12-23T15:32:00.003+07:00

By fashionfame

American actress, Meryl Streep stars as the January 2012 cover girl of Vogue magazine. The successful Hollywood lady lands her first Vogue cover at 62 and is looking so beautiful in an elegant coat dress.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Meryl is sporting dewy makeup and some slicked back hair. Inside, the issue she talks about her upcoming role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Source : fashionfame

Britain's Prince William wife Catherine attend ceremony

2011-12-20T09:39:00.002+07:00

taken from : China Daily

Dorothy Perkins Autumn/Winter 2011-2012 Collection

2011-12-17T11:15:00.004+07:00

Vogue Germany January 2012 Cover

2011-12-17T10:57:00.004+07:00

by Greg Kadel

Carola Remer

Source : abnovki

Narciso Rodriguez Pre Fall 2012-2013 Runway

2011-12-17T10:37:00.005+07:00

Carlos Miele Pre-Fall 2012 Collection

2011-12-16T21:03:00.004+07:00

Source : wwd

Celgene’s Revlimid Delays Cancer Progression as Initial Therapy in Study

2011-12-14T08:41:00.003+07:00

By Meg Tirrell

Celgene Corp. (CELG), maker of the cancer drug Revlimid, reported the medicine helped delay progression of multiple myeloma in newly diagnosed patients.

A treatment of Revlimid in combination with the chemotherapy melphalan and steroid prednisone, followed with continuous Revlimid dosing, enabled patients to survive without their disease progressing for 31 months, compared with 12 months for melphalan and prednisone alone, Summit, New Jersey-based Celgene said in a statement. The results were presented today at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

The data “makes a strong case for approval of Revlimid in the front line in this population, as well as a convincing case for maintenance use,” Brian Abrahams, a New York-based analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., wrote today in a report. “We believe European regulators should be convinced of Revlimid’s benefits in this population.”

Celgene increased less than 1 percent to $63.66 at the close of trading in New York. The company has gained 7.6 percent this year.

The 459-patient study focused on patients ages 75 and younger who were ineligible for stem-cell transplant, a way of treating the bone marrow cancer. Celgene is applying for approval in Europe for use of Revlimid as a first treatment option and as a maintenance therapy in multiple myeloma.

Safety Profile

The medicine had an acceptable safety profile in patients just starting to use it, with most able to reach maintenance therapy that was also well tolerated, Celgene said in the statement.

About 20,500 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed this year with multiple myeloma and about 10,600 will die of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The data showed some secondary cancers arose during first- line and maintenance use of Revlimid in 3 percent of patients receiving the combination therapy plus continuous Revlimid and in 2.6 percent of those on the combo without continuous Revlimid, compared with 1 percent in the melphalan-prednisone arm.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at mtirrell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Seattle Genetics’ Adcetris Well Tolerated With Other Drugs

2011-12-14T08:41:00.001+07:00

By Ryan Flinn - Dec 14, 2011 4:04 AM GMT+0700

Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN)’s newly approved cancer medicine Adcetris was well tolerated when combined with more established medicines, the company said, potentially positioning the drug for wider clearance.

None of the 19 patients in one segment of the clinical trial experienced lung damage, an issue that led Seattle Genetics to halt an earlier test, the Bothell, Washington-based company said today. The results were released at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

“We have an awesome opportunity to redefine front line therapy,” Clay Siegall, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Seattle Genetics said in an interview at the conference today.

Adcetris was approved in August for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma for whom other therapies have failed, the first new medicine cleared by U.S. regulators for the disease since 1977. Seattle Genetics reported sales of $10 million from the medicine’s first six weeks on the market.

The trial, the first of three typically required for regulatory approval, tested Adcetris in newly diagnosed patients. The drug was combined with a chemotherapy regimen containing adriamycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine, a standard treatment called AVD.

“Becoming part of first-line treatment would significantly increase the target population by a factor of four to five,” said Jason Kantor, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco, in an interview. “Most doctors we talk to believe Adcetris will ultimately become part of standard of care.”

Earlier Results

In November, the drugmaker discontinued part of the study testing Adcetris with the other medicines and the antibiotic bleomycin, after patients experienced significant complications, prompting shares to drop the most in nine years.

Patients in both groups experienced side effects, including nausea, fatigue, vomiting and neutropenia, a blood condition in which chemotherapy patients suffer from a drop in white blood cells and are at risk for infections.

Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, will be diagnosed in an estimated 8,830 U.S. patients this year, killing about 1,300, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Seattle Genetics said it will conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial comparing how Adcetris and AVD work in newly diagnosed patients with patients taking AVD and bleomycin. The company is developing the drug with the Millennium unit of Osaka, Japan- based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502), Asia’s biggest drugmaker.

Seattle Genetics fell less than 1 percent to $17.02 at the close in New York. The shares have gained 14 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Alexza Surges After Panel Backs Inhaled Antipsychotic Drug

2011-12-14T08:39:00.000+07:00

By Molly Peterson and Alex Nussbaum - Dec 14, 2011 4:24 AM GMT+0700

Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXA) climbed the most in 11 months after a U.S. panel backed the drugmaker’s plan to sell an inhaled antipsychotic drug that may put some patients at risk for respiratory failure.

Alexza rose 25 percent to 78 cents at 4 p.m. New York time, the most since Jan. 14, a day after outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended that the agency approve a single daily dose of Adasuve for schizophrenia and bipolar mania. The 9-8 vote, in Adelphi, Maryland, was contingent on the company using a risk mitigation plan proposed by the FDA.

Adasuve would be the first product for Mountain View, California-based Alexza. The therapy uses an inhalation device developed by the company to deliver a vaporized form of the 36- year-old antipsychotic drug loxapine to the lungs for rapid absorption into the bloodstream. The FDA, which doesn’t have to follow the panel’s recommendation, aims to decide on the product by Feb. 4.

“This product offers the potential to be a significant contributor to an important need,” panel member Andrew Winokur, director of psychopharmacology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, said before the vote. Alexza presented “impressive efficacy data,” and the FDA’s risk- mitigation proposal was “reassuring,” he said.

50-50 Chance

The drug has a 50-50 chance of winning approval without an FDA requirement for more safety studies, Jason Kantor, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco, said yesterday in a note to clients. Kantor, who has a “sector perform” rating on the stock, estimates sales of the drug, if approved, may reach $150 million.

Alexza’s goal is to bring Adasuve to the market in 2012, Chief Executive Officer Thomas B. King said in a statement today. The company’s shares have declined 38 percent this year.

While loxapine was approved by the FDA in 1975, Adasuve would be the first inhaled treatment for agitation associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The product would compete with injectible forms of Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY)’s Zyprexa, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)’s Abilify and Pfizer Inc. (PFE)’s Geodon, part of a newer class of drugs known as atypical antipsychotics.

While Adasuve is effective as a fast-acting treatment for agitation among patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, it can cause bronchial spasms that may be fatal in people with conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, FDA staff said Dec. 7 in a report.

No Precedent

“No regulatory precedent exists for a product that has this degree of bronchospasm as an adverse event,” Theresa Michele, a medical officer in the FDA’s pulmonary products division, told the panel.

The advisory panel’s narrow vote on whether Adasuve should be approved showed a “lack of conviction” that means “the decision is essentially left to the FDA,” Kantor said.

Adasuve failed to win approval in October 2010 because the agency was concerned about the risks of pulmonary toxicity. Alexza resubmitted its application in August with a proposed mitigation strategy that includes screening patients for respiratory risks and monitoring people who take Adasuve for an hour after treatment.

FDA Worries

The company’s proposal didn’t resolve the FDA’s concerns because it may be difficult for health-care providers to identify respiratory distress in psychiatric patients who are “uncooperative and severely disorganized,” Francis Becker, a medical officer in the FDA’s division of psychiatry products, told the panel.

“The scenario that all of us are worried about at FDA is that a patient, whose asthma is not detected for whatever reason, gets treated in an emergency setting, calms down, and is sort of put off to the side and not carefully observed,” Thomas Laughren, director of the FDA’s Division of Psychiatry Products, said at the meeting. “And they’re slowly getting into trouble because no one’s monitoring them.”

A company-funded study published in January in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that Adasuve started to work within 10 minutes of inhalation and was more effective than a placebo in cutting agitation levels within two hours.

Alexza was able to recruit participants “very quickly” for the clinical trials because “patients wanted to use this product,” James Cassella, Alexza’s senior vice president for research and development, said in a presentation to the panel. Adasuve is “non-invasive, non-coercive and helps maintain the patient-physician therapeutic alliance.”

There haven’t been any studies directly comparing Adasuve with other drugs approved to treat agitation in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the FDA reviewers said.

While Lilly earned $5 billion from Zyprexa last year, sales may drop to $2.1 billion in 2012 amid generic competition. The FDA approved the first Zyprexa copies in October. Bristol-Myers earned almost $2.6 billion from Abilify last year, while Pfizer’s Geodon had $1 billion in revenue.

To contact the reporters on this story: Molly Peterson in Washington at mpeterson9@bloomberg.net; Alex Nussbaum in New York at anussbaum1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adriel Bettelheim at abettelheim@bloomberg.net

'Mission Impossible' hits Madrid

2011-12-13T23:20:00.005+07:00

U.S. actor Tom Cruise waves during a photocall to promote his latest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actress Paula Patton waves during a photocall to promote her latest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Former Real Madrid and Besiktas soccer player Jose Maria Gutierrez "Guti" and his partner Romina Belluscio pose as they attend a photocall to promote the film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise (R) poses with Spanish Duquesa de Alba and her husband Alfonso Diez during a photocall to promote his lastest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise (C) poses with cast members Paula Patton and Simon Pegg (R) during a photocall to promote their latest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise (R) poses with cast member, U.S. actress Paula Patton, during a photocall to promote their latest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actress Paula Patton poses during a photocall to promote her latest film "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" in central Madrid December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' premieres

2011-12-13T23:07:00.004+07:00

Rooney Mara poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Daniel Craig poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard poses with his partner Megan Everett (L) at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Daniel Craig poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Rooney Mara poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Daniel Craig poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Rooney Mara (L) and Daniel Craig pose at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Rooney Mara poses at the world premiere of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" at the Odeon in London December 12, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

All-Star Tribute to CNN Heroes

2011-12-13T22:52:00.005+07:00

Actress Emma Roberts arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress and musician Miley Cyrus arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress AnnaLynne McCord arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Sofia Vergara (L) arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Laura Dern arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor and former U.S. Army soldier J. R. Martinez arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Model and actress Brooklyn Decker arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Rapper and actor Ice Cube arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor and former NBA basketball player Rick Fox (L) arrives with actress Eliza Dushku at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Eliza Dushku arrives at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress and musician Miley Cyrus (R) and actor Liam Hemsworth arrive at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Rapper 50 Cent (L) and CNN host Piers Morgan arrive at the CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute event at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California December 11, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Ariad Blood-Cancer Drug’s 46% Success Rate May Prompt FDA Approval Boost

2011-12-12T22:10:00.000+07:00

By Ryan Flinn - Dec 12, 2011 9:46 PM GMT+0700

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARIA)’s experimental drug ponatinib spurred a positive response in 47 percent of chronic myeloid leukemia patients, a pivotal study the company said may help the medicine gain approval as a new therapy for people without treatment options.

The patients in the trial, the second of three usually required for U.S. regulatory approval, had an untreatable mutated version of the disease, or had failed to respond to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s Sprycel, also known as dasatinib, or Novartis AG ‘s Tasigna, also known as nilotinib, according to the study released yesterday at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego.

“This is a very hard disease to treat as patients become resistant to earlier lines of therapy,” Harvey Berger, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Ariad, said in an interview. “Even in these very advanced patients, we’re seeing what most physicians would say is a very important and clinically beneficial response.”

The trial included 449 patients, some of whom have a mutation called T315I, for which no drugs are currently approved. About 65 percent of the patients with the mutation had a major cytogenetic response to ponatinib, the goal for the study, meaning the drug had reduced their disease.

Ariad fell less than 1 percent to $11.61 at 9:45 a.m. New York time. The shares had more than doubled this year before today.

Ponatinib’s data “could be a highlight of the conference,” Howard Liang, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co. in Boston, wrote in a note to clients last week before the study was released.

Ariad will submit the drug for regulatory approval in mid- 2012 based on the results, Berger said. The company may seek a partner to help develop the treatment by selling some of its international rights, though he said Ariad isn’t for sale.

Side Effects

In November, Ariad declined 8 percent, the most in a month, after reporting that 17 percent of patients in its ponatinib trial had serious side effects. Berger said the side effects were typical for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, a slow and progression disease in which the bone marrow makes too many white blood cells.

The cancer usually occurs during or after middle age and will be diagnosed in about 5,150 people in the U.S. this year, killing 230, according to the National Cancer Institute.

About 6 percent of patients in the trial developed pancreatitis, although none dropped out because of it, the study said. Four patients died, “possibly or probably” related to ponatinib, according to investigators. The patients, all with advanced stages of the disease, died from pneumonia, fungal pneumonia, gastric hemorrhage and cardiac arrest.

The deaths “were likely linked to the advanced nature of their disease, including the myelosuppressive effects of ponatinib on already badly damaged bone marrows,” said Frank Haluska, Ariad’s chief medical officer, in a company statement.

“In all of the drugs to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, you see side effects,” Berger said. “What’s important is the drug is very well tolerated.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Pfizer’s Failed Blood Cancer Drug Shows Benefits in Study of New Patients

2011-12-12T22:09:00.000+07:00

By Drew Armstrong - Dec 11, 2011 12:30 AM GMT+0700

Pfizer Inc. (PFE)’s blood-cancer drug Mylotarg, pulled from the market last year after it was linked to deaths, helped a different group of patients, a study found.

Patients newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia who received Mylotarg with chemotherapy lived for 25 months after treatment, compared with 15 months for those given chemotherapy alone, according to the study released today at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego. Mylotarg had previously been used in patients ages 60 and older only after their cancer had returned.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, will talk with U.S. regulators about whether the medicine may return to the market, said Mace Rothenberg, senior vice president of clinical development and medical affairs for the New York-based company’s oncology unit.

“We are working closely with investigators to better understand the findings from this study,” Rothenberg said in a telephone interview. The next step would be “taking these data forward as a potential new submission, working with regulators, if we choose to go that path,” he said.

The study results may presage new life for what was an $83 million product in 2009, according to Evaluate Pharma.

Pfizer pulled the drug in June 2010 after 10 years on the market. The Food and Drug Administration requested the company stop selling the therapy after a clinical trial showed it didn’t help patients and was tied to deaths from liver complications.

Expedited Review

Mylotarg was approved in 2000 under an expedited review process, which requires companies to conduct follow-up studies. One such trial that began in 2004 was stopped early after patients died and others didn’t appear to benefit. Pfizer obtained Mylotarg in 2009 when it bought Wyeth.

The drug originally was approved for patients 60 and older who had a relapse of acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer that begins growing in the bone marrow. The disease will be diagnosed in 13,000 people in the U.S. this year and has a five-year survival rate of 23 percent, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Mylotarg was the first therapy approved to treat patients whose cancer had returned and was the first drug to be withdrawn after winning approval under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated review program.

The study released today involved 280 patients ages 50 to 70 who were first diagnosed with the disease. The group was treated with chemotherapy and some patients also received Mylotarg.

Treatment Dosage

Pfizers’s drug was given to patients over a week, in 3 milligram increments, said Sylvie Castaigne, the principal investigator. “We used a small dose, and repeated the dose a short intervals,” said Castaigne, a professor in the department of hematology at Hôpital de Versailles in Versailles, France.

Next “will be to test the drug in younger patients, because we know that younger patients respond better than older patients to chemotherapy,” Castaigne said in a telephone interview from San Francisco. Researchers also examine whether they can get similar results with a lower dose. “We are right at the limit of toxicity now,” she said.

The drug must be resubmitted to the FDA with the new data before it could return to the U.S. market, Rothenberg said.

“Our knowledge is always moving forward, and sometimes we may not always have the best insights of how best to use the drug when it first arrives,” he said. “In this case, it was right on that margin, and it fell back. Now it’s just a question of finding that right dose in the right patients, and clearly demonstrating a benefit.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Drew Armstrong in Washington at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Early Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Can Skip Radiation Therapy, Study Finds

2011-12-12T22:06:00.000+07:00

By Nicole Ostrow - Dec 11, 2011 11:00 PM GMT+0700

Patients with early stages of Hodgkin lymphoma should get only chemotherapy to treat the cancer because adding radiation leads to higher death rates, according to a Canadian and U.S. study.

The research, released today by the New England Journal of Medicine and being presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego, found that 94 percent of patients getting chemotherapy were alive after 12 years compared with 87 percent of those who got radiation alone or in addition to the drugs.

The findings are good news for patients diagnosed with early Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, who can skip the more toxic part of a treatment regimen that has been a standard, said Ralph Meyer, the lead study author. Radiation can cause secondary cancers, lead to heart disease and damage cardiac valves years after treatment, the researchers said.

“This really proves the concept that chemotherapy alone in the long term can be a more effective therapy in terms of allowing patients to live longer than treatment that includes radiation,” Meyer, a professor in the Department of Oncology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and director of the NCIC Clinical Trials Group, said in a Dec. 9 telephone interview. “Instead of being an option that probably practicing physicians have some degree of discomfort with, I think it now becomes the preferred option.”

The study was funded by the Canadian Cancer Society and the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Curable Cancer

Hodgkin lymphoma is one of the most curable forms of cancer, especially if it’s diagnosed early, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. More than 90 percent of people with the early forms of the disease will live for at least 10 years.

About 8,830 people will be diagnosed with the cancer in the U.S. and 1,300 will die from the disease this year, according to the cancer institute. The cause isn’t known but it is most common in people ages 15 to 35 and those 50 to 70.

Researchers randomly assigned 405 people with early stage Hodgkin lymphoma to receive chemotherapy or radiation with or without chemotherapy. The patients were followed for up to 12 years.

During the course of the study, 12 patients who received chemotherapy alone died, including six who died of Hodgkin lymphoma, while 24 in the radiation group died, including four who died of the disease. Of those who received chemotherapy alone, four died of a secondary cancer, while 10 in the radiation group died of another cancer, the authors said.

The research also showed that more people in the radiation group had secondary cancers and cardiac events than those getting chemotherapy alone.

Next Step

The next step is to come up with a better way to identify Hodgkin lymphoma patients who are likely to need radiation beyond chemotherapy to fight their cancer. Meyer estimates that chemotherapy alone will be insufficient for 10 percent to 12 percent of patients with the disease.

Doctors now use radiation that is more targeted to the cancer and less powerful than that used during the study. Still, it’s unclear what those effects will be a decade from now, said David Straus, an attending physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.

Today’s research, he said, is important and helps support doctors who are trying to limit radiation exposure for their patients.

“Radiation therapy was the real breakthrough for early stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma -- that was the first thing that resulted in long-term cures,” he said in a Dec. 9 telephone interview. “Over the last 30-40 years, we’ve been sort of backing away from that.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

taken from : China Daily

Premiere of 'Sherlock Holmes'

2011-12-12T21:41:00.002+07:00

Cast member Robert Downey Jr. (R) and his wife Susan pose at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Amber Heard poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Director of the movie Guy Ritchie poses with his cast members Rachel McAdams, Jared Harris, Noomi Rapace and Robert Downey Jr. (L-R) at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast members Robert Downey Jr. (C), Rachel McAdams (L) and Noomi Rapace pose at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rachel McAdams poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Noomi Rapace poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Noomi Rapace poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Director of the movie Guy Ritchie (R) poses with girlfriend Jacqui Ainsley at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Robert Downey Jr. (L) greets director Guy Ritchie at the premiere of their movie "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rachel McAdams poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rachel McAdams poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rachel McAdams poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Amber Heard poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rachel McAdams poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Jodie Foster poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Jodie Foster poses at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Robert Downey Jr. (L) gestures as he poses with his wife Susan at the premiere of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the Village theatre in Los Angeles, California December 6, 2011. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 16.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Benefits of Bayer’s Yaz Pill Outweigh Risks: Panel

2011-12-09T23:23:00.002+07:00

A Bayer Schering Pharma employee examines YAZ birth control pills in the company's factory in Berlin, Germany. Source: Bayer HealthCare AG via Bloomberg

Bayer AG’s Yaz and its class of birth control pills containing the hormone drospirenone were backed in a close vote of U.S. advisers seeking clearer guidance for women about the danger of potential blood clots.

Studies have shown conflicting evidence about whether women who take the pills have a higher risk of blood clots than if they take older birth control pills that don’t contain drospirenone. Those ambiguous results prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to request yesterday’s review.

The reproductive and drug safety advisory panels voted 15-11 that the benefits of the class of oral contraceptives including Yaz outweigh the risks. The advisers also voted 21-5 that information labels for the pills be changed to better reflect the potential for blood clots. The FDA isn’t required to follow the panels’ advice.

“All of these studies have significant strengths and weaknesses,” said Julia Johnson, acting chairwoman of the panel and chair of the University of Massachusetts Medical School Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Panel members were concerned the results may have been affected by factors that weren’t studied such as women’s body mass index, smoking habits, family history and ethnicity, Johnson said.

Difficult to Assess

“I think this makes it very difficult for us to determine any magnitude of increased risk, if there is any increased risk,” said Paula Hillard, a panel member and chief of the Division of Gynecologic Specialties at Stanford University School of Medicine near Palo Alto, California.

While the birth-control pill’s label now informs women of the conflicting studies, the language is confusing, said Elaine Morrato, an assistant professor in the University of Colorado, Denver, Department of Pediatrics. The results are mentioned in a complex paragraph and need to be more easily understood, possibly by using graphics, she said.

Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin brought in $1.5 billion in sales for the Leverkusen, Germany-based drugmaker last year as its second best-selling product, less than the $1.8 billion in 2009. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), based in Petach Tikva, Israel, introduced a generic version of Yaz in May 2010. Bayer’s stock dropped 0.7 percent to 46.13 euros at 9:10 a.m. in Frankfurt.

Women taking drospirenone were 74 percent more likely to experience clots than those on older hormonal contraceptives, the FDA found in a study published in October. Drospirenone is similar to the natural female hormone progesterone. Bayer conducted studies that found no increased risk.

Agency Report

The FDA pushed for more studies on birth control containing drospirenone after an agency staff report concluded on Dec. 6 that the health risks are unclear. A half-dozen studies in all have addressed clotting danger from the products.

The FDA has taken a similar position on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s Ortho Evra birth control patch, which studies have linked to increased chance of clotting.

The same panels evaluating Yaz will consider today how to best interpret studies on the J&J patch and vote on whether Ortho Evra’s benefits outweigh the risks and whether its label accurately reflects potential hazards.

J&J, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, doesn’t release specific revenue numbers for the patch.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Edney in Washington at aedney@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adriel Bettelheim at abettelheim@bloomberg.net.

Gynecologists Unfazed as Birth Control Clot Concerns Resurface at FDA

2011-12-09T23:20:00.000+07:00

By Elizabeth Lopatto and Robert Langreth - Dec 9, 2011 6:33 AM GMT+0700

Undeterred by evidence that newer birth control pills such as Bayer AG’s Yasmin may carry more risk of dangerous blood clots, top doctors say they still plan to prescribe them.

Yasmin, introduced in 2001, and other contraceptives containing the hormone drospirenone have been the focus of lawsuits and studies that differ in conclusions about the risk. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration meeting today to review the science, voted that the drugs’ prescribing label be changed to better reflect the danger of getting a blood clot. The panel also said the pills’ benefits outweigh the risks.

Many clinicians aren’t convinced the newer pills pose more risk. Bloomberg News surveyed nine doctors at prominent medical centers and clinics and all said the evidence isn’t conclusive or worrisome enough to stop using the pills.

So far, the clotting danger “is so rare it’s clinically not that important,” said Robert Barbieri, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Patients worry about the increase in risk as a result of news reports, he said; when he explains the numbers, they relax.

“A lot of people come in and say, ‘I love this pill and would prefer not to come off it,’” Barbieri said by telephone. “They understand it’s a slight risk but not a huge one.”

Blood clots are a known side effect of all birth control pills since they hit the market 50 years ago. The newest generation may raise the risk, the FDA said in a study released October 27. That report and others, though, may not be conclusive, the FDA has said.

10 in 10,000

The agency’s analysis suggests the real chance of a woman having a clot remains small, Barbieri said. According to the report, 10 in 10,000 women on the new drugs experience a clot compared with about 7 in 10,000 on the older pills. To prevent just one clot, 2,000 women would have to switch from Yasmin, Yaz or their generic versions, Barbieri said.

The FDA study didn’t figure in the effects of other risk factors, including body weight and smoking, several doctors said.

A Dutch study published in 2009 found that birth control pills containing drospirenone was associated with a 6.3-fold higher risk of blood clots compared with a 3.6-fold jump linked to an older contraceptive. Two studies published this year also found an increased risk.

Those reports, though, contradict research funded by Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer, which found no added risk from its products, the company has said.

$1.5 Billion in Sales

Bayer’s Yaz and Yasmin generated $1.5 billion in sales for the drugmaker last year as its second-best selling product, less than the $1.8 billion it had in 2009. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) introduced a generic version of Yaz in May 2010.

Yaz, approved for sale in the U.S. in 2006, has a lower dose of estradiol than Yasmin, cleared in 2001, and the pills are taken on a different schedule. They are among a group of pills introduced since 2001 that combine drospirenone, a synthetic version of the female hormone progesterone, with estradiol, a form of the hormone estrogen.

As the conflict over the worth of the research data plays out in the U.S., Bayer faces more than 10,000 lawsuits over injuries allegedly caused by the pills. Lawyers cite FDA reports on at least 50 deaths of those on the drugs from 2004 to 2008.

The first trials are scheduled for next month in federal court in Illinois and state court in Philadelphia.

Legal Costs

The financial impact from legal costs outweighs the potential loss of sales because most revenue from the Bayer products comes from outside the U.S., where the controversy has generated the most attention, said Peter Spengler, an analyst with DZ Bank AG Deutsche Zentral in Frankfurt.

“The legal costs and potential payments to patients or family members are much more severe or higher than the potential loss of sales in the U.S.,” he said in a telephone interview. Of a projected 1.06 billion euros ($1.42 billion) in 2011 worldwide sales of Yaz and Yasmin, only 160 million euros of it come from the U.S., Spengler said.

The most widely used pill containing estrogen and a progestin is Dublin-based Warner Chilcott (WCRX)’s Loestrin, according to data supplied by IMS Health Inc., a Norwalk, Connecticut- based industry research company. Loestrin, had 9.9 percent of that market share followed by Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI)’s Trinessa with 6.7 percent and Yaz with 6.5 percent.

Yaz and Yasmin copies from Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. make up 6.2 and 3.7 of the market.

FDA advisers will assess risks and benefits of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s birth-control patch Ortho Evra on Dec. 9. An FDA staff report released this week also said that more research is needed to determine whether the product is linked to an increased risk of blood clots.

Patient Preferences

Doctors said some women prefer the new drugs over older pills because they help control acne and reduce premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a condition linked with emotional and physical disturbances. Some patients also find older contraceptives may cause weight gains and mood swings, said Sarah Pentlicky, a family planning fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Changing the dose of hormones by switching to new- generation pills such as Yaz or Yasmin can help, she said.

Mixed results released over the last several years have made a lot of women confused, said Steven R. Goldstein, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University School of Medicine.

“Because of all the publicity, without reading the fine print, women who have been on this for two or three years successfully are now scared to death,” Goldstein said in a telephone interview.

Discussing Risk

Goldstein now brings up the subject with women on the pills, explaining that all birth control pills carry some risk, and if the new ones do have an increased risk, it is a small increase, he said.

“People who have been on this successfully need not come off,” he said. “We should not rush to any kind of judgment.”

On the other side of the debate are women’s health advocates such as Cynthia Pearson, executive director of the National Women’s Health Network in Washington, who said pills such as Yasmin should be taken of the market because there are safer options available.

Birth control pills have generally gotten safer over the decades -- until now, she said.

“The drospirenone-containing group of pills are a step in the wrong direction,” Pearson said in a telephone interview. “It is increasing the risk for no extra benefit.”

Inconclusive Data

Michelle Fox, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said the picture isn’t so clear. She advises women on the possibility of higher risk, and continues to prescribe the drugs, she said.

“The data’s inconclusive,” Fox said. “It shows a slight but persistent increase. There are a lot of problems with the literature.”

Pregnancy also increases the risk of a blood clot, by about 10 times that of a birth control pill, she said.

The inconclusiveness of the data “is a topic that FDA will be discussing in detail with epidemiologists and clinical experts on the advisory committee,” FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky said in an e-mailed statement.

Given the public’s confusion, the questions the FDA is asking are “pretty logical,” said Harvard’s Barbieri.

Vanessa Cullins, vice president for external medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said that all of the contraceptives should remain available so women can make their own choices.

“The important issue is making sure providers and women are aware of the increase in risk and are able to use this to make an informed decision,” Cullins said in a telephone interview.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at elopatto@bloomberg.net. Robert Langreth in New York at rlanrgeth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.

Breast Cancer Screening May Lead to Unnecessary Surgeries, Researchers Say

2011-12-09T23:18:00.000+07:00

By Makiko Kitamura - Dec 9, 2011 6:30 AM GMT+0700

Screening for breast cancer may cause more harm than good because it leads to unnecessary surgery, British researchers said.

Screening may lead to abnormal results that turn out to be normal and treatment of harmless cancers that would never have caused symptoms or death, according to research led by James Raftery, a professor of health-technology assessment at the University of Southampton. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, analyzed 100,000 women ages 50 and over and found that the inclusion of false positives and unnecessary surgery reduced the benefits of screening by half.

The study follows the Forrest report of 1986, which measured costs and benefits from screening in quality-adjusted life years. That study omitted harmful effects from screening, the researchers said.

“Harms largely offset the gains up to 10 years, after which the gains accumulate at an increasing rate,” Raftery wrote in the published paper. “The meaning and implications of overdiagnosis and overtreatment need to be much better explained and communicated to any woman considering screening.”

More research is required on the extent of unnecessary treatment and the impact on quality of life, the researchers said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Makiko Kitamura in London at mkitamura1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley by Alexi Lubomirski for Vogue Deutsch

2011-12-09T14:40:00.005+07:00

Title: Unexpected Heroine
Magazine: Vogue Deutsch November 2011
Model: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Photographer: Alexi Lubomirski
Stylist: Christiane Arp

Burberry Pre-fall 2012 Collection

2011-12-09T13:55:00.009+07:00

The pictures of Burberry’s pre-collection 2012 by Christopher Bailey

Source : www.ology.com

Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel

2011-12-08T22:57:00.004+07:00

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show, which exists since 2003, is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show, which exists since 2003, is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

British model Stella Tennant presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show, which has existed since 2003, is a homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

British model Stella Tennant presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

Polish model Anja Rubik presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

A model presents a creation with a Bombay-Paris theme by designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show which has existed since 2003 is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

British model Stella Tennant walks with designer Karl Lagerfeld during the Metiers D'Art Show for Chanel fashion house in Paris December 6, 2011. The show, which exists since 2003, is an homage to Chanel workshops.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

New Year’s Eve Premiere

2011-12-08T22:25:00.005+07:00

Abigail Breslin

Lea Michele

Lea Michele in Valentino

Ashton Kutcher

Michelle Pfeiffer in D&G

Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer

Fergie in Monique Lhullier

Alyssa Milano

Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank in Elie Saab dress, Neil Lane jewelry

Hilary Swank

Katherine Heigl

Katherine Heigl in Dolce and Gabbana

Sofia Vergara

Sofia Vergara

Source : huffingtonpost

’Viagra in a Condom’ May Make Futura a Target

2011-12-07T22:23:00.001+07:00

By Trista Kelley - Dec 7, 2011 8:17 PM GMT+0700

A new condom that aims to enhance erections may also lift earnings and buyout prospects for unprofitable U.K. drugmaker Futura Medical Plc. (FUM)

Durex condoms made by partner Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc will contain a dose of Futura’s Zanifil gel inside the tip, boosting blood flow within the penis. The product results in firmer, larger and longer-lasting erections for men who may find wearing condoms challenging, according to Futura.

Premium pricing may help the condom generate global sales of 150 million pounds ($235 million) annually within five years, tempting Slough, England-based Reckitt Benckiser to keep all that revenue for itself, said Daniel Mahony, who manages $300 million at Polar Capital in London. Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Lysol cleaners, doesn’t usually agree to sales-sharing accords, which makes it likely takeover talks are under way, said Lala Gregorek, an analyst at Edison Investment Research.

“It’s essentially Viagra in a condom,” said Mahony, who owns shares of Guildford, England-based Futura. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reckitt tries to either buy the whole company or buy that royalty stream out at some point.”

Futura Chief Executive Officer James Barder declined to comment on any discussions with Reckitt Benckiser. While Futura isn’t for sale, he said, “ultimately, we’re looking to optimize and maximize our return at the appropriate time.”

Heroin Substitute

Reckitt Benckiser declined to comment on any discussions with Futura. The maker of Vanish stain removers and Finish dishwasher tablets has a drug division, which accounted for 9 percent of sales last year. The unit sells the Suboxone opioid substitute for those addicted to heroin. Still, it seems unlikely that Reckitt would want to expand in health care by buying Futura, said Martin Deboo, an analyst at Investec Securities in London.

“If there’s a wide application of Futura’s technology across all parts of Reckitt Benckiser’s portfolio, that might tip the balance,” said Deboo, who rates Reckitt Benckiser a “hold.” “As a general rule, however, I don’t think they would want to own a specialized pharmaceutical company.”

Futura rose 12 percent to 76.25 pence at 1:15 p.m. in London. The stock gained as much as 13 percent, the biggest intraday advance in 13 months. Before today, it had dropped 4.9 percent in 2011, giving Futura a market value of 49.7 million pounds. The company has posted a loss every year since first listing in 2003, though that will probably change next year, Mahony and Gregorek said.

Blood Flow

Futura is also developing a topical spray that helps delay ejaculation, which is due to hit U.S. stores next year through a partnership with Australian condom-maker Ansell Ltd. (ANN) The Ansell partnership for the drug, called PET500, along with Zanifil’s prospects, will bring in enough royalties to push Futura into profitability next year, Gregorek said.

Zanifil, like Futura’s other experimental drugs, relies on a patented delivery system known as DermaSys that allows medicine to rapidly permeate the skin. Zanifil is based on the chemical nitroglycerin, used to treat chest pain and heart failure since the 19th century. The drug widens the blood vessels by relaxing the muscles in the vessel walls, increasing blood flow.

Unlike Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra, the condom with Zanifil will be available without a doctor’s prescription. Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, has sold the Viagra pill as a treatment for erectile dysfunction since 1998. That drug, which boosts blood flow in the penis, had 2010 sales of $1.9 billion.

U.S. Condom Market

Reckitt Benckiser also owns marketing rights to another of Futura’s experimental compounds, MED2002, a version of Zanifil to be sold as a standalone erectile-dysfunction treatment. A separate gel in development to treat joint pain with partner GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) will start a key clinical testing program next year.

While Mahony and Gregorek expect the Zanifil condoms to reach store shelves in Europe next year, the biggest growth prospects may lie in the U.S., where Durex condoms lag the Trojan brand. Trojan, owned by Church & Dwight Co. (CHD), accounts for about 75 percent of U.S. over-the-counter condom sales, while Durex holds only 6 percent to 8 percent, according to Bill Howe, president of PolyTech Synergies LLC and a consultant to the condom industry.

“The unique selling point may well help it in territories where Durex is not strong,” Futura’s Barder said. Zanifil may also help win over men who don’t use any kind of condom because of decreased sensitivity or partial loss of erection, he said.

Royalty Stream

The partners are “exploring the approval process” in the U.S. and other markets, Barder said, declining to give U.S. approval or sales forecasts.

The Zanifil-containing condoms are cleared for sale in 29 countries. The companies haven’t disclosed how they will name, price or split sales of the product, though Barder said the Zanifil condom will carry a “premium” price tag. Mahony estimates Futura will receive 15 percent of Reckitt’s revenue from the condom. If that’s the case, the value of the royalty stream exceeds Futura’s market value, he said.

The delay in bringing the product to market may be because the companies are negotiating a takeover or new sales agreement, Edison’s Gregorek said in an interview. Reckitt Benckiser is also integrating its July 2010 acquisition of Durex maker SSL International Plc, which may contribute to the holdup, she said.

The main reason the product isn’t yet on shelves might be more complicated than that, according to Futura CEO Barder.

Forty percent of condoms are purchased by women, and the marketing materials need to strike the right balance between men’s and women’s attitudes about sex, he said.

“If the packaging says it will give you a bigger penis, and a woman gives it to a man, it might cause a reaction, like ‘What, you’re saying my penis is small?’” Barder said. “This area does have sensitivities. Positioning is critical.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Trista Kelley in London at tkelley2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

Eli Lilly Shares Rise on Alzheimer’s Drug Hopes

2011-12-07T08:50:00.001+07:00

By Drew Armstrong and Robert Langreth - Dec 7, 2011 4:10 AM GMT+0700

Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) rose to a one-month high after an analyst said success of the company’s experimental Alzheimer’s drug could double the share price.

Lilly, based in Indianapolis, gained 3.9 percent to $38.86 at 4 p.m. New York time. Expectations have been “extraordinarily low” for the success of Alzheimer’s drugs, so a Lilly success with solanezumab could boost the shares 50 to 100 percent, Tim Anderson, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note.

“Eli Lilly and several of its competitors are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on what is essentially a massive lottery ticket,” Anderson said. “If their drugs are successful in delaying the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, they could end up making Lipitor look like a mid-sized product,” he said in a note to clients sent yesterday. Sales of solanezumab could reach $9 billion by 2020, he said.

Solanezumab is an antibody designed to clear protein fragments called beta amyloid that clutter the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Johnson & Johnson and Elan are testing bapineuzumab, a similar drug.

Anderson cautioned that the drug’s chances of success are only 10 percent to 20 percent. Because of the large potential payoff, drugmakers have been willing to gamble on the medicines.

A leading theory of the disease is that amyloid causes the disease by harming brain cells. Debate over whether the theory is correct has increased as other drugs that target the protein have failed or shown murky results in trials. In August 2010, Lilly stopped development of a pill, semagacestat, that blocked amyloid by another mechanism, after trials found it didn’t slow disease progression.

As many as 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Alzheimer’s is a degenerative neurological condition with no approved treatment to slow brain cell death.

To contact the reporters on this story: Drew Armstrong in Washington at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net; Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Miss France 2012 pageant held in Brest

2011-12-07T00:47:00.004+07:00

Delphine Wespiser reacts after being crowned Miss France in Brest, western France, December 3, 2011. Some 33 participants competed for the title on Saturday.[Photo/Agencies]

Delphine Wespiser reacts after being crowned Miss France with Miss France company director Sylvie Tellier (L) and French actor and jury president Alain Delon (R) in Brest, western France, December 3, 2011. Some 33 participants competed for the title on Saturday.[Photo/Agencies]

Delphine Wespiser takes part in the swimsuit segment of the Miss France 2012 pageant in Brest, western France, December 3, 2011. Wespiser won the competition, which saw 33 participants competing for the title on Saturday.[Photo/Agencies]

Delphine Wespiser takes part in the swimsuit segment of the Miss France 2012 pageant in Brest, western France, December 3, 2011. Wespiser won the competition, which saw 33 participants competing for the title on Saturday.[Photo/Agencies]

Delphine Wespiser reacts after being crowned Miss France in Brest, western France, December 3, 2011. Some 33 participants competed for the title on Saturday.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Angelina Jolie's directorial debut

2011-12-07T00:14:00.006+07:00

Angelina Jolie arrives at the screening of her film and directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her film and directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her film and directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie (C) poses for photos with her partner Brad Pitt's parents Bill and Jane as they arrive at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie arrives at the premiere of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie arrives at the screening of her film and directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie arrives at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Brad Pitt arrives at the screening of his partner Angelina Jolie's directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Actor Brad Pitt arrives at the screening of his partner Angelina Jolie's directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie arrives at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt arrive at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Zana Marjanovic arrives at the premiere of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011. The film is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast members Zana Marjanovic (L) and Goran Kostic arrive at the premiere of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011. The film is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast members Goran Kostic (L) and Rade Serbedzija arrive at the premiere of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011. The film is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Rade Serbedzija arrives at the premiere of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011. The film is Angelina Jolie's directorial debut.[Photo/Agencies]

Angelina Jolie arrives at the screening of her directorial debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York December 5, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Bedbugs’ Rampant Incest Colonizes Entire Apartment Buildings, Study Finds

2011-12-06T23:52:00.003+07:00

Adult bedbugs are pictured while feeding. Source: Bedbug Central via Bloomberg

Like any truly bad roommate, a single female bedbug can infest an entire apartment, a study shows.

Bedbugs inbreed without ill effects, the researchers said, so even a single female bedbug can lead to a colony of the blood-sucking insects as a result of rampant incest.

Three colonized buildings in North Carolina and New Jersey suggested the invasion started with only one or two insects. Another study traced 21 infestations from Maine to Florida and found most began in a single room.

“This tells us it’s absolutely critical to detect bedbugs early,” said Schal, an urban entomology professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, in a telephone interview. “The bed bugs were introduced once, which suggests the frequency of introductions is low. It’s a rare event.”

Bed bugs were almost eliminated in the U.S. 60 years ago by the pesticide DDT. International travel probably aided a resurgence in the past 30 years, said Coby Schal. a study author. The research was presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Philadelphia. While their bites cause itchy allergic reactions, they don’t spread disease.

The number of infestations from the insects, which feed only on blood, has grown as much as 100-fold since 1990, said Rajeev Vaidyanathan, associate director of diseases from animals at SRI International, which is based in Menlo Park, California, in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at elopatto@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

‘Magic Mushrooms’ Return to Psychology Labs

2011-12-06T23:25:00.002+07:00

By Elizabeth Lopatto - Dec 6, 2011 12:01 PM GMT+0700

Magic Mushrooms sit in a fridge. The new research, largely driven by the psychiatric community, is also testing psychedelics for use against depression, chronic headaches and addiction as current scientists. Photographer: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Cancer survivor Lauri Reamer lived in constant dread that her disease would return, until she took a psychedelic drug in a Johns Hopkins University study.

The 48-year mother of three was given psilocybin, the main ingredient in the “magic mushrooms” of the 1960s, as a remedy to ease anxiety. She spent most of her first “trip” crying, then emerged from the next with less anxiety, better sleep and happier relations with family and friends, she recalled.

The experience “really cracked me open,” said Reamer, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore before she was diagnosed with leukemia. “It let me be in life again, instead of this place of fear where I had been living.”

Almost 40 years after Richard Nixon called former Harvard University psychologist Timothy Leary the most dangerous man in America for promoting use of hallucinogenic substances, there is a rebirth of interest in their therapeutic benefits. Reamer was enrolled in a clinical trial at Johns Hopkins to relieve fear of death in cancer patients, one of a half-dozen similar studies under way at New York University, Harvard, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of New Mexico.

The new research, largely driven by the psychiatric community, is also testing psychedelics for use against depression, chronic headaches and addiction as current scientists, much like their 1960s predecessors, seek to understand the “consciousness-expanding” effects of the drugs.

New Generation

“There’s a renaissance of interest,” said Charles Grob, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the UCLA, who researches psychedelics. “It took some decades for a new generation of scientists to step up, but there was never any doubt these compounds had potential. It was the ’60s that intruded.”

Though there are biological components to anxiety and addiction, much of the underlying cause of these problems may involve how people think about the world around them, according to the researchers.

These drugs “diffuse in your brain and some people never see the world the same way again,” said David Nichols, a pharmacologist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, in a phone interview.

The research that includes Reamer is being run by Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology at Johns Hopkins. He’s also testing psilocybin to help smokers quit.

On Sept. 29, Griffiths reported in the Journal of Psychopharmacology that use of psilocybin in an earlier study conferred a lasting personality change in some of the 51 participants tested.

Meditation Practice

Griffiths became interested in the research after starting a meditation practice 17 years ago. He found early reports in the scientific literature of studies tying psychedelics to mystical experiences and other effects on visual perception and brain function, he said in a telephone interview.

“This whole class was declared too dangerous to proceed in the 1970s, and so it was put in a deep freeze,” Griffiths said. “Sometimes I feel like Rip Van Winkle, awakening the potential for research with these compounds.”

Leary did his research in the 1960s at the Harvard Psilocybin Project, running a series of experiments that gave psilocybin to divinity students to gauge their spiritual experiences and to prisoners to see if it would help keep them out of jail after their release.

That work led to Leary’s dismissal from the Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus in 1963, and contributed to a rise of experiments among young people as he famously urged them to “turn on, tune in, drop out.”

New Drugs

As today’s researchers pick up where those in the 1960s left off, they do so with the benefit of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved trials, better understanding of the brain’s circuits and chemistry, and funding from private sources, according to Griffiths.

Already, LSD and psilocybin research by psychiatrist John Halpern at Harvard has led to a drug, dubbed BOL-148, being developed by Boston-based startup Entheogen Corp.

The company is studying BOL-148, an LSD derivative, as a treatment for cluster headaches, sometimes called suicide headaches because they’re so painful that sufferers often kill themselves, said Halpern, Entheogen’s co-founder.

“This is an unmet need, and cluster headaches are among the most painful conditions known,” Halpern said in a telephone interview. “If I did schizophrenia research, I’d have 1,000 brilliant colleagues prodding me and tons of funding available. This is kind of like Siberia. It takes a long time to build the trust that you are interested in doing credible work.

Drug War

‘‘I figure I’m doing my job right when someone accuses me of supporting the drug war and someone else accuses me of sabotaging it,” he said.

Most of the half-dozen studies in this area listed on clinicaltrials.gov are funded by the Heffter Research Institute, a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based organization. The institute is named for Arthur Heffter, the scientist who discovered mescaline, a drug made from the peyote cactus.

The organization has raised $2.7 million since 1993, when it was first incorporated, and funded 70 studies in research journals since 1999, according to Purdue’s Nichols, who is also a co-founder of the institute.

Nichols was in school in the ’60s, and psychedelics didn’t quite make it to Cincinnati, where he lived, he said. Listening to the experiences since then of those who used the chemicals, he found they often listed their trips as being among the most meaningful things in their lives.

‘Visions of Peace’

Reamer, the Johns Hopkins cancer patient, said she experienced “visions of peace and healing.” Still, not everyone should undergo the therapy, she said.

“It didn’t necessarily feel good, but what came out of it was pure joy,” Reamer said. “At the end of the sessions, I was exhausted from the emotional outpouring.”

Similar work with cancer patients is being done by Stephen Ross, a psychiatrist at New York University in Manhattan. He’s testing psilocybin in a nine-month death-anxiety study in which patients receive the drug and psychotherapy. Patients receive therapy for two to four weeks before their first dose of psilocybin.

The patients are dosed in a room designed to calm with art on the walls, classical music and flowers. Patients bring in family photos to help make them feel comfortable, Ross said in an interview.

Patients talk with the therapists about how they’re feeling and what they’re experiencing, and near the end of the trip, are asked to write journal entries. Then there are follow-up sessions for the rest of the nine months of the study.

‘Transcendental Force’

“Sometimes they look like they’re asleep for hours,” said Ross, who is also director of substance abuse at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. “Then they get up and tell us they’ve had an encounter with a transcendental force, or that they were in a beautiful dome with white light coming down, or that they were part of an artistic picture.”

To synthesize psilocybin, Ross contacted Organix Inc., a Woburn, Massachusetts-based closely held company. The compound, which cost $12,000 to make, is stored in a 10,000 pound safe in the NYU School of Dentistry, where the studies are conducted.

Nichols credits the resurgence of work in hallucinogens in part to Rick Strassman, a psychiatrist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, who works with DMT, the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a Colombian drug made from vines and shrubs commonly used for religious and healing purposes.

Research Effort

In 1994, Strassman published a paper in the Archives of General Psychiatry on the effects of DMT on the body’s heart and endocrine system, and another on the drug’s subjective effects.

Since Strassman’s initial work, the volume of psychedelic research has gradually increased, Nichols said.

Still, he said fundraising has been slow. The Heffter foundation initially thought research might be funded by people like Steve Jobs, the late Apple Inc. (AAPL) co-founder, and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen, who publicized their use of psychedelics, Nichols said. That wasn’t the case.

“It seemed well-known that many folks had used psychedelics to foster their creativity, but we never managed to snag any of them” to invest, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at elopatto@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.

Tom Cruise promotes 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol'

2011-12-02T21:06:00.003+07:00

Cast members Paula Patton (L) and Tom Cruise pose at a promotional event for their latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

(L-R) Director Brad Bird, cast members Paula Patton and Tom Cruise, and producer Bryan Burk pose at a promotional event for their latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

(L-R) Director Brad Bird and cast members Tom Cruise and Paula Patton pose at a promotional event for their latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise poses with a fan at a promotional event for his latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

(L-R) Cast members Paula Patton and Tom Cruise, director Brad Bird and producer Bryan Burk pose at a promotional event for their latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Paula Patton poses at a promotional event for "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise poses at a promotional event for his latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth instalment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday, ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

U.S. actor Tom Cruise waves to fans upon his arrival at a promotional event for his latest film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. Cruise kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of his "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

Cast member Paula Patton poses during a promotional event for "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in Tokyo December 1, 2011. The film had a limited fan screening in Japan on Thursday, ahead of its official world premiere next week.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Stylish mother-to-be Beyonce Knowles

2011-12-02T20:45:00.002+07:00

Beyonce Knowles has been voted the world's most stylish mother-to-be.

The singer - who is expecting her first child with husband Jay-Z - topped a fashion poll by Josoblu.co.uk, which asked shoppers who they thought dressed their baby bump the best.

A spokesperson from the site said: "Considering Beyonce is one of the most glamorous women in the world and constantly appears in best dressed lists, it is only fitting that she tops the poll for fashionable mothers to be.

"Even though this is her first pregnancy it hasn't stopped Beyonce rocking the highest heels or sparkly numbers - it proves to women that pregnancy can be stylish."

Beyonce - who was joined in the top 10 by the likes of Saturdays singer Una Healy, actress Jennifer Garner and British TV personality Amanda Holden - pulled 35 per cent of the votes after mothers said her down-to-earth personality and modest fashion sense during her pregnancy made her more relatable.

Beyonce recently said despite her ever-expanding stomach, she won't be making dull fashion choices.

She said: "I've had so much fun with fashion over the months... I have been pregnant through every event I've done."
taken from : China Daily

Hugh Jackman dresses as stockbroker

2011-12-02T20:43:00.001+07:00

Hugh Jackman spices up his marriage by dressing as a stockbroker.

The 'Wolverine' star has been married to Deborra-Lee Furness since 1996 and the actress revealed the couple keep things interesting in the bedroom with some bizarre role play.

She explained to the New York Post's Page Six: "I was always saying I'd marry somebody sensible, like a stockbroker. So he dresses up for that fantasy for me occasionally."

Although Deborra is used to seeing Hugh kiss other women on screen, the hunky actor recently revealed their son Oscar, 11, was horrified when he saw his dad kiss his 'Real Steel' co-star Evangeline Lilly in the movie.

Hugh - who also has six-year-old daughter Ava with Deborra - said: "There was this one moment, Deb is on one side and Oscar is on the other... and I have one kissing scene with Evangeline Lilly from 'Lost'... very good kisser.... so Deb is used to that... we all of a sudden looked at my son, he's never seen his dad kissing someone else, he didn't look at us he looked straight at the screen and said 'You're going to be in trouble.'"

taken from : China Daily

Ashley Smith by Hicham Riad for Elle Belgium December 2011

2011-12-01T19:00:00.001+07:00

Title: Jewel Rock
Magazine: Elle Belgium December 2011
Model: Ashley Smith
Photographer: Hicham Riad
Stylist: Anne Rabeux

Source : http://noirfacade.livejournal.com

Amy Winehouse dress fetches $68,000 at auction

2011-12-01T18:48:00.001+07:00

Mitch Winehouse, the father of deceased British singer Amy Winehouse, poses for photographers next to the "Back to Black" album-cover dress at Kerry Taylor Auctions in central London November 28, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

A printed chiffon dress worn by the late singer Amy Winehouse for the cover of her chart-topping album "Back to Black" has sold for 43,200 pounds ($68,000) at auction.

The hammer price, minus buyer's premium, was 36,000 pounds, still well above pre-sale estimates of 10-20,000 pounds, said a spokeswoman for Kerry Taylor Auctions which specializes in high-end vintage fashion.

Proceeds from the Disaya-designed dress will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a charity set up by her father Mitch to help young people struggling with ill health, poverty or addiction.

Winehouse, who died in July aged 27, had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and high alcohol levels were found in her blood at the time of her death.

The buyer of the dress was the Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile.

Among other highlights of Tuesday's sale was an Edith Head-designed ivory lace gown, a version of which was worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1953 romantic comedy "Roman Holiday" in which she starred alongside Gregory Peck.

The dress, which Hepburn had modified to receive her best actress Oscar for the same movie, fetched 70,000 pounds, or 84,000 pounds including premium.

Overall, the auction raised 708,000 pounds including premium, exceeding high estimates.

"This sale demonstrates that even in these difficult economic times, the appetite for haute couture is undiminished and we are already looking forward to our next auction in February," said Kerry Taylor.
taken from : China Daily

Felicity Jones is the new face of Dolce & Gabbana

2011-11-29T21:35:00.001+07:00

By Kimberley Foster

One of my favourite young British actresses has just landed a major contract with Dolce & Gabbana. Felicity Jones, star of Like Crazy and Chalet Girl, will become the new ambassador for Dolce & Gabbana The Make Up.

The 28-year-old will star in the brand's Kohl Collection campaign which will be released in January. Jones will portray an "an aristocratic, sauvage girl" in the ads, which doesn't really reveal a lot at this stage.

In a joint statement, the designers said: "representing a heady mix of sensuality, confidence and beauty, Felicity Jones offers a sense of divine contradiction. Classically beautiful yet modern in attitude, her audacious gaze is impossible to ignore."

Of course Felicity is no stranger to modelling. She has also starred in the Autumn/Winter 2011 campaign for Burberry alongside a host of other famous models, actors and musicians.

For more beauty news and reviews, check out Kiss and Makeup.

[via WWD]

British Fashion Awards 2011

2011-11-29T20:55:00.014+07:00

Victoria Beckham,Marc Jacobs,Kate Moss

model Jade Parfitt follows suit

Model Poppy Delavigne provides some much-needed colour in Matthew Williamson

Colin Firth and his wife Livia, continuing her Green Carpet Challenge in Henrietta Ludgate

Supermodel Kate Moss makes even a string bag look good

Samantha Cameron sports a pair of £590 Charlotte Olympia heels for the occasion

Alexa Chung not only wears Christopher Kane but poses with him too, after the designer won the New Establishment award

Victoria Beckham clutches her award for best Designer Brand

Stella McCartney, right, wins the Red Carpet award, but poses on a blue one with friend Kate Hudson

Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton, the woman behind 'that' wedding dress, poses with her Designer of the Year award at the Savoy Hotel
A model presents a creation by British designer Stella McCartney as part of her Spring/Summer 2012 women's ready-to-wear fashion collection in Paris

Models present creations by British designer Stella McCartney as part of her Spring/Summer 2012 women's ready-to-wear fashion collection in Paris

Models present creations by Stella McCartney

Models for Stella McCartney

British Fashion Awards 2011 list of winners:

Designer of the Year: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen
New Establishment Award: Christopher Kane
Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator: Sam Gainsbury of Gainsbury and Whiting
Red Carpet Award: Stella McCartney
Designer Brand Award: Victoria Beckham
Emerging Talent, Ready-to-Wear: Mary Katrantzou
Emerging Talent, Accessories: Tabitha Simmons
Emerging Talent, Menswear: Christopher Raeburn for Louis Vuitton
Menswear Designer: Kim Jones
Model Award: Stella Tennant
Accessory Designer of the Year: Charlotte Delall for Charlotte Olympia
Outstanding Achievement in Fashion: Paul Smith
British Style Award: Alexa Chung

Aggressive Prostate Cancers May Be Found With Gene Screening

2011-11-29T07:50:00.001+07:00

By Elizabeth Lopatto - Nov 29, 2011 3:37 AM GMT+0700

Scientists measuring active DNA in prostate tumors have identified aggressive forms of the disease that are about three times more likely to kill patients within a few years, a study shows.

Screening for the genes, found in about 29 percent of patients in the study, may allow the most lethal types of prostate cancer to be pinpointed earlier and more definitively than current tests, researchers said today in a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More than 240,800 U.S. men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and 33,700 will die, according to the National Cancer Institute. In some instances, it can take 10 years for the cancer to spread, spurring some doctors to advise watchful waiting for men older than 75 rather than immediate treatment that can include surgery. In other cases, the disease can move quickly, killing within a few years.

“We’ve begun the process of identifying genes which predispose poor outcomes,” said Arnold Levine, a study author and biologist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. “It’s an early indication.”

The study used data from 281 patients from Sweden who had been recruited between 1977 through 1999 that included their age, whether they died from the cancer and how long they survived. The scientists tested their tumor tissue for genetic expressions associated with prostate cancer.

“Stem-cell-like” gene activation patterns examined in the new test led researchers to identify two subtypes of prostate cancer that carried a 3.2-fold increased risk of death.

Gleason Score

The current method for predicting prostate cancer involves a method of tumor grading based on how the malignant cells pattern themselves, called the Gleason system. Patients’ tumors are scored on the cell patterns, which are rated by their ability to mimic normal prostate gland structure. A low score means the cancer is similar to normal prostate tissue and is less likely to spread, whereas a high score means the cancer is more likely to spread, portending a poorer outcome.

A low Gleason score, however, doesn’t necessarily mean the cancer won’t turn hostile, researchers said. The gene test may help predict patients with low Gleason scores who will have poor survival, they said.

The results will need to be validated in a larger prospective trial, Levine said. His group has started that work. Early data may be available as soon as five years from now, and survival data in 10 to 15 years, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at elopatto@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Said to Weigh Sale

2011-11-29T07:45:00.002+07:00

Bottles and tablets of Onyx Pharmaceuticals' Nexavar kidney and liver cancer treatment. Source: Onyx Pharmaceuticals via Bloomberg

By Sasha Damouni and Jeffrey McCracken - Nov 29, 2011 7:02 AM GMT+0700

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX), the developer of the kidney-cancer treatment Nexavar, is exploring options, including a possible sale, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

Potential buyers are studying Onyx’s business and its experimental carfilzomib cancer therapy, said one of the people who declined to be identified as the discussions are private. Onyx, based in South San Francisco, California, had a market value of about $2.4 billion as of Nov. 25 and is working with Centerview Partners LLP to review alternatives, said the people.

Onyx gave itself more strategic options last month when it settled a lawsuit with Bayer AG (BAYN) over the experimental cancer medicine regorafenib and amended its collaboration agreement for Nexavar, said Jim Birchenough, an analyst at Bank of Montreal. (BMO) The Oct. 11 agreement relieves Onyx from any future development or commercialization costs for regorafenib.

“With the elimination of that change-of-control provision any third-party acquirer now would get full economics to Nexavar and regorafenib,” Birchenough said. “Carfilzomib would be of interest to large pharma, but that interest may be expressed by partnership as opposed to M&A.”

The deal with Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer includes a 20 percent royalty payment on future sales of regorafenib for Onyx, or its acquirer. The drug may generate $106 million by the end of 2014, according to analysts. Potential buyers of Onyx also retain 50-50 profit sharing rights to Nexavar, which could hit $518.2 million in sales this year, according to the average estimate of six analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Shares Rise

Onyx gained 14 percent to $42.80 at the close in New York, for the company’s biggest single-day increase since July 2010.

After today’s jump, Onyx trades at 9.7 times trailing 12- month sales, while the median biotech deal in the last five years was valued at about 5.4 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Regulators are reviewing Onyx’s carfilzomib, which treats multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells. The Food and Drug Administration is due to decide soon whether to accept Onyx’s filing for accelerated approval, leading to a possible marketing clearance date of March 28, Birchenough said.

“I would think that any potential acquirer would want to see the outcome of carfilzomib regulatory review,” said Howard Liang, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co. in Boston. “We are only a few months away.”

Carfilzomib may generate $241.7 million in sales by the end of 2014, according to the average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Onyx reported a net loss of $84.9 million in 2010 and has reported an annual profit twice since 1996 when it first offered shares to the public. The company had $324.5 million in revenue last year.

Lori Melancon, a spokeswoman for Onyx, declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Centerview. No deal is certain and the business review is still at a preliminary stage, the people said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sasha Damouni in New York at sdamouni2@bloomberg.net; Jeffrey McCracken in New York at jmccracken3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jennifer Sondag at jsondag@bloomberg.net

Celebrity Style : Selena Gomez

2011-11-28T22:12:00.004+07:00

Rachael Weisz speaks on Andrew Marr Show

2011-11-28T21:47:00.003+07:00

Actress Rachel Weisz speaks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in London November 27, 2011. The interview was recorded on November 25, and broadcast on Sunday.[Photo/Agencies]

Actress Rachel Weisz speaks on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in London November 27, 2011. The interview was recorded on November 25, and broadcast on Sunday.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily

Spring 2012 Trend: Spin a Yarn

2011-11-25T23:45:00.012+07:00

By Kim Friday and Catherine Peridis

Magda Berliner’s cotton shorts and Skies Are Blue’s linen and metallic thread sweater. Kimberly Baker necklace and ring; Pretty Ballerina shoes.
Photo by George Chinsee

Again
Photo by Robert Mitra

Diana Broussard
Photo by Robert Mitra

Ralph Lauren Collection
Photo by Robert Mitra

Rag & Bone
Photo by Robert Mitra

Dennis Basso
Photo by Robert Mitra

Timo Weiland
Photo by Robert Mitra

Funktional
Photo by Robert Mitra

Threeasfour
Photo by Robert Mitra

Funktional
Photo by Robert Mitra

Love Sani
Photo by Robert Mitra

taken from : wwd

'Amelie' lights up Champs Elysees

2011-11-24T22:07:00.003+07:00

French actress Audrey Tautou attend the official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the Champs Elysees in Paris November 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

French actress Audrey Tautou attend the official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the Champs Elysees in Paris November 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe (L) and French actress Audrey Tautou attend the official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the Champs Elysees in Paris November 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe (L) and French actress Audrey Tautou attend the official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the Champs Elysees in Paris November 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

French actress Audrey Tautou attend the official lighting ceremony of holiday decorations along the Champs Elysees in Paris November 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

taken from : China Daily