| Cambridge Antibody Technology Announces Acquisition of Oncology Product Candidate From Enzon
CAMBRIDGE, England, July 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) announces the acquisition of product candidate SS1P (renamed CAT-5001) from Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., based in Bridgewater, New Jersey in May 2006. The safety profile of CAT-5001 has been characterised in two Phase I clinical trials in patients with mesothelioma, ovarian and pancreatic cancer. CAT intends to conduct further pre-clinical studies and to initiate a clinical study in early 2007 exploring dosing of CAT-5001 in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapy. CAT-5001 was discovered and initially developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The programme was licensed to Enzon and that licence has now been assigned to CAT. Under the original licence agreement with the NIH, CAT will have rights to a portfolio of intellectual property associated with the programmes and will pay future royalties to NIH.
(AFX UK Focus) 2006-07-20 12:37 GMT: UK govt streamlining claims handling for asbestos compensation claims
LONDON (AFX) - The government said it is introducing immediate measures to help victims of asbestos-related lung cancer get their compensation claims handled faster. Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton said the interim action will include clarifying with claims handlers "best practice to ensure priority is given to those with mesothelioma", the medical name for the disease. "We will also work with Revenue and Customs so that employer records can be traced quicker," he said. The move comes on top of the government's decision to change the law through the Compensation Bill, in light of a Law Lords ruling which would have caused delays in resolving claims and made it more difficult for sufferers to recover full compensation. newsdesk@afxnews.com fp/joy COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005.
NZ asbestos victims face new setback
The fight to force Australian asbestos manufacturers to compensate thousands of sick and dying New Zealanders who inhaled the killer fibres has suffered a serious knock-back.
This month, the Court of Appeal in Australia overturned a landmark $320,000 payout to former Kiwi Bernard Frost, 61, from company Amaca, a subsidiary of Australian building products giant James Hardie. Frost was exposed to the killer fibres while installing insulation products in Cambridge in 1963-66 but was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung diseases in 2000, four years after he moved to Queensland. Frost's Australian lawyer Graeme Little said he will seek special leave to appeal the decision in the High Court in Australia because it was a case of great public importance.
Government help for victims of Mesothelioma
Proposals to help victims of mesothelioma, a particularly debilitating form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, will be debated in the House of Commons today. MPs will debate Government amendments to the Compensation Bill which seek to reverse the effects of the House of Lords' Barker vs Corus judgment in mesothelioma cases. The practical effects of the Law Lords' judgment would mean that claims could take much longer to be concluded, and would make them much more difficult and time-consuming for claimants in circumstances where they and their families are already under considerable pain and stress. In some cases, claimants would not receive full compensation. DCA Minister Bridget Prentice said; "These amendments will mean proper compensation for thousands of people who contract this terrible disease because they were negligently exposed to asbestos." The amendment will ensure that people suffering from mesothelioma due to another's negligence will be able to receive full compensation from any responsible person as quickly as possible.
Asbestos: Armley's Mesothelioma sufferers offered 17% of due ...
Asbestos victims who suffered from the deadly asbestos cancer mesothelioma though working in or proximity to a Leeds factory will receive just 17p in the pound of compensation awarded by the courts if they accept a "final" settlement from the factory's owners. The J W Roberts factory in Armley spewed out deadly asbestos dust for decades before closing in 1958 with the dust affected not only hundreds of workers, but also their families and people who lived around the site. Hundreds of victims contracted asbestos-linked lung cancer mesothelioma, creating what came to be known as the Armley asbestos tragedy after the Yorkshire Evening Post exposed the scandal in the late 1980s. Mesothelioma is incurable and victims usually die within three years of diagnosis. A ground-breaking court action against the factory's US owners, Turner Newall, by Leeds cancer victim June Hancock in the 1990s resulted in a compensation award which was seen as a precedent for hundreds of victims.
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