The European Commission, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have adopted a common application form for sponsors seeking orphan designation of medicines in the European Union (EU) and US. This initiative is aimed at simplifying the process of obtaining orphan status for medicines intended for rare diseases in both jurisdictions.

French researchers have identified a protein that influences the body's sensitivity to leptin, the hormone that controls our body weight by letting us know when we have had enough to eat. The work, which is published online by the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could lead to the development of new treatments for obesity.

Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY, TSX: SHQ), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced results of a national survey where 60 percent of 121 mothers reported their 6 to 12 year old child's once-daily Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medication stopped working before 6 p.m. The survey findings report the perceptions of 500 parents of children with ADHD regarding the duration of effectiveness of their child's once-daily stimulant or non-stimulant ADHD medication and were presented yesterday at the 2007 Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) Annual Conference.

Holidays often induce stress, but caring for children with diabetes this time of year can mean an additional layer of pressure. Parents and caregivers can visit a webiste to participate in live Web chats with diabetes specialists for expert advice on how to best manage a child's diabetes during the holidays, find social support and receive a free download of the 'Diabetes Fit Food' booklet for tips on healthy eating.

Researchers from France, the UK and Austria have modelled the SNARE protein complex that acts as a catalyst in the fusion of two membranes, using the processing power of the Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (DEISA). They hope to open up new opportunities for pharmaceutical development.

Thomson Scientific, part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and leading provider of information solutions to the worldwide research and business communities, today announced that it has added EMBASE® Classic to the Dialog® (File 772) and DataStar® (EM73, EMXX) platforms, providing access to more than 25 years of archived life sciences data available for the first time in electronic format.

The Belgian drug discovery company Galapagos has been awarded a total of €5.2 million in grants from the Netherlands and the European Union for several drug development projects. The aim is to create candidate drugs for conditions such as bone and joint disease, as well as novel cancer drugs.