Eye on Copy

Cancer drug shows promise for treating Alzheimers, gets FDA Green Light for Testing

I hate Alzheimer's. It's so insidious and there are very limited treatment options. That's why I was encouraged to learn of a promising treatment called Bryostatin. Developed by the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), the drug showed pre-clinical efficacy to not only treat Alzheimer's disease symptoms, but also its underlying causes.

Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. More than 5 million Americans have the disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

"We are very excited about the FDA's agreement for BRNI to move forward with clinical trials," said Dr. Daniel Alkon, Scientific Director of BRNI. "Bryostatin shows the promise to repair and protect against neurodegeneration caused by Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other brain trauma, as well as enhance the brain's normal memory functions."

Not only that, the drug has been shown to enhance and restore memory by rewiring connections in the brain previously destroyed by stroke, head trauma, or aging itself.

With Phase II permission granted, low doses will be tested on human Alzheimer's patients.

Here's hoping they're onto something big.

How Wireless Devices will Drive Social Media Adoption and Improve the Economy

As I get deeper into studying social media, the more I understand how mobile technology will continue to drive our ability to interact digitally. Mobile devices like the iPhone, Blackberry and the Google Phone are used to access services from email, Twitter, Facebook, Google and the list goes on. It's hard to tell which social networks will be around next month, let alone next year. But you can bet that every player in the wireless industry is scrambling to capitalize on this trend.

For example, CTIA, which calls itself, “The Wireless Association,” is hosting their annual confab this week in Las Vegas, released their semi-annual industry survey today. Here's what they found:

• Wireless data service revenues in 2008 increased 39% more than 2007 to $32 billion.
• There are more than 270 million wireless subscribers.
• 1 trillion text messages were sent in 2008, meaning 3.5 billion were sent every day.
• 2.2 trillion minutes were used in 2008, an increase of 100 billion minutes from 2007.
• Record-breaking six-month wireless service revenue of more than $75 billion with annual service revenues reaching $148 billion by year-end 2008.

This is good news for advertisers. For one thing, people are getting more used to performing transactions on their phones (should we even call them phones anymore?). Want an app? Buy it. Want a song? Buy it. Businesspeople will also be able to make informed decision faster based on real-time data.

On a larger scale, mobile development could be a boon to our economy as a whole. Here's an excerpt from keynote speaker Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon:

"I do not mean to minimize the challenges we face -- as an industry or a country -- as we try to get our economy going again," Seidenberg said. "But wireless innovation has been a foundation of our country's prosperity for the last 25 years, and I'm confident that this great and vibrant industry will continue to be a leader as we put our economy back on the path to growth."

He went on to say that mobile technology will be used to address social issues, such as improving public safety,  improving the quality and reducing the cost of health care, and expanding the economic opportunities of the digital era more broadly across society.

I have to agree. We're at the cusp of an exciting new era.

Check out what's happening at CTIA 2009.