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The invention relates to a liquid concentrate for the preservation of cosmetic and pharmaceutical products which comprises 3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC), at least one liquid carrier selected from the group consisting of: polyvalent alcohols, glycol esters and glycol ethers, and at least one stabilizer selected from the group consisting of: formic acid, formic acid salts, and formate esters, and comprising no additional carboxylic acid selected from the group consisting of: benzoic acid, propionic acid, salicylic acid, sorbic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid and 10-undecylenic acid and a salt thereof being present.

A variant of a polypeptide comprising a human IgG Fc region is described, which variant comprises an amino acid substitution at one or more of amino acid positions 270, 322, 326,327, 329, 331, 333 or 334 of the human IgG Fc region. Such variants display altered effector function. For example, C1q binding and/or complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) activity may be altered in the variant polypeptide. The application also discloses a variant of a parent polypeptide comprising a human IgG Fc region, which variant has a better binding affinity for human C1q than the parent polypeptide.

A process for producing a photocrosslinked-polysaccharide composition, which comprises: freezing a photoreactive polysaccharide-containing solution comprising a photoreactive polysaccharide in which a photoreactive group is bound to a polysaccharide, an aqueous solvent capable of dissolving the photoreactive polysaccharide, and any one substance selected from the group consisting of alcohol having compatibility with the aqueous solvent, a surfactant and a chelating agent; and irradiating the resulting frozen product with light, and a photocrosslinked-polysaccharide composition obtained by the process.

This invention provides a recombinant super-compound interferon or an equivalent thereof with changed spatial configuration. The super-compound interferon possesses anti-viral or anti-tumor activity and therefore is useful to prevent and treat viral diseases and cancers. This invention also provides an artificial gene which codes for the super-compound interferon or its equivalent. Finally, this invention provides methods to produce recombinant super-compound interferon or its equivalent and various uses of said interferon.

This invention provides compounds and methods for treating melanocortin receptor associated disorders, such as weight loss disorders including cachexia resulting from cancer and other chronic illnesses. The compounds are represented by formula I:

wherein X is oxygen or sulfur; G is G1 or G2:

L 1 , L 2 , L 3 and Q are linker groups, and Rings A, B and C, and R 1 -R 14 are described in the specification. The compounds are antagonists of melanocortin receptors.

The present invention provides methods and compositions for photodynamic therapy. The composition comprises ceramic nanoparticles in which a photosensitive drug/dye is entrapped. The ceramic nanoparticles are made by formation of a micellar composition of the dye. The ceramic material is added to the micellar composition and the ceramic nanoparticles are precipitated by alkaline hydrolysis. The precipitated nanoparticles in which the photosensitive dye/drug is entrapped can be isolated by dialysis. The resulting drug doped nanoparticles are spherical, highly monodispersed, and stable in aqueous system. Irradiation with light of suitable wavelength of the photosensitizing drug entrapped inside nanoparticles resulted in generation of singlet oxygen, which was able to diffuse out through the pores of the ceramic matrix. The drug loaded ceramic nanoparticles of the present invention can be used as drug carriers for photodynamic therapy.

The present invention relates to endothelial and smooth muscle cells genetically altered to express or over-express one or more cell adhesion factors. The invention further relates to cells genetically altered to express or over-express both cell proliferation growth factor(s) and cell adhesion factor(s). In addition, the present invention relates to nucleic acid constructs and nucleic acid construct systems that encode the cell adhesion and cell proliferation growth factors and that are used to transfect/transform the cells so that they can express the factors.

Calcium phosphate modified with a fatty acid wax in a weight ratio of 50:50 to 95:5, respectively, is useful as an excipient.