When taken in combination, Hoffmann -La Roche's drug, Pegasys, and the oral antiviral medication ribavirin produced a better response among patients than the standard treatment. Results of the international study were presented at Digestive Disease Week in Atlanta, Ga., the largest international medical meeting in the fields of hepatology and gastroenterology, on Tuesday. The study was conducted at 81 clinical sites in 18 countries and involved more than 1,100 patients. Hepatitis C is a life-threatening viral infection of the liver transmitted primarily through infected blood and blood products. Network and security management company Lumeta Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to a deal with Lucent Technologies Worldwide Services whereby Lucent will use Lumeta technology to assess security firewalls in the systems of its clients.
Firewalls protect networks from computer hackers.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Lumeta's Firewall Analyzer is patent-pending and is designed to determine firewall efficiency. Lucent Worldwide Services is a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies, which is based in Murray Hill. A patent has been issued to Scantek Medical Inc. for a device that detects early signs of prostate cancer, the company announced Tuesday. The device is called ProstAlert.