Drugs News and Research

RSS

FDA accepts ACT Biotech's ACTB1003 IND

ACT Biotech Inc., a privately held biotechnology company developing a portfolio of oral kinase inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs, today announced the acceptance of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ACTB1003 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company has now assembled a complete preclinical package, including manufacturing and toxicology studies, allowing ACTB1003 to enter a clinical trial.

22 Jan 2010

Consistent pattern of cognitive deficits during childhood leads to adult schizophrenia

Years before adults develop schizophrenia, there is a pattern of cognitive difficulties they experience as children, including problems with verbal reasoning, working memory, attention and processing speed.

22 Jan 2010

New study shows VBID program can save money

Value-based insurance design programs — which reduce patient co-payments for highly effective treatments — can break even financially or possibly save money, according to a new study from University of Michigan, Harvard and other researchers.

22 Jan 2010

Reuters examines chronic disease in developing countries, future of drug prices

"Global health projections leave little doubt that chronic diseases are rapidly overtaking infectious diseases, such as malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), as the world's biggest killers - a shift emphasized by a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report on global health risks," Reuters writes in a story analyzing the future of drug pricing in the developing world. Longer life-spans in developing countries "and changing patterns of food, alcohol and tobacco consumption are creating a 'double burden' for poor nations, piling chronic diseases on top of infectious diseases," the news service writes.

21 Jan 2010

Depomed receives second $500,000 milestone payment from Covidien

Depomed, Inc. announced today that it has received a second $500,000 milestone payment under its worldwide license agreement with Covidien focusing on the exclusive development of four acetaminophen/opioid analgesic combination products utilizing Depomed’s Acuform® gastric retentive drug delivery technology. The most recent payment from Covidien, which was received in December 2009, relates to the development of a formulation for the second product candidate under the collaboration.

21 Jan 2010

Health care companies assess where they stand on health reform after election

The Wall Street Journal reports that several firms reiterated support for a health care reform bill Wednesday, a day after the overhaul's viability was called into question by the victory of Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown in Massachusetts. "PhRMA, the drug industry association, as well as companies including Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc., voiced support for an overhaul of some kind, despite objections among insurers about the efforts to date."

21 Jan 2010

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals commences patient treatment in Tavocept Phase III trial

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the treatment of the first patients in a global multi-center Phase III clinical trial of Tavocept (BNP7787) in patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung, the most common type of lung cancer. In previous studies, Tavocept demonstrated the potential to substantially increase overall and one year patient survival while concurrently preventing and reducing the incidence and severity of common chemotherapy side-effects as compared to other currently available treatments for advanced lung cancer.

21 Jan 2010

Illicit drug consumption in Europe

Europeans belong to the largest consumers of illicit drugs, absorbing about one fifth of the global heroin, cocaine and cannabis supply, as well as one third of ecstasy production (UNODC World Drug report, 2008). However, the vast majority of Europeans have never tried any illicit substance. In popular perception, illicit drugs still represent alien cultures challenging traditional European patterns, including consumption of our favourite drugs - alcoholic beverages.

21 Jan 2010

Results of two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 published

Results of the TRANSFORMS and FREEDOMS studies, the two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 (fingolimod), have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, providing comprehensive evidence to support the efficacy and safety profile of this first-in-class therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS).

21 Jan 2010

MaMayo Clinic experts available to discuss health issues and concerns related to Olympic Games

Mayo Clinic's medical experts are sources of in-depth expertise and commentary about health issues and background related to the Olympic Games and Olympians. Below is a sampling of Mayo Clinic experts available to discuss numerous topics related to the Olympic Games, including concussions, performance enhancing drugs, sports psychology, joint injuries, etc. Mayo has satellite capability for broadcast requests.

21 Jan 2010

Tufts CSDD: Orphan product designations increased up to 425 in 2006-08

The number of orphan product designations in the U.S. more than doubled during the last decade, reflecting growing interest by pharmaceutical and biotech companies in developing products to treat orphan diseases, according to a study recently completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

21 Jan 2010

New effort to produce standardized DNA parts for reducing development time of synthetic biology in labs

With seed money from the National Science Foundation (NSF), bioengineers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University are ramping up efforts to characterize the thousands of control elements critical to the engineering of microbes so that eventually, researchers can mix and match these "DNA parts" in synthetic organisms to produce new drugs, fuels or chemicals.

21 Jan 2010

Men who buy fake internet drugs for ED problems face significant health risks

Men who buy fake internet drugs for erection problems can face significant risks from potentially hazardous contents and bypassing healthcare systems could leave associated problems like diabetes and high blood pressure undiagnosed.

21 Jan 2010

6th Annual Diabetes Conference to feature ocular drug delivery in diabetic retinopathy

pSivida Corp., a leader in the development of tiny, sustained-release drug delivery technologies, with two of the only three ophthalmic sustained-release delivery products approved by the FDA for treatment of back of the eye diseases, announced that its chief executive officer, Dr. Paul Ashton, will discuss ocular drug delivery in diabetic retinopathy during a presentation at the 6th Annual Diabetes Conference in London, on Friday, January 22.

21 Jan 2010

Study: PrEP treatment offers protection against HIV transmission in humanized mice

Systemic pre-exposure administration of antiretroviral drugs provides protection against intravenous and rectal transmission of HIV in mice with human immune systems, according to a new study published January 21, 2010 in the online journal PLoS ONE.

21 Jan 2010

Discovery of new class of compounds may help fight hepatitis C

Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have discovered a novel class of compounds that, in experiments in vitro, inhibit replication of the virus responsible for hepatitis C. If these compounds prove effective in infected humans as well, they may dramatically accelerate efforts to confront this virus’s propensity to rapidly acquire drug resistance, while possibly skirting some of the troubling side effects common among therapies in current use and in late-stage development.

21 Jan 2010

New class of HCV inhibitors discovered by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company developing antiviral therapies, announced today the publication of research from the labs of Stanford scientist and Eiger Founder, Dr. Jeffrey Glenn, M.D., Ph.D. and colleagues entitled, "Identification of a Novel Class of HCV Inhibitors". Published in the January 20th edition of Science and Translational Medicine, the research validates a domain, termed 4BAH2, within the non-structural protein (NS4B) of the HCV genome, as essential for HCV replication and describes the development of a high-throughput screen leading to the identification of small molecule inhibitors of 4BAH2.

21 Jan 2010

BIO commends GSK and Alnylam’s efforts to foster new therapies for neglected diseases

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) applauds the joint efforts of BIO members GlaxoSmithKline and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to encourage research to accelerate medical therapies for neglected diseases and today’s announcement of the selection of BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) as the administrator of the Intellectual Property (IP) Pool.

21 Jan 2010

New York Times examines innovative approaches to tackling infrastructure needs in developing countries

The New York Times explores efforts across the U.S. to craft and implement affordable solutions to infrastructure problems around the world. It also looks at programs geared toward supporting the work of local entrepreneurs to build solutions to the problems on the ground.

21 Jan 2010

Medco Health Solutions launches Medco TRC for oncology patients

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. today announced the launch of the Medco Therapeutic Resource Center® (TRC) for oncology patients headquartered in Whitestown, Ind., where specialist pharmacists will manage the company's more than 850,000 patients currently living with cancer, one of the fastest growing segments of healthcare.

21 Jan 2010

Drugs News and Research

FDA accepts ACT Biotech's ACTB1003 IND

Consistent pattern of cognitive deficits during childhood leads to adult schizophrenia

New study shows VBID program can save money

Reuters examines chronic disease in developing countries, future of drug prices

Depomed receives second $500,000 milestone payment from Covidien

Health care companies assess where they stand on health reform after election

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals commences patient treatment in Tavocept Phase III trial

Illicit drug consumption in Europe

Results of two pivotal Phase III clinical trials with oral FTY720 published

MaMayo Clinic experts available to discuss health issues and concerns related to Olympic Games

Tufts CSDD: Orphan product designations increased up to 425 in 2006-08

New effort to produce standardized DNA parts for reducing development time of synthetic biology in labs

Men who buy fake internet drugs for ED problems face significant health risks

6th Annual Diabetes Conference to feature ocular drug delivery in diabetic retinopathy

Study: PrEP treatment offers protection against HIV transmission in humanized mice

Discovery of new class of compounds may help fight hepatitis C

New class of HCV inhibitors discovered by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals

BIO commends GSK and Alnylam’s efforts to foster new therapies for neglected diseases

New York Times examines innovative approaches to tackling infrastructure needs in developing countries

Medco Health Solutions launches Medco TRC for oncology patients

Drug Discovery - Second Edition eBook

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

Latest News