Pharmaceutical News

RSS

U.S. authorities seize Xiadafil VIP tablets after company refuses to recall product

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized nearly $74,000 worth of Xiadafil VIP tablets, Lots 6K029 and 6K209-SEI, distributed by SEI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Miami, Fla. Although marketed as a dietary supplement to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) and for sexual enhancement, these lots represent an illegally marketed drug containing an undeclared ingredient.

24 Jul 2008

New technique measures formation of clumps of proteins in protein-based pharmaceuticals

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a technique to measure the formation of clumps of proteins in protein-based pharmaceuticals.

23 Jul 2008

Open access to large-scale drug discovery data

The Wellcome Trust has awarded £4.7 million (€5.8 million) to EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) to support the transfer of a large collection of information on the properties and activities of drugs and a large set of drug-like small molecules from publicly listed company Galapagos NV to the public domain.

23 Jul 2008

AstraZeneca Survey: Healthcare professionals leading source of information On company's prescription savings programs

More than a third of the people who contacted AstraZeneca to inquire about the company's prescription savings programs learned of the programs from their doctors or pharmacists, according to a year-long survey of more than 12,000 patients.

23 Jul 2008

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics licenses technology to develop HPV vaccine

Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT) has announced the signing of two new collaborative agreements that will advance development of the Company's novel human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine program.

23 Jul 2008

Widespread adoption of e-prescribing could save U.S. $156 million over five years

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Monday discussed the details of an electronic prescribing incentive program scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, 2009, that will increase Medicare payments to physicians who adopt the technology, the AP/Chicago Tribune reports.

23 Jul 2008

CMS proposal would limit industry practice that raises costs for some Medicare drug plan beneficiaries

A CMS proposal under consideration would limit a practice used by pharmacy benefit managers known as "lock-in pricing" that can increase costs for beneficiaries enrolled in the Medicare drug benefit and bring them into the so-called "doughnut hole" coverage gap more quickly, the Wall Street Journal reports.

23 Jul 2008

Bioscience fund GBS invests US$6m in Xenome

Biopharmaceutical company Xenome Limited today announced it has received a convertible note placement of US$6 million from GBS Venture Partners, a Melbourne based life sciences specialist that invests in unlisted and listed high growth companies involved in innovative technologies.

23 Jul 2008

Roche starts acquisition process of ARIUS - fast tracks access to screening platform for antibody therapeutics

Roche and ARIUS Research Inc. have announced that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement for Roche to acquire ARIUS in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately C$191 million.

23 Jul 2008

Roche acquires Mirus to advance RNAi delivery research

Roche (Basel) and Mirus Bio Corporation (Madison, WI, USA) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Roche will acquire Mirus Bio Corporation, a privately-owned US company based in Madison, Wisconsin, that focuses on the discovery and development of innovative nucleic acid based technologies, including a proprietary RNAi (Ribonucleic Acid interference) delivery platform.

22 Jul 2008

Luna awarded NIH grant for fullerene-based nanomedicines as allergy treatments

Luna Innovations Incorporated has announced the award of a $1.6 million Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the use of fullerene-based nanomedicines as a pathway to treat allergies and other inflammatory diseases.

22 Jul 2008

Use of rheumatoid arthritis drug to treat Alzheimer's causes concern

New research into the treatment of Alzheimer's disease using a popular rheumatoid arthritis drug has caused some concern.

22 Jul 2008

West Virginia prescription drug program showing growth, success within first three months

West Virginia Rx, a new state-managed prescription drug program that allows uninsured state residents to obtain medications at no cost, is on track to enroll 10,000 people within its first year, the Charleston Gazette reports (Kabler, Charleston Gazette, 7/17).

22 Jul 2008

Access to rheumatoid arthritis drugs 'curbed' for sufferers in the UK

Sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis in Britain have been warned that their access to a particularly effective class of drug will in future be limited.

20 Jul 2008

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to buy Barr Pharmaceuticals

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Teva will acquire Barr, the fourth largest generic drug company worldwide.

18 Jul 2008

EpiCept and GNI partner to develop anti-viral hepatitis drug in Asia

GNI Ltd and EpiCept Corporation have announced that they have reached agreement to develop a new therapeutic drug, EP1013, in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, for late-stage viral infection-induced hepatitis. EpiCept will retain the rights in the rest of the world. GNI’s wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Genomics, will start preparation for pre-IND and clinical development in China immediately.

17 Jul 2008

New center for protein therapeutics formed by UB pharmaceutical scientists

Pharmaceutical researchers at the University at Buffalo have joined forces with scientists from several of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to tackle fundamental research questions that need to be answered to advance development of promising protein-based drugs.

15 Jul 2008