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1.7 million will be anxious when Medicare coverage of anxiety drugs ceases

When the U.S. Government's new prescription drug benefit begins next year a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures will not be included.

28 Jun 2005

Canada about to ban bulk sales of drugs to U.S.

According to some press reports Canada is about to announce a ban on bulk sales of drugs to the United States as a way of reining in Internet pharmacies that sell cheap medicine to Americans.

28 Jun 2005

New breast cancer drug not available to all who need it

Unless things change breast cancer patient Barbara Clark will probably have to sell her house to pay for an expensive drug called Herceptin.

28 Jun 2005

GlaxoSmithKline announces availability of Paxil CR to U.S. market

GlaxoSmithKline announced today the availability of Paxil CR (paroxetine hydrochloride controlled release) tablets in pharmacies across the United States. Other markets will follow shortly thereafter.

27 Jun 2005

Metabasis and Merck collaborate to develop new treatment for diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity

Metabasis Therapeutics and Merck announced today that they have formed a collaboration to research, develop and commercialize novel small molecule therapeutics with potential to treat several diseases, including type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia and obesity, by activation of an enzyme in the liver called AMP-activated Protein Kinase (AMPK).

27 Jun 2005

Nitromed heart drug designed for blacks wins U.S. approval

A new heart drug designed specifically for blacks has been approved by U.S. officials.

26 Jun 2005

Booze and autos don't mix - car crashes account for half of drinking injurie

Figures in a new survey, by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, show that car crashes account for more than half of severe alcohol-related injuries in Canada and nearly one-third of those hurt are under the age of 25.

23 Jun 2005

Safety warning on Internet drugs

Thousands of men in the UK buy “lifestyle drugs” such as erectile dysfunction medication, weight and hair loss products from websites and are oblivious to the fact that some (not all) of the websites belong to unscrupulous vendors.

21 Jun 2005

Canada first country to approve cannabis based painkiller

Canada has become the first country to approve a cannabis based painkiller for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

21 Jun 2005

Partnership to develop an AIDS vaccine using a promising new technology

GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Biologicals) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) today announced a public-private partnership to develop an AIDS vaccine using a promising new technology.

21 Jun 2005

New cardiovascular drug derived from Dan Shen (Saliva miltiorrhiza)

Through a large number of clinical trials over the past 3 years, researchers from the CAS Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) have developed a new cardiovascular drug with a definite effective component extracted from Dan Shen (Saliva miltiorrhiza), a medicinal herb widely used in China.

21 Jun 2005

FDA severely limits access to cancer drug Iressa

After Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials agreed with studies showing lung cancer drug, Iressa, did not help patients live longer, drug company AstraZeneca said it would severely limit access to its drug.

20 Jun 2005

FDA approves treatment for diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Alinia (nitazoxanide) tablets and oral suspension for treating diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum infection in adults and children 12 years and older. The product, already approved to treat the same infection in younger children, received a priority review by FDA.

19 Jun 2005

AstraZeneca announces U.S. labeling change to Iressa (gefitinib tablets)

AstraZeneca has announced that after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company is making a labeling change to Iressa (gefitinib tablets).

19 Jun 2005

New antibiotic approved by FDA will fight bacterial infections in hospitals

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given it's approval for a new antibiotic to fight bacterial infections.

19 Jun 2005

Tentative approval for Lamivudine tablets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the tentative approval of Lamivudine Tablets manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma LTD. Hyderabad, India.

16 Jun 2005

Vical receives $12 Million HIV vaccine order

Vical Incorporated announced today the receipt of approximately $12.1 million in production orders for multiple clinical lots of DNA vaccines against HIV for the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, under a subcontract managed by SAIC-Frederick, Inc.

16 Jun 2005

FDA recommends heart drug designed for blacks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have announced that a heart-failure drug manufactured for African-Americans significantly reduced deaths and hospitalizations and its side effects were similar to those of a placebo's.

16 Jun 2005

FDA approves Xeloda (capecitabine) oral chemotherapy

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xeloda (capecitabine) -- an innovative oral chemotherapy -- for the adjuvant (post-surgery) treatment of patients with Dukes' C colon cancer.

15 Jun 2005

Promising new tuberculosis drug enters clinical trial

A promising new drug candidate that may be effective against both actively dividing and slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) has begun testing in humans, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced this week.

15 Jun 2005