Generic Drug News and Research

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Generic Drugs are official nonbrand names by which medicines are known. Generic names usually refer to the chemical name of the drug.

New technology developed at Cornell University could make it just as easy to identify genes

A supermarket checkout computer can identify thousands of different items by scanning the tiny barcode printed on the package. New technology developed at Cornell University could make it just as easy to identify genes, pathogens, illegal drugs and other chemicals of interest by tagging them with color-coded probes made out of synthetic tree-shaped DNA.

14 Jun 2005

Pharmacists support generic drug substitution, but need more information to advise customers

Pharmacists and their customers could benefit from having more information to help them understand and compare the costs of prescription drugs, according to a new AARP study that looks at attitudes and practices regarding the use of generic drugs.

10 Jun 2005

Claritin's switch to OTC status meant fewer prescriptions

After the allergy drug Claritin became available without a prescription in 2002, insurance plans and consumers spent less on the prescription form of its main ingredient, loratadine, and all similar allergy drugs, according to a new report published in this month’s The American Journal of Managed Care.

10 Jun 2005

Trade agreements 'bad medicine' for AIDS, says AIDS Healthcare Foundation

AIDS advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care serving thousands of patients in the U.S., Africa, Central America and Asia, today hailed Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) for his release of a new report detailing how the pending Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and other trade agreements like NAFTA derail access to affordable generic medications in Latin and Central America and other developing world countries, including access to life-saving anti-retroviral therapies (ARVs) for HIV/AIDS treatment.

10 Jun 2005

Experimental drug works best in combination with older remedy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias

An experimental drug combined with an already-popular memory-enhancing compound may further delay memory loss in patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Johns Hopkins University scientists, in collaboration with researchers from University of North Carolina, have found.

9 Jun 2005

Indian drug company Ranbaxy gains FDA approval for HIV drug

Indian drug company Ranbaxy Laboratories has this week become the first Indian drug company to gain regulatory approval for a generic anti-HIV drug.

2 Jun 2005

Ranbaxy makes further three filings of its Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) formulations

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited has announced that the Company has made further three filings of its Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) formulations, to the World Health Organization (WHO) for its approval under the latter's pre-qualification project for HIV/AIDS drugs.

30 May 2005

Bill Clinton urges U.S. drug companies to be more flexible on generic drugs

Bill Clinton, the former U.S. president, is urging the United States to be more flexible in allowing money pledged for AIDS prevention to be used for low-cost generic drugs, and he has criticized U.S. drug manufacturers for pressuring the government to restrict use of those funds.

26 May 2005

Pharmaceutical industry faces multiple challenges - future lies in drug pipeline sustainability

High clinical development costs coupled with declining drug discovery success rates are causing productivity levels to fall in the global pharmaceuticals industry. The imminent patent expiry of several major blockbuster drugs and the related rise of cheaper generic alternatives is further exacerbating the situation.

25 May 2005

Medication errors continue even in highly computerized hospital

Errors in drug ordering, dosage and monitoring that may have serious consequences for patients persist in hospitals even after the adoption of computerized medication systems, according to a study in the May 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 May 2005

Milk is back in fashion and who loves it most - the Welsh of course!!

Milk is back in fashion and helping it along is a fast growing cafe culture and a change in diets, with the result that milk sales are on the rise for the first time in 30 years.

23 May 2005

Acne drug not linked to increased suicide risk

A recent study has found that the popular acne-fighting drug Accutane, which has been linked to birth defects, did not cause depression in a group of adolescents.

16 May 2005

Statin therapy is cost-effective for a wider range of individuals with vascular disease or diabetes than previously recognised

Current guidelines generally recommend the initiation of statin therapy when the estimated 10-year risk of a non-fatal heart attack or coronary death is at least 15-20%.

12 May 2005

FDA to change regulations regarding side-effect information in drug ads

The Food and Drug Administration is about to make it easier for you to understand both the benefits and risks of a prescription medication, it was revealed at the Second Annual Medical Liaison Seminar sponsored here by Scientific Advantage LLC.

2 May 2005

Actor-patients' requests for medications boost prescribing for depression

Researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), have found that requests from patients for medications have a "profound effect" on physicians prescribing for major depression and adjustment disorder. These findings indicate that direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of prescription medications for depression may exert significant influence on treatment decisions.

27 Apr 2005

Direct-to-consumer advertising may influence physicians' prescribing decisions

Patients requesting specific medications can have a profound effect on physicians prescribing medications for major depression, according to a new study in the April 27 issue of JAMA.

26 Apr 2005

Pulsating ultrasound enhances gene therapy for tumors

High-intensity focused ultrasound emitted in short pulses is a promising, non-invasive procedure for enhancing gene delivery to cancerous cells without destroying healthy tissue, according to a study in the May issue of the journal Radiology.

26 Apr 2005

Heart attack victims face increased risk of death with Natrecor

In a recent study Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein, a doctor at North Shore University Hospital in New York says that Natrecor, heart failure treatment produced by drug company Johnson & Johnson may be linked to a greater risk of death when compared with standard therapy.

20 Apr 2005

Why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute are reporting the results of a recent study that addresses why different tissues in the human body vary in their susceptibility to "amyloid" diseases, which include Alzheimer's disease and a cluster of ailments called the familial amyloidoses.

7 Apr 2005

Florida sues drug company for Medicaid fraud

Charlie Crist, Florida's Attorney General is taking three pharmaceutical companies to court for $25 million, accusing them of illegally inflating prices on generic drugs used to treat depression, schizophrenia, seizures and angina.

6 Apr 2005