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Bill Clinton, Pfizer, and Mylan announce new agreements to lower prices of antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS in the developing world

President Bill Clinton announced two important and complementary agreements today to enable better, more affordable treatments for patients on second-line antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

6 Aug 2009

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals acquires rights and IP for Renazorb

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has acquired 100% rights to RenaZorb (a family of compounds represented by SPI-014, also known as RZB-014), a lanthanum-based nanotechnology compound with potent and selective phosphate binding properties, for all human and non-human indications.

6 Aug 2009

Alnylam and Tekmira to collaborate on RNAi therapeutics

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that they will jointly participate in a new research collaboration focused on the discovery of novel cationic lipids and lipid nanoparticles for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics.

6 Aug 2009

Phytomedical partners with LATITUDE Pharmaceuticals on lead anti cancer compound for glioblastoma

PhytoMedical Technologies, Inc. has announced their partnership with LATITUDE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop an IV Formulation for its lead anti cancer compound for glioblastoma. LATITUDE Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a widely recognized expert in the area of drug formulations and delivery systems.

6 Aug 2009

Innexus Biotechnology announces business development initiative on lead preclinical candidate

InNexus Biotechnology Inc. announced today that the Company will embark on a business development initiative for DXL625™ (CD20), the Company’s lead preclinical candidate for the prospective treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and/or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

6 Aug 2009

Orexo: Abstral NDA submitted to U.S. FDA

Orexo AB has announced that its partner, UK-based international specialty pharmaceutical company ProStrakan Group plc, has submitted the New Drug Application (NDA) for Abstral™ (for the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain in opioid-tolerant patients) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

6 Aug 2009

Research looks at health and environmental effects of exposure to nanoparticles

A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment.

6 Aug 2009

Biochemics and Pacific Pharmaceutical to collaborate on skin products

BioChemics, Inc. (BCI) has announced the signing of a research collaboration agreement with Pacific Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, a publicly held Company in South Korea to evaluate the use of BCI's VALE® based compositions in cosmetic applications.

6 Aug 2009

Ghana seeks to eliminate malaria

In October, Ghana's Ministry of Health plans to begin a national program to eliminate malaria with the goal of being the first country in Africa to eradicate the disease, George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, the minister of health, said recently at the 74th Annual Conference of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, GNA/Homepage Ghana reports. Yankey cited the looming threat of the malaria parasite's resistance to artemisinin therapy (8/3).

5 Aug 2009

Sensitizing tumor response to cancer treatment

Two forms of skin and brain cancer respond very poorly to chemotherapy and radiation: melanoma and glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.

5 Aug 2009

Appeals court affirms invalidation of Yasmin patent

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA) announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey finding Bayer Schering's U.S. Patent No. 6,787,531 invalid. The patent is listed in the Orange Book for Bayer's oral contraception Yasmin®.

5 Aug 2009

Health care reform must avoid conflicts-of-interest

As President Obama and Congress weigh changes in the nation’s health care system they must avoid creating a system where physicians are financially motivated to pressure patients into mandated treatments that conflict with their values and needs, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians warn.

5 Aug 2009

Impax Labs receives FDA approval for generic version of Depakote

Impax Laboratories has confirmed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval of the Company’s Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for generic version of Depakote® (divalproex ER) 500mg Extended-release Tablets.

5 Aug 2009

World shortage of molybdenum may hinder nuclear medicine services

Problems with the world production and supply of molybdenum are leading to shortages of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine imaging tests, according to an editorial in the journal Nuclear Medicine Communications, official journal of the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS).

5 Aug 2009

Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) retains status as NCI-designated cancer center

The National Cancer Institute, the nation’s top cancer research organization, has renewed the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as one of its NCI-designated Cancer Centers for three years. The distinction comes with $5.4 million in new federal funding through 2012 to sustain and grow the cancer center’s rapidly expanding research programs, now consisting of 140 scientists at work on a multitude of cancer projects.

4 Aug 2009

No recess rest in health reform ad wars

Major groups are promising that the August recess will be filled with advertising wars trying to manage the message of the health care reform debate, Politico reports.

4 Aug 2009

Lobbyists play ball, flex muscles on health care reform

The Associated Press reports on lobbying around biotechnology legislation. A letter urging the protection of biotech drug makers from generics from "the private National Health Council, sent to House leaders drafting health overhaul legislation, said the plea was on behalf of 'the more than 133 million Americans living with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers.'

4 Aug 2009

Emergency physicians should trust their judgment on chest pain symptoms

Their research suggests that emergency physicians should counsel with other physicians against discharge when they feel strongly about a patient for whom there is no compelling data, other than our evaluation and judgment, Chandra said.

4 Aug 2009

Accelerating the development of new cancer drugs

A phase I clinical trial enrolled its first patient only two days after U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance of the experimental drug for a first-in-human cancer trial, a milestone that normally takes three to six months. Investigators from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have reported their work in the Journal of Clinical Oncology published online on August 3rd.

4 Aug 2009

FDA approves Livalo (pitavastatin), a new cholesterol-lowering drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the 4 milligram maximum dose of Livalo (pitavastatin), a drug intended to improve blood cholesterol levels in persons with elevated or abnormal blood cholesterol levels.

3 Aug 2009