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First Edition: April 24, 2014

Today's headlines include a number of reports about how the health law is playing in midterm election campaigns.

25 Apr 2014

Study explores how food portrayed in children's TV programmes

Fruits and vegetables are often displayed in the popular Swedish children's TV show Bolibompa, but there are also plenty of high-sugar foods. A new study from the University of Gothenburg explores how food is portrayed in children's TV programmes as well as the link between young children's TV viewing, dietary habits and weight status.

25 Apr 2014

Community-based structured weight loss program improves diabetes symptoms

Weight loss and control of blood sugar can reduce the risk of complications in patients with diabetes but this is difficult for many to achieve. A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine randomized controlled trial of obese adults with type 2 diabetes suggests that participants enrolled in a community-based structured weight loss program are able to shed more pounds, improve blood sugar control and reduce or eliminate insulin use and other medications compared to a control group.

25 Apr 2014

Regulators vote against approving new painkiller

A key government panel Tuesday voted unanimously against approval of a powerful opioid prescription painkiller intended to provide faster relief with fewer side effects. At the conclusion of a hearing, the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 14-0 against recommending that the agency approve Moxduo, the first drug to combine morphine and oxycodone into one capsule (Stein, 4/22).

25 Apr 2014

Roche's cobas HPV Test gets FDA approval for first-line primary screening for cervical cancer

Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the cobas HPV (Human Papillomavirus) Test for use as a first-line primary screening test for cervical cancer in women 25 and older. The approval follows the March 12 unanimous recommendation from the Microbiology Devices Panel of the FDA's Medical Devices Advisory Committee, making the cobas HPV Test the first and only HPV test in the United States approved for first-line primary screening.

From Roche Sequencing and Life Science 25 Apr 2014

Increasing daily coffee consumption may lower type 2 diabetes risk

People who increased the amount of coffee they drank each day by more than one cup over a four-year period had a 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee consumption, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers. In addition, the study found that those who decreased their coffee consumption by more than a cup per day increased their type 2 diabetes risk by 17%.

24 Apr 2014

Biogen Idec's revenue increases 51% to $2.1 billion in first quarter 2014

Biogen Idec Inc. today reported first quarter 2014 results, including revenue of $2.1 billion, a 51% increase compared to the first quarter of 2013.

23 Apr 2014

Tolero Pharmaceuticals' Alvocidib gets Orphan Drug Designation for acute myeloid leukemia treatment

Tolero Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing treatments for serious hematological diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation for Alvocidib for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

23 Apr 2014

Early identification of heart disease a priority for schizophrenia patients

Early recognition and treatment of coronary artery disease must become a clinical priority for all adults with schizophrenia, say researchers who studied autopsy data for schizophrenia patients who died suddenly in hospital.

23 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 23, 2014

Today's headlines include a range of health policy news reports, including developments related to the health law, to the marketplace and at the state level.

23 Apr 2014

TWi and Endo Pharmaceuticals settle patent litigation over Lidoderm product

TWi Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teikoku Seiyaku Co., Ltd. and Teikoku Pharma USA, Inc. to settle all outstanding patent litigation related to TWi's lidocaine topical patch 5% product.

23 Apr 2014

tPA therapy improves outcomes for patients suffering acute ischemic stroke

Administering a clot-dissolving drug to stroke victims quickly — ideally within the first 60 minutes after they arrive at a hospital emergency room — is crucial to saving their lives, preserving their brain function and reducing disability.

23 Apr 2014

Scientists develop DNA nanodevices that survive body's immune defenses

It's a familiar trope in science fiction: In enemy territory, activate your cloaking device. And real-world viruses use similar tactics to make themselves invisible to the immune system.

23 Apr 2014

Stronger incentives for medical innovators can reduce health care spending, say researchers

To help rein in massive health care spending, a new RAND study concludes that U.S. policy makers should urgently find ways to incentivize pharmaceutical companies and device makers to develop products that produce more value.

23 Apr 2014

Glaucoma drug may help reverse obesity-related vision loss in women

An inexpensive glaucoma drug, when added to a weight loss plan, can improve vision for women with a disorder called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

23 Apr 2014

Johns Hopkins scientists find a way to prevent atherosclerosis

Working with mice and rabbits, Johns Hopkins scientists have found a way to block abnormal cholesterol production, transport and breakdown, successfully preventing the development of atherosclerosis, the main cause of heart attacks and strokes and the number-one cause of death among humans. The condition develops when fat builds inside blood vessels over time and renders them stiff, narrowed and hardened, greatly reducing their ability to feed oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle and the brain.

23 Apr 2014

Novartis to buy Glaxosmithkline's oncology unit

The deal, worth billions, will also see Novartis sell its vaccines unit to Glaxo and partner with Glaxo on their consumer divisions. Novartis also said it will sell its animal health division to Eli Lily.

23 Apr 2014

Biting into whole foods can make children rowdy

There's a new secret to get your child to behave at the dinner table-cut up their food and they'll relax. A new Cornell study published in Eating Behaviors, found that when 6-10 year old children ate foods they had to bite with their front teeth- such as drumsticks, whole apples, or corn on the cob- they were rowdier than when these foods had been cut.

23 Apr 2014

New painkiller, with fewer side-effects, up for FDA approval

The drug, Moxduo, allows patients to take lower doses of other painkillers. Elsewhere, a Food and Drug Administration official talks about another painkiller, Zohydro.

23 Apr 2014

Bayer's Ciprofloxacin DPI receives FDA orphan drug designation for NCFB treatment

Bayer HealthCare today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Orphan Products Development has granted orphan drug designation for its investigational Ciprofloxacin Dry Powder for Inhalation (Ciprofloxacin DPI) for the treatment of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB).

23 Apr 2014