Pharmaceuticals News and Research

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Beta arrestins found to generate new proteins

Duke University Medical Center researchers have recently discovered that a crucial communications pathway in cells not only stops cells from making proteins, it also makes them go. The team was able to define the way in which proteins called beta arrestins (for their role in stopping signals) also turn on pathways that ultimately lead to the production of new proteins in virtually all tissues in the body.

24 Apr 2008

Racial disparities in smoking cessation treatment

A new study from the American Cancer Society finds black and Hispanic smokers are less likely than whites to receive and use smoking cessation advice and aids.

24 Apr 2008

FDA approves Relistor for opioid-induced constipation - helps reduce effects of drugs like morphine on bowel function

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) to help restore bowel function in patients with late-stage, advanced illness who are receiving opioids on a continuous basis to help alleviate their pain.

24 Apr 2008

Former Bristol-Myers Squibb exec indicted for lying about Plavix blood-thinning drug

The Department of Justice announced today that the former senior vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), Andrew Bodnar, was indicted for his role in lying to the federal government about a patent deal involving the popular blood-thinning drug, Plavix, used by heart attack, stroke and other patients.

23 Apr 2008

Researchers unravel heparin death mystery

An international team of researchers led by MIT has explained how contaminated batches of the blood-thinner heparin were able to slip past traditional safety screens and kill dozens of patients recently in the United States and Germany.

23 Apr 2008

Biopharmaceutical spin-out company Domainex, secures funding

Headquartered in London, Domainex is a contract research company specialising in the provision of structural biology and chemistry services to major pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. The Company is also developing a pipeline of pre-clinical drugs and targets.

From Domainex 23 Apr 2008

MacroChem acquires Virium Pharmaceuticals

MacroChem Corporation announced today that on April 18, 2008 it acquired Virium Pharmaceuticals Inc., a non-public, development stage company developing and commercializing novel therapeutics, with a portfolio of clinical stage product candidates focused in oncology, including its next generation nucleoside analogue licensed from the Southern Research Institute.

23 Apr 2008

GlaxoSmithKline to acquire Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

GlaxoSmithKline and Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which GlaxoSmithKline will acquire Sirtris Pharmaceuticals for approximately USD720 million (or approx. GBP362 million) through a cash tender offer of USD22.50 (or approx. GBP11.33) per share.

22 Apr 2008

NIAID tackles drug-resistant tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) has long been one of the world’s great killers. Now, forms of drug-resistant TB--multidrug (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)--are occurring at an ominous and accelerating rate. To help in the fight against drug-resistant TB, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has formulated an MDR and XDR TB research agenda.

22 Apr 2008

Taro Pharmaceutical receives final FDA approval for Cetirizine Hydrochloride oral solution

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. reported today that it has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for its Abbreviated New Drug Application ("ANDA") for cetirizine hydrochloride oral solution, 1 mg / 1 mL ("Cetirizine Oral Solution").

22 Apr 2008

U.S. and China at loggerheads over contaminated Heparin

Health officials in the U.S. appear to be at loggerheads with Chinese officials over the contamination of the blood-thinning drug Heparin.

22 Apr 2008

New York Times examines opposition to proposed off-label promotion guidelines amid allegations of ghostwriting

The New York Times on Saturday examined how a recent report indicating that Merck used "ghostwriters" to produce medical journal articles in support of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx "has galvanized opponents to a federal proposal that would relax some restrictions on drug promotion" in the U.S.

21 Apr 2008

Angiotech to suspend Vascular Wrap clinical trials

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has elected to suspend enrolment in its U.S. and EU human clinical trials for its Vascular Wrap product candidate in patients undergoing surgery for hemodialysis access, pending a safety review to evaluate an imbalance of infections that have been observed between the two study groups.

21 Apr 2008

BioAlliance Pharma announces preliminary results from U.S. phase III trial for Loramyc

BioAlliance Pharma SA today announced the preliminary positive results for its US pivotal Phase III clinical trial with Loramyc (miconazole Lauriad), Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablets (MBT) developed for the treatment of OroPharyngeal Candidiasis in immunocompromised population. This trial was conducted to support an NDA filing to market the product in the US.

21 Apr 2008

Mending tendons without surgery

James McGillicuddy was not getting good news. Three years after arriving at Stanford as one of the nation's top high school football recruits, he'd been stuck on the sidelines the entire time by a torn tendon that, even with two surgeries, just wouldn't stay fixed. More surgery would not help, his doctors told him, but they did have one last option to offer him.

21 Apr 2008

Raptor Pharmaceuticals initiates phase IIa clinical study for Convivia

Raptor Pharmaceuticals Corp. has announced that its clinical development subsidiary, Bennu Pharmaceuticals Inc. , has initiated the Company's first clinical-stage program after dosing the first cohort in a Phase IIa study of oral 4-methylpyrazole ("4-MP") in subjects with ALDH2 deficiency, or ethanol intolerance, as the initial development stage of its Convivia program.

21 Apr 2008

Can IT fuel the race to the $1,000 human genome?

Ever wonder if you have a genetic disposition to a certain disease, or why a medicine works for your friend, but not for you?

21 Apr 2008

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association response to New York Times article on biotech medicine costs

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) issued the following statement today regarding a story to be published in tomorrow's New York Times.

18 Apr 2008

Sen. Grassley sends letter to Merck requesting explanation of recent JAMA reports

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter to Merck Chief Operating Officer Richard Clark requesting the company explain a recent report that found the company used employees or paid consultants rather than the physicians listed as lead authors to write several published studies of the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx, CQ HealthBeat reports.

18 Apr 2008

Draft legislation aimed at overhauling FDA would require more inspections, change user fees

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday released draft legislation that would make broad regulatory changes to FDA and increase funds for the agency, CQ Today reports.

18 Apr 2008

Pharmaceuticals News and Research

Beta arrestins found to generate new proteins

Racial disparities in smoking cessation treatment

FDA approves Relistor for opioid-induced constipation - helps reduce effects of drugs like morphine on bowel function

Former Bristol-Myers Squibb exec indicted for lying about Plavix blood-thinning drug

Researchers unravel heparin death mystery

Biopharmaceutical spin-out company Domainex, secures funding

MacroChem acquires Virium Pharmaceuticals

GlaxoSmithKline to acquire Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

NIAID tackles drug-resistant tuberculosis

Taro Pharmaceutical receives final FDA approval for Cetirizine Hydrochloride oral solution

U.S. and China at loggerheads over contaminated Heparin

New York Times examines opposition to proposed off-label promotion guidelines amid allegations of ghostwriting

Angiotech to suspend Vascular Wrap clinical trials

BioAlliance Pharma announces preliminary results from U.S. phase III trial for Loramyc

Mending tendons without surgery

Raptor Pharmaceuticals initiates phase IIa clinical study for Convivia

Can IT fuel the race to the $1,000 human genome?

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association response to New York Times article on biotech medicine costs

Sen. Grassley sends letter to Merck requesting explanation of recent JAMA reports

Draft legislation aimed at overhauling FDA would require more inspections, change user fees

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