Pharmaceuticals News and Research

RSS

Countries should find balance between affordable drugs, development incentives, WHO Director-General says in letter to Thai Health Minister

World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan in a letter to Thai Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said that although the Thai government was fully within its rights to issue a compulsory license for Abbott Laboratories antiretroviral drug Kaletra, countries should find the "right balance" between providing affordable medicines and incentives for drug companies to develop new treatments.

19 Feb 2007

Legislation introduced that would give FDA authority to approve generic versions of biotechnology drugs

Lawmakers in the House and Senate on Wednesday introduced a bill that would allow FDA to approve generic versions of biotechnology medications, USA Today reports.

19 Feb 2007

Health care industry groups lobby Presidential candidates

Roll Call on Wednesday examined how health care is "quickly becoming a cornerstone" of 2008 presidential candidates' domestic proposals and how "health industry groups and their lobbyists already are trying to make sure candidates in both parties keep their interests in mind along the campaign trail."

19 Feb 2007

Novel spray method for delivering tuberculosis vaccine

Bioengineers and public health researchers at Harvard University have developed a novel spraying method for delivering the most common tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, providing a new low-cost and scaleable technique that offers needle-free delivery and greater stability at room temperature than existing methods.

18 Feb 2007

Promising results on avian influenza vaccines

Experts meeting this week at the World Health Organization (WHO) on advances in pandemic influenza vaccine development reported encouraging progress.

18 Feb 2007

New oral blood thinner

A new oral blood thinner is being compared to an old standby to see if it works as well and is easier to manage long term, researchers say.

13 Feb 2007

New patented technology for next generation of DNA and RNA microarrays

A novel invention developed by a scientist from New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) could revolutionize biological and clinical research and may lead to treatments for cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and genetic and infectious diseases.

13 Feb 2007

G7 nations plan to adopt vaccine purchase plan for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria

The Group of Seven industrialized nations on Friday plans to sign an agreement to provide $1.5 billion to develop vaccines for diseases -- including HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria -- that largely affect developing countries, the government of Italy announced on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

13 Feb 2007

Formularies needed to reduce medication prices under Medicare prescription drug benefit

A bill passed last month by the House that would require the HHS secretary to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit "would have very little effect" on prices "because it forbids Medicare from excluding drugs from coverage...

13 Feb 2007

New technologies boost production of malaria drug artemisinin

New technologies that make the large-scale extraction of a natural antimalarial ‘wonder drug' both cheaper and greener are to be developed and trialled in a new European effort.

12 Feb 2007

Nanoparticle boost for antitumor vaccines

Researchers have known for some time that certain sequences of synthetic DNA induce potent immune responses when injected into animals and humans.

12 Feb 2007

Congress likely to approve FDA prescription drug safety reforms in 2007

The Baltimore Sun on Friday examined how Democrats' takeover of Congress and the expiration of a law that requires drug manufacturers to pay user fees to FDA "is driving a flurry of activity that could lead to major changes" in the agency's drug safety policies.

12 Feb 2007

PALB2 gene mutation elevates risk of breast cancer four-fold

Cancer is a complex and common disease caused by a combination of both genetic and environmental factors. An inherited predisposition seems to be involved in at least 5-10 per cent of all cases of breast cancer.

11 Feb 2007

Researchers discover master switch for a tumor suppressive network

A decades-old cancer mystery has been solved by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). "We not only found a critical tumor suppressor gene, but have revealed a master switch for a tumor suppressive network that means more targeted and effective cancer therapy in the future," said CSHL Associate Professor Alea Mills, Ph.D.

11 Feb 2007

New microscopy technology

Research is finding evidence that may solve one of the great puzzles of 21st Century medicine using a new microscopy technology known as CytoViva.

11 Feb 2007

QLT USA settles U.S. patent litigation

QLT Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, QLT USA, Inc. (formerly Atrix Laboratories, Inc.) has reached an agreement to settle the litigation captioned "TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. and Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd. v. Atrix Laboratories, Inc. and Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc.," # 03-C-7822, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the appeal pending therefrom in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

11 Feb 2007

End of an era for DNA patenting

Human DNA patents are unlikely to be the barrier to medical and scientific innovation that they were first feared to be, according to new findings published this week.

8 Feb 2007

AIDS activists call for gel trials to restart

AIDS activists in South Africa are calling for clinical trials of a microbicide gel designed to help women protect themselves against HIV to be restarted.

8 Feb 2007

WHO cautions Thailand against issuing compulsory license for antiretroviral Kaletra

The World Health Organization on Thursday cautioned the Thai government on its decision to allow the country to produce a lower-cost version of Abbott Laboratories' antiretroviral drug Kaletra by granting a compulsory license for the drug, the Bangkok Post reports.

7 Feb 2007

Most of Medicare and Medicaid savings in Bush's budget proposal come from reducing growth in Medicare provider payments

The "lion's share" of the Medicare and Medicaid savings over five years proposed in President Bush's fiscal year 2008 budget proposal comes from limits on annual inflation adjustments for reimbursements to hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers for Medicare, amounting to $39.5 billion, CQ HealthBeat reports.

7 Feb 2007