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HHS and BioCryst advance development of new influenza drug

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced that the Department has awarded a $102.6 million, four-year contract to BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for advanced development of their influenza antiviral drug, peramivir.

7 Jan 2007

Sigma-Aldrich grants Pfizer license to use ddRNAi

Sigma-Aldrich has announced that it has granted Pfizer a worldwide non-exclusive research license to utilize DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) technology. Applications of the ddRNAi technology for research activities have been licensed exclusively by Sigma- Aldrich from Benitec Limited of Australia.

3 Jan 2007

NanoMed Pharmaceuticals issued new U.S. nanoparticle patent

NanoMed Pharmaceuticals has announced that founders Russell J. Mumper, Ph.D. and Michael Jay, Ph.D. have been issued U.S. Patent 7,153,525 entitled "Microemulsions As Precursors To Solid Nanoparticles."

3 Jan 2007

Ranbaxy granted approval to manufacture Atenolol

Ranbaxy Laboratories has announced that the Company has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to manufacture and market Atenolol Tablets USP, 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg.

2 Jan 2007

FDA announces tentative approval of generic Zoloft

Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted tentative approval for the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Sertraline Hydrochloride Tablets, 25mg, 50mg and 100mg.

2 Jan 2007

New vaccines against HPV could save hundreds of thousands of lives if delivered effectively

The introduction of new vaccines against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer, could have a major impact on the health of women in the developing world. More than 250 000 women died from cervical cancer in 2005 - the vast majority in developing countries.

12 Dec 2006

Chronic use of nicotine can reinforce the rewarding effects of alcohol

When sober alcoholics are tempted to fall off the wagon, the same receptor is stimulated as is activated by nicotine in their brain.

2 Dec 2006

Australia to provide Gardasil at no cost to girls and women ages 12 to 26

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday announced that the government will provide about $342 million for a program that will offer Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil at no cost to girls and women ages 12 to 26 living in the country, Bloomberg reports.

2 Dec 2006

Cipla, Ranbaxy to cut pediatric antiretroviral drug prices

Indian pharmaceutical companies Cipla and Ranbaxy under an agreement with the Clinton Foundation will reduce the prices of 19 different pediatric antiretroviral drugs in 62 developing countries to an average of 45% less than what treatments currently cost in the countries, former President Clinton announced on Thursday ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the AP/Forbes reports.

2 Dec 2006

Thai Health Ministry to issue compulsory license for Merck's HIV/AIDS drug Efavirenz

Thailand's Ministry Of Public Health on Wednesday announced plans to issue a compulsory license to produce a lower-cost version of Merck's antiretroviral drug Efavirenz, Reuters reports.

2 Dec 2006

How to save a million lives a year

A promise of $200 million from some of the world's richest nations to fight diseases in poor countries will save more than a million children's lives a year.

1 Dec 2006

New bird flu drug will provide new line of defence

Flu experts say a new flu drug with the ability to kill deadly strains of bird flu promises to provide a much needed third option should a pandemic occur.

28 Nov 2006

Handbook on Developing pharmacy practice - A focus on patient care

The traditional role of pharmacists is to manufacture and supply medicines. More recently, pharmacists have been faced with increasing health demands: an ever-growing and complex range of medicines, and poor adherence to prescribed medicines, have forced the evolution of the pharmacist’s role into a more patient centred approach (known as pharmaceutical care).

23 Nov 2006

Federal Appeals Court agrees to rehear case on whether people should have access to experimental medications

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday vacated an earlier decision that would have provided terminally ill patients with expanded access to experimental medications and likely will rehear the case next summer, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports (Wilde Mathews, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal, 11/21).

23 Nov 2006

Prana Biotechnology raises U.S.$6 Million to fund trial of PBT2 in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Prana Biotechnology today announced it has entered into agreements to raise approximately A$7.77 million (US$6 million) from new institutional investors in Australia, existing institutional investors in the United States and a founding member of the Company.

20 Nov 2006

Experts say Britain vulnerable to bird flu pandemic

Experts in Britain believe the government should have stockpiled more than one antiviral drug in order to tackle a bird flu pandemic and say Britain has been left vulnerable because the stockpile of anti virus drugs is deficient.

20 Nov 2006

New agreement questions NHS relation with industry

The Department of Health's new clinical trials agreement raises questions about the NHS's relation with the drug industry, says an editorial published on the British Medical Journal website.

19 Nov 2006

Doha Declaration on life-saving drugs for poor countries not happening

Despite the fact that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) granted a special exemption five years ago, in order that poor countries could access life-saving drug, poor people in developing countries are still dying needlessly because global pharmaceutical giants continue to monopolise drugs for diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

15 Nov 2006

International plan to protect against counterfeit medicines

The World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 20 international partners are today launching a comprehensive package of measures to help national authorities safeguard their populations from the dangers of counterfeit medicines.

15 Nov 2006

Investigational drug tolvaptan treats hyponatremia

Results of the two largest studies on hyponatremia, SALT-1 and SALT-2, presented Nov. 14 at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago, found that the investigational drug tolvaptan treated hyponatremia -- water intoxication -- faster and more effectively than available treatments.

14 Nov 2006