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$600 credit and discounts help low income Medicare beneficiaries

Seven million Medicare beneficiaries who are eligible for low-income transitional assistance and additional discounts can see very large savings on their prescription drugs through their Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards.

19 May 2004

Canadian Statement to the World Health Assembly focuses on AIDS

The WHO's leadership is particularly important in the fight to combat HIV/AIDS. Last week, Canada bolstered its financial commitment to this effort with contributions of $100 million for WHO's '3 by 5 initiative', and $70 million to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Canada and Canadians are proud to take these actions against HIV/AIDS.

19 May 2004

Variability in weight and drug content of split tablet may put patients at risk of receiving wrong dosage

Back and neck pain sufferers who divide the most frequently prescribed muscle relaxant may be getting anywhere from half to one-and-a-half times the amount of medicine they believe they are taking, suggests a new study examining the practice of tablet splitting.

19 May 2004

$1.5 billion annual cost of surgical site infections can be reduced

A research paper published in the American Journal of Infection Control says a systematic approach to preparing patients for surgery can reduce both secondary, hospital-acquired patient infections and related healthcare expenses nationwide.

19 May 2004

Inactivating a protective molecule may help chemotherapy for leukemia but harm bone marrow

Inactivating a protective molecule in leukemic cells to make them more vulnerable to chemotherapy might also make healthy blood-forming cells more sensitive to the toxic effects of those same drugs.

19 May 2004

Prescription drugs imported by patients into the United States may be unsafe

Prescription drugs imported by patients into the United States may be unsafe, ineffective, adulterated, misbranded, expired or counterfeit, and could result in harm or death, according to AMA Trustee Rebecca J. Patchin, MD, who testified before the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Task Force on Drug Importation on May 14.

19 May 2004

Benitec acquires Avocel to focus on rapid development of hepatitis C therapeutics

Benitec Ltd. today announced the acquisition of Avocel, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA, a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the establishment of its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Benitec, Inc. Through the acquisition, Benitec gains its first in-house advanced therapeutic development program using DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) to target the Hepatitis C virus.

18 May 2004

Drug-Drug Interaction Initiative to provide pharmacists with reliable drug interaction messaging

Whenever you pick up a prescription at your community pharmacy, the information is entered into a computer database, which immediately checks the new prescription against your current medications and alerts pharmacists about possible interactions between drugs.

18 May 2004

New joint UK-Slovak health collaboration

A new joint UK-Slovak programme to boost collaboration into a range of medical conditions was announced by Health Minister John Huttontoday.Mr Hutton signed a joint agreement between the UK and Slovak Republic covering medicine and public health.

17 May 2004

IMPAX receives final FDA approval for generic version of Sinemet CR

IMPAX Laboratories, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted final approval to the Company's Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Carbidopa/Levodopa Extended Release Tablets, its generic version of Sinemet(R) CR tablets.

17 May 2004

Pharmaceutical agreement involving novel obesity compound

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Solvay Pharmaceuticals today announced that the companies have entered into a worldwide agreement for the Solvay compound SLV319, which is currently in Phase I development with potential for use in treating obesity and other metabolic disorders.

17 May 2004

Connetics issued U.S. patent for emollient-foam technology

Connetics Corporation, a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes dermatology products, announced today that on May 4, 2004 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued to Connetics Patent No. 6,730,288 B1. The patent has 7 independent product claims, and covers a pharmaceutical aerosol foam composition having occlusive capability.

17 May 2004

Scientists have identified a compound that halts the activity of a deadly toxin called anthrax

University of Chicago scientists have identified a compound that halts the activity of a deadly toxin called anthrax lethal factor in laboratory tests. Nature Biotechnology will publish the findings online on May 16 and in the June issue of the journal's print edition.

17 May 2004

Genetically engineered viruses may create new class of cancer therapies

A genetically engineered virus can selectively kill cancerous cells in the lung and colon while leaving healthy cells intact, according to new research published today in Cancer Research by William Wold and colleagues at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

15 May 2004

The number of antibody-based medicines will climb dramatically

The number of antibodies in clinical development has leapt over the past six years and in 2004 hundreds are currently making their way through trials in what surely will be a spate of new product introductions beginning in 2004 and continuing over the next 10 years.

15 May 2004

Britannia Pharmaceuticals’ partner receives FDA approval for Parkinson’s disease treatment

Britannia Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that U.S.-based Bertek Pharmaceuticals Inc., the branded subsidiary of Mylan Laboratories Inc has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for APOKYN (apomorphine hydrochloride injection).

13 May 2004

New Canadian drug submission for cannabis-based medicine

GW Pharmaceuticals and Bayer HealthCare, Pharmaceuticals Division - Canada have announced that GW has submitted a New Drug Submission for Sativex®, a cannabis-based medicinal extract product, to Health Canada.

13 May 2004

Biochip technology to revolutionise the pharmaceutical industry

Advancements in biotechnology have culminated in its integration with semiconductor technologies such as micro-electromechanical systems, resulting in the evolution of biochips. Biochips provide pharma companies with sophisticated tools for speedy development of drugs and accurate diagnosis and understanding of biological mechanisms.

13 May 2004

FDA knocks back King Pharmaceuticals self-injectible epilepsy product

King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has reported the receipt by its Meridian Technologies subsidiary of a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

13 May 2004

IBM introduces new BioPharmaceutical solution

IBM today announced a new fixed-price offering for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) navigating government compliance mandates for the United States pharmaceutical industry.

13 May 2004