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Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

The Wall Street Journal reports that "an examination of one of the best-known examples of a comparative-effectiveness analysis shows how complicated such a seemingly straightforward idea can get" as officials look for savings in the health care system." One study, called Courage, "found that the most common heart surgery -- a $15,000 procedure that unclogs arteries using a small scaffold or stent -- usually yields no additional benefit when used with a cocktail of generic drugs in patients suffering from chronic chest pain."

12 Feb 2010

Sales of Cobroxin exceeds XenaCare Holdings' projections for first 45 days of 2010

XenaCare Holdings, Inc., a company specializing in the marketing and retail distribution of consumer healthcare products, announced today that it has begun distributing and selling Cobroxin through mass food and drug retail chains in the Northeast, Southeast, Middle Atlantic and Midwest regions.

12 Feb 2010

Second-quarter fiscal 2010 results announced by Pharmacyclics

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009.

12 Feb 2010

Opinions: Rebuilding Haiti

In a Baltimore Sun opinion piece, Richard Santos - president and CEO of IMA World Health, a non-profit that provides health care services and supplies - describes what he sees as the top three priorities for the rebuilding of Haiti, beginning with healthcare, which he describes as " foundational to all else." He continues, "Development groups have experience setting up basic health care systems in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other difficult environments.

12 Feb 2010

New screening system developed to discover molecules that block HCV life cycle

A newly designed system of identifying molecules for treating hepatitis C should enable scientists to discover novel and effective therapies for the dangerous and difficult-to-cure disease of the liver, says Zhilei Chen, a Texas A&M University assistant professor of chemical engineering who helped develop the screening system.

12 Feb 2010

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

Under the most recent cost-saving budget proposals, 327 adult day healthcare centers throughout California would be eliminated. Cuts could save the state $135 million in fiscal 2011, state projections show.

11 Feb 2010

Cognitive behavioral therapy effective for insomnia and chronic pain

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia significantly improved sleep for patients with chronic neck or back pain and also reduced the extent to which pain interfered with their daily functioning, according to a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

11 Feb 2010

3SBio submits application for Phase I clinical trial of NuPIAO to the Chinese SFDA

3SBio Inc., a leading biotechnology company focused on researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing biopharmaceutical products primarily in China, today announced that it has submitted its application for a Phase I clinical trial for NuPIAO to the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).

11 Feb 2010

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announces financial results for quarter and year ended December 31, 2009

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. For the three months ended December 31, 2009, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Alexion" or, the "Company") reported net product sales of Soliris® (eculizumab) of $110.6 million, reflecting strong additions of new patients, compared to $77.4 million for the same period in 2008.

11 Feb 2010

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

Massachusetts primary care physicians continue to achieve measurable improvements in important aspects of health care quality as reported by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP). Today, the organization released its sixth annual Quality Insights: Clinical Quality in Primary Care report, comparing the performance of more than 150 medical groups across the state.

11 Feb 2010

Neurotoxin study may help find new therapies to block hyperactive ion channels

There are approximately 500 species of cone snails, each producing 50 - 200 different conotoxins. A similar number of peptide toxins are produced by snakes, spiders, sea anemones, scorpions and other venomous animals. The animals use the neurotoxins to paralyze their prey.

11 Feb 2010

Silver nanoparticles in higher-power, longer-life batteries for ICDs

Diamonds and gold may make some hearts flutter on Valentine's Day, but in a University at Buffalo laboratory, silver nanoparticles are being designed to do just the opposite.

11 Feb 2010

Type-2 diabetics is associated with poor impulse control

Type-2 diabetes, an increasingly common complication of obesity, is associated with poor impulse control. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine suggest that neurological changes result in this inability to resist temptation, which may in turn exacerbate diabetes.

11 Feb 2010

Current research underway to prevent preterm births

Family history, infection and stress all may play a role in raising a woman's risk of having a premature baby - but they don't fully explain why some women give birth too soon and others don't, according to a review article published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

11 Feb 2010

Neurology researchers explore link between MS and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency

More than 55 percent of multiple sclerosis patients participating in the initial phase of the first randomized clinical study to determine if persons with MS exhibit narrowing of the extracranial veins, causing restriction of normal outflow of blood from the brain, were found to have the abnormality.

11 Feb 2010

Micromet outlines the design of registration study for blinatumomab in ALL

At its annual investor R&D Day today, Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI) outlined the design of a registration study for the Company's lead product candidate blinatumomab in acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), highlighted clinical data demonstrating the breadth of blinatumomab's activity in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and announced plans to expand clinical development of blinatumomab in the U.S.

11 Feb 2010

QRxPharma announces the initiation of second pivotal Phase 3 registration trial of MoxDuo IR

QRxPharma Limited announced today initiation of its second pivotal Phase 3 registration trial (Study 009) to evaluate analgesic efficacy and safety of MoxDuo™IR, a patented 3:2 ratio fixed dose combination of morphine plus oxycodone.

11 Feb 2010

10th Annual Spring Meeting of ESC on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals

Geneva, situated at the heart of Europe, provides a fitting setting for the 10th Annual Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Council (ESC) on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals (CCNAP), 12 - 13 March 2010, with its special theme: "Uniting to Improve Cardiovascular Practice".

11 Feb 2010

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals receives patent for low-dose quinidine formulations of Zenvia to treat PBA

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued the Company a new patent for its lead drug candidate Zenvia™ (dextromethorphan/quinidine), extending the period of patent protection in the United States into late 2025. U.S. patent number 7,659,282 titled "Pharmaceutical Compositions Comprising Dextromethorphan and Quinidine for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders" was issued on February 9, 2010. The new patent will provide AVANIR with patent protection for low-dose quinidine formulations of Zenvia used to treat pseudobulbar affect (PBA).

10 Feb 2010

Insight into mechanism H. pylori uses to evade the immune system

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the causal agent of chronic gastritis, ulcer and gastric cancer. It has the potential to persist in the human stomach for decades, sometimes causing neither harm nor clinical symptoms. Nevertheless, on some occasions, depending on the host immune system and the strain causing the infection, the outcome can be very serious. To maintain the infection, the bacterium must adapt to survive the host defences. One way to accomplish this is to sequentially change the external proteins on the bacterial surface.

10 Feb 2010

Chronic News and Research

Proving value a challenge for comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical technologies

Sales of Cobroxin exceeds XenaCare Holdings' projections for first 45 days of 2010

Second-quarter fiscal 2010 results announced by Pharmacyclics

Opinions: Rebuilding Haiti

New screening system developed to discover molecules that block HCV life cycle

Calif. budget cuts will hit adult day care centers, prison health care; Texas and Kansas weigh Medicaid cuts

Cognitive behavioral therapy effective for insomnia and chronic pain

3SBio submits application for Phase I clinical trial of NuPIAO to the Chinese SFDA

Alexion Pharmaceuticals announces financial results for quarter and year ended December 31, 2009

MHQP: Massachusetts primary care physicians achieve measurable improvements in health care quality

Neurotoxin study may help find new therapies to block hyperactive ion channels

Silver nanoparticles in higher-power, longer-life batteries for ICDs

Type-2 diabetics is associated with poor impulse control

Current research underway to prevent preterm births

Neurology researchers explore link between MS and chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency

Micromet outlines the design of registration study for blinatumomab in ALL

QRxPharma announces the initiation of second pivotal Phase 3 registration trial of MoxDuo IR

10th Annual Spring Meeting of ESC on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professionals

AVANIR Pharmaceuticals receives patent for low-dose quinidine formulations of Zenvia to treat PBA

Insight into mechanism H. pylori uses to evade the immune system

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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