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Viewpoints: Health care 'price gouging;' Health law pushing employers to cut workers' hours; Medicare spending must be tamed

Steven Brill's cover story on the Looking Glass world of healthcare pricing may be the longest article Time Magazine has ever published, but more importantly, it is a fresh sign that the medical-industrial complex should be worried as the deadline for launching Obamacare rolls closer.

26 Feb 2013

Opioids are main contributor to fatal overdoses

The number of deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2010 rose for the 11th consecutive year, show data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

25 Feb 2013

GLP-1 may increase risk of hospitalization for people with acute pancreatitis

People who take the newest class of diabetes drugs to control blood sugar are twice as likely as those on other forms of sugar-control medication to be hospitalized with pancreatitis, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

25 Feb 2013

Omalizumab fast, safe and well-tolerated in teens and adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria

An international team of researchers has found that a once-a-month, high-dose injection of a commonly used asthma drug is highly effective in treating teens and adults chronically afflicted with hives and severe, itchy rash. The drug, omalizumab, was tested on 323 people at 55 medical centers for whom standard antihistamine therapy failed to quell their underlying, allergy-like reaction, known as chronic idiopathic urticaria or chronic spontaneous urticaria.

25 Feb 2013

Novel anti-cancer drug conjugates to be evaluated by Ablynx and Spirogen

Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] and Spirogen Ltd. announce a research collaboration to evaluate the potential of a novel anti-cancer drug conjugate combining Spirogen's proprietary cytotoxic drugs, pyrrolobenzodiazepines (PBD), and associated linker technology, with Nanobodies® generated using Ablynx’s proprietary technology platform.

25 Feb 2013

Study shows how pseudogenes can regulate activity of PTEN cancer-related gene

Small stretches of DNA in the human genome are known as "pseudogenes" because, while their sequences are nearly identical to those of various genes, they have long been thought to be non-coding "junk" DNA.

25 Feb 2013

FDA approves Amneal’s generic Suboxone to treat opioid drug dependence

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC, the 7th largest generic drug manufacturer in the U.S. market, has received U.S. FDA approval for one of the first generic versions of Suboxone sublingual tablets for maintenance treatment of opioid drug dependence.

25 Feb 2013

Researchers identify new pseudogene that regulates tumour-suppressing PTEN

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a new so-called pseudogene that regulates the tumour-suppressing PTEN gene. They hope that this pseudogene will be able to control PTEN to reverse the tumour process, make the cancer tumour more sensitive to chemotherapy and to prevent the development of resistance.

25 Feb 2013

Systemic delivery of antisense oligonucleotides neutralizes mutant RNA toxicity in mice with DM1

By targeting the specific mutation that causes the hereditary neuromuscular disease myotonic dystrophy, it is possible to neutralize the mutant RNA toxicity and minimize or even eliminate the disabling symptoms of the disease.

25 Feb 2013

Orphan, CU to develop enzyme replacement therapy for CBS-deficient homocystinuria

The University of Colorado (CU) has signed exclusive, worldwide licensing and collaboration agreements with rare-disease research-and-development firm Orphan Technologies Ltd to develop an enzyme replacement therapy for Cystathionine Beta-Synthase (CBS) -deficient homocystinuria, a rare, inherited metabolic disease that is often fatal at a young age.

25 Feb 2013

Researchers discover new way to accelerate mass spectrometer that identifies proteins

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a new way to accelerate a workhorse instrument that identifies proteins. The high-speed technique could help diagnose cancer sooner and point to new drugs for treating a wide range of conditions.

25 Feb 2013

New drug proves to be effective in preventing spread of different flu strains

The new drug has been proven to be effective in preventing the spread of different strains of influenza in laboratory models - including resistant strains of the virus.

24 Feb 2013

New, effective and less toxic therapeutic option for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer

Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, now have a new, effective and less toxic therapeutic option.

24 Feb 2013

WHO must play 'assertive central role' in fighting distribution of substandard, fake medicines

This Lancet editorial notes the release of an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that gathers information on "the global threat of falsified or substandard drugs" and provides recommendations "to mitigate this public health problem."

23 Feb 2013

Genentech receives FDA approval for Kadcyla to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine), a new therapy for patients with HER2-positive, late-stage (metastatic) breast cancer.

23 Feb 2013

Widespread ART coverage can reduce risk of HIV infection, increase life expectancy of general population, studies show

"An intensive campaign to combat HIV/AIDS with costly antiretroviral drugs in rural South Africa has increased life expectancy by more than 11 years and significantly reduced the risk of infection for healthy individuals, according to new research," the Los Angeles Times reports.

23 Feb 2013

Viewpoints: Other GOP governors should note what Scott wrangled out of HHS; Curbs on painkillers need to be tougher

Those governors who earlier embraced ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion - here's looking at you, Jan Brewer - might be feeling a little cheated. If only they had held out a bit longer, they might have been able to obtain something from the Obama administration in return, as Florida's Rick Scott purports to have done.

23 Feb 2013

FDA approves Lupin Pharmaceuticals' SUPRAX for Oral Suspension

Pharma major, Lupin Ltd., announced today that its subsidiary, Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (collectively, Lupin) has received approval for SUPRAX (Cefixime) for Oral Suspension, 500 mg/5mL from the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

23 Feb 2013

New drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains

CSIRO scientists have helped to design a new drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains – as published in Science today.

22 Feb 2013

Feds outline what insurers must cover

The final rule on essential health benefits, issued yesterday, defines what must be covered in health plans sold in online marketplaces beginning this fall, including prescription benefits and mental health services, and prohibits discrimination based on age or pre-existing medical conditions.

22 Feb 2013

Drugs News and Research

Viewpoints: Health care 'price gouging;' Health law pushing employers to cut workers' hours; Medicare spending must be tamed

Opioids are main contributor to fatal overdoses

GLP-1 may increase risk of hospitalization for people with acute pancreatitis

Omalizumab fast, safe and well-tolerated in teens and adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria

Novel anti-cancer drug conjugates to be evaluated by Ablynx and Spirogen

Study shows how pseudogenes can regulate activity of PTEN cancer-related gene

FDA approves Amneal’s generic Suboxone to treat opioid drug dependence

Researchers identify new pseudogene that regulates tumour-suppressing PTEN

Systemic delivery of antisense oligonucleotides neutralizes mutant RNA toxicity in mice with DM1

Orphan, CU to develop enzyme replacement therapy for CBS-deficient homocystinuria

Researchers discover new way to accelerate mass spectrometer that identifies proteins

New drug proves to be effective in preventing spread of different flu strains

New, effective and less toxic therapeutic option for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer

WHO must play 'assertive central role' in fighting distribution of substandard, fake medicines

Genentech receives FDA approval for Kadcyla to treat HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

Widespread ART coverage can reduce risk of HIV infection, increase life expectancy of general population, studies show

Viewpoints: Other GOP governors should note what Scott wrangled out of HHS; Curbs on painkillers need to be tougher

FDA approves Lupin Pharmaceuticals' SUPRAX for Oral Suspension

New drug to safeguard against epidemic and pandemic flu strains

Feds outline what insurers must cover

Event guide: 4th Extra-Hepatic Lipid-Based Nanoparticles Delivery Summit eBook

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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