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Some cancer patients go without drugs because of high cost

New targeted pills can have dramatic effects on cancer, not only driving the disease into remission but also freeing patients from hours of uncomfortable and boring chemotherapy treatments. Up to 10 percent of patients, however, are not filling their prescriptions for the pills--and cost appears to be a factor, according to a new report.

21 May 2011

Kenyan HIV/AIDS advocates ask government to boost health funding

IRIN/PlusNews reports that hundreds of Kenyan HIV/AIDS advocates took to the streets of Nairobi on Wednesday "to demand that the government meet its commitment to increase annual health and HIV funding."

21 May 2011

New study raises doubts about benefits of ezetimibe in patients suffering from high LDL cholesterol

More than 42 million Americans suffer from high cholesterol, and 63 million more have borderline high cholesterol. Over time, high levels of LDL cholesterol, often called "bad cholesterol," build up along the walls of arteries and blood vessels, a process called atherosclerosis, which can lead to a high risk of heart disease, stroke and heart attack.

21 May 2011

Edurant receives FDA approval for treatment of HIV-1 infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Edurant (rilpivirine) in combination with other antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adults who have never taken HIV therapy (treatment-naive).

21 May 2011

Local production of pharmaceuticals could improve access in developing countries, U.N. report says

A U.N. Conference on Trade and Development report issued last week suggested "[l]ocal production of pharmaceuticals in some poor African and Asian countries, such as Ethiopia, Uganda, and Bangladesh, has the potential to improve access to essential drugs for many of the one billion people who live in the world's least developed countries," BMJ News writes.

21 May 2011

Researchers uncover new details of unusual biological mechanism in brains of diverse species

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have uncovered new details of an unusual biological mechanism in the brains of diverse species that not only helps regulate how their brains develop, but also how they function later in life. The discovery could lead to new biomarkers for specific neurological diseases in humans and, possibly, the development of drugs to cure them.

21 May 2011

Adjusting life goals can help family caregivers prevent depressive symptoms: Study

Caring for a family member with a mental illness can be a taxing experience marked by personal sacrifices and psychological problems.

21 May 2011

Pediatric pain experts discuss safety, efficacy of pain medications in children

Can we be certain that pain medications considered safe for adults, based on extensive clinical data and experience, are equally safe for use in young children? Pediatric pain experts discussed this question today in a panel session at the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, annual scientific meeting and agreed more short term and long-term clinical data are needed to provide assurances about the safety and efficacy of several pain medications in children.

21 May 2011

Curcumin compound can help head and neck cancer cells overcome resistance to chemotherapy drugs

A primary reason that head and neck cancer treatments fail is the tumor cells become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have found that a compound derived from the Indian spice curcumin can help cells overcome that resistance.

20 May 2011

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Just like intelligence agents watching for the real terrorists threatening to attack, monitoring healthcare worker adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols via hand-washing squads in hospitals can go a long way to stop outbreaks of the opportunistic C. diff bacteria, says Irena Kenneley, an infection prevention and control expert and assistant professor of nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

20 May 2011

Berkeley Lab scientists reveal how protein-making machine bends without breaking

It sounds like hype from a late-night infomercial: It can twist and bend without breaking! And wait, there's more: It could someday help you fend off disease!

20 May 2011

International team identifies key protein in development of drug-resistant leukemia

Now an international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and joined by scientists of the Freiburg excellence cluster BIOSS - Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, has identified a protein called BCL6 which plays a key role in the development of drug-resistance in leukemia.

20 May 2011

Cholesterol drug may help treat mitochondrial diseases

A human drug that both prevents and cures kidney failure in mice sheds light on disabling human mitochondrial disorders, and may represent a potential treatment in people with such illnesses.

20 May 2011

Abbott appreciates FDA Advisory Committee recommendations to retain Trilipix indication for mixed dyslipidemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today held an Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee to review the results of the ACCORD Lipid study as they relate to the use of fenofibric acid (sold as Trilipix in the United States) in combination with a statin in patients with mixed dyslipidemia and at high risk of heart disease.

20 May 2011

Study: Costs get in way of cancer patients refilling their prescriptions

About 10 percent of cancer patients aren't taking the oral medicines they need either because of the cost or they feel they are already taking too many other drugs, according to a study released by health-care consulting company Avalere Health late Wednesday.

20 May 2011

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

For the past several months I have been meeting with a small group of senators from both parties, informally known as the Gang of Six, that was designed to force the idle — not gridlocked — Senate, and then the House and the president, to enact a long-term deficit-reduction package.

20 May 2011

OPINION: Economists helping to deliver reliable data about what development aid works

"[F]inally, we're getting some reliable data suggesting how to" help people in developing countries because of economists, who "provide answers that are rigorously field-tested, akin to the way drugs are tested in randomized controlled trials, yielding results that are particularly credible and persuasive," Nicholas Kristof writes in his New York Times column.

20 May 2011

Medical food resolves metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors

Researchers at the University of Florida and Metagenics Inc. today announced that a program consisting of a breakthrough medical food combined with a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

19 May 2011

PolyMedix's PMX-30063 compound mitigates ulcerative mucositis in pre-clinical studies

PolyMedix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat patients with acute infectious diseases and cardiovascular disorders, announced today that its lead defensin-mimetic antibiotic compound, PMX-30063, when administered topically as an oral rinse, has shown activity against oral mucositis in an animal study.

19 May 2011

ShangPharma first quarter net revenues increase 25.6% to $24.8 million

ShangPharma Corporation, a leading China-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development outsourcing company, today announced its financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

19 May 2011

Drugs News and Research

Some cancer patients go without drugs because of high cost

Kenyan HIV/AIDS advocates ask government to boost health funding

New study raises doubts about benefits of ezetimibe in patients suffering from high LDL cholesterol

Edurant receives FDA approval for treatment of HIV-1 infection

Local production of pharmaceuticals could improve access in developing countries, U.N. report says

Researchers uncover new details of unusual biological mechanism in brains of diverse species

Adjusting life goals can help family caregivers prevent depressive symptoms: Study

Pediatric pain experts discuss safety, efficacy of pain medications in children

Curcumin compound can help head and neck cancer cells overcome resistance to chemotherapy drugs

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Berkeley Lab scientists reveal how protein-making machine bends without breaking

International team identifies key protein in development of drug-resistant leukemia

Cholesterol drug may help treat mitochondrial diseases

Abbott appreciates FDA Advisory Committee recommendations to retain Trilipix indication for mixed dyslipidemia

Study: Costs get in way of cancer patients refilling their prescriptions

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

OPINION: Economists helping to deliver reliable data about what development aid works

Medical food resolves metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors

PolyMedix's PMX-30063 compound mitigates ulcerative mucositis in pre-clinical studies

ShangPharma first quarter net revenues increase 25.6% to $24.8 million

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