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Herbal dietary supplements may contain toxic metals

Millions of people are taking herbs and other plant-based dietary supplements to improve their health, but they have precious little information on the actual effectiveness or potential ill effects of these products. That's the topic of an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News weekly newsmagazine.

22 Jul 2010

Elan total revenue increases 10% to $579.4 million for first half of 2010

Elan Corporation, plc today reported its second quarter and first half 2010 financial results.

22 Jul 2010

Eli Lilly CEO says U.S. drugmakers' biggest challenge is sustaining innovation

USA Today/Indianapolis Star: Drugmakers are facing an array of challenges, like lawsuits and patent losses, but also new opportunities including global growth and an expected surge in the number of U.S. residents with health insurance. Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter comments in a Q&A: "The biggest challenge facing the industry is to be able to sustain the flow of innovative medicines from our pipelines that can effectively compete against the generic versions of our own products" (Chu, 7/21).

22 Jul 2010

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

The VA Maryland Health Care System participated in a landmark national study of more than 10,251 high-risk diabetic adults across the nation, testing if three complementary treatment strategies can reduce the high rate of heart disease and stroke associated with type 2 diabetes and if these treatment strategies can also slow the progression of eye disease associated with diabetes, the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans.

22 Jul 2010

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believe they may have found a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that ultimately results in blindness. One of the more common retinal degenerative diseases, RP is caused by the death of photoreceptor cells and affects 1 in 4,000 people in the United States. RP typically manifests in young adulthood as night blindness or a loss of peripheral vision and in many cases progresses to legal blindness by age 40.

22 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010: Advocates march in Vienna for human rights of HIV/AIDS patients

Thousands of HIV/AIDS advocates, gathered for the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, "marched through Vienna's city centre on Tuesday evening, demanding more respect for human rights in the fight against HIV," Agence France-Presse reports.

22 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: PMTCT, treating children, male circumcision; National prevention programs; IDUs

"In parts of Africa, only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV receive the HIV prevention drug nevirapine," according to a study published Wednesday, HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report reports.

22 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: U.S. and AIDS; Mass. example on health reform?; Unions and health costs

George W. Bush made an impressive commitment to the international fight against AIDS when he formed the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program. … Thanks to these efforts — and similar initiatives ... the number of African patients with access to AIDS drugs jumped tenfold from 2003 to 2008. Since 2004, the AIDS-related mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped 18 percent. Yet President Obama added only $366 million to the program this year — well below the $1 billion per year he promised to add when he was on the campaign trail (Desmond Tutu, 7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Avastin – breast cancer drug, fails to pass the FDA advisory panel vote on efficacy

According to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee’s (The Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee, or ODAC) recommendation this Tuesday, the marketing approval of the popular breast cancer drug, Avastin or Bevacizumab should be withdrawn.

21 Jul 2010

New insights on early pathogenic events, strategies for preventing HIV infection

In a plenary lecture at the 18th International AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., will present new insights on the early and complex pathogenic events that occur rapidly-within hours to days-following sexual exposure to HIV.

21 Jul 2010

Report: Older gay, bisexual men enrolled in long-term study of HIV used illicit drugs infrequently

Most older gay and bisexual men enrolled in a long-term study of HIV used recreational drugs infrequently over a 10-year period, report University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers at the XVIII International AIDS Conference.

21 Jul 2010

Health Canada grants Osiris Priority Review for Prochymal NDS

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that the Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate of Health Canada has completed its initial evaluation and accepted for full review the company's New Drug Submission (NDS) of Prochymal (remestemcel-L), an adult stem cell therapy for the treatment of graft vs. host disease (GvHD). Based on a separate review of summary clinical data, Health Canada has notified Osiris that the application has been granted Priority Review, shortening the examination period from 300 to 180 days.

21 Jul 2010

Clinical research updates on interventional cardiology techniques that affect patient care

TCT 2010 will provide significant clinical research updates to technologies and practices in interventional cardiology that will directly affect patient care.

21 Jul 2010

Experts urge global leaders to commit $20 billion to Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Scientists, practitioners and advocates from around the world today made a united call for global leaders to commit at least $US20 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at its upcoming replenishment meeting in October. Because the level of replenishment committed at the meeting will determine the Global Fund's grant levels for 2011-2013, the meeting is widely viewed as the critical next step towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

21 Jul 2010

Early HIV treatment can save more children's lives

Efforts worldwide on access to treatment for children with HIV have reached a new milestone, with 355 000 children receiving life-saving HIV treatment at the end of 2009, compared to 276 000 at the end of 2008; but many more lives could be saved if more infants started on medication earlier according to new recommendations from WHO.

21 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010: Study finds microbicide containing HIV drug lowers infection risk in women by 39%

A microbicide gel containing Gilead's HIV drug tenofovir used by women before and after sex has been shown to reduce their risk of HIV infection by nearly 40%, according to a study unveiled at the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, Reuters reports

21 Jul 2010

Major turning point in antiepileptic drug testing, development

New York University researchers revealed that data from previously completed withdrawal to monotherapy studies for antiepileptic drugs provide a valid control for future studies, obviating the need for placebo/pseudo-placebo trials to demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs as monotherapy. Results of this study are now available online in Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy.

21 Jul 2010

Company creates cottages for aging, disabled relatives; Report examines rising costs for elderly health care

"On Monday, N2Care, a company formed by a Methodist minister in Salem, Va., showed off its first MedCottage, a 12-by-24-foot prototype filled with biometric technology that would allow a family and health-care providers to monitor the condition of an aging or disabled relative. … [T]he Virginia General Assembly this year passed legislation, HB1307, that supersedes local zoning laws and allows families to install such a dwelling on their property with a doctor's order."

21 Jul 2010

California companies are developing new medicines for diabetes: Report

Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies based in California are researching and developing 58 new medicines for diabetes, a chronic disease that afflicts 220 million patients worldwide, including 23.6 million Americans, a new report shows.

21 Jul 2010

UMDNJ identifies direct link between phthalates in plastics and inflammation in newborns

Researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have identified a direct link between phthalates, the substances that make plastics more pliable and durable, and inflammation in newborns - and are encouraging more limited use of the plasticizers. Their paper, "Inflammatory Effects of Phthalates in Neonatal Neutrophils," appears in the August 2010 edition of the journal Pediatric Research.

21 Jul 2010

Drugs News and Research

Herbal dietary supplements may contain toxic metals

Elan total revenue increases 10% to $579.4 million for first half of 2010

Eli Lilly CEO says U.S. drugmakers' biggest challenge is sustaining innovation

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

Valproic acid halts vision loss in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

AIDS 2010: Advocates march in Vienna for human rights of HIV/AIDS patients

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: PMTCT, treating children, male circumcision; National prevention programs; IDUs

Today's OpEds: U.S. and AIDS; Mass. example on health reform?; Unions and health costs

Avastin – breast cancer drug, fails to pass the FDA advisory panel vote on efficacy

New insights on early pathogenic events, strategies for preventing HIV infection

Report: Older gay, bisexual men enrolled in long-term study of HIV used illicit drugs infrequently

Health Canada grants Osiris Priority Review for Prochymal NDS

Clinical research updates on interventional cardiology techniques that affect patient care

Experts urge global leaders to commit $20 billion to Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Early HIV treatment can save more children's lives

AIDS 2010: Study finds microbicide containing HIV drug lowers infection risk in women by 39%

Major turning point in antiepileptic drug testing, development

Company creates cottages for aging, disabled relatives; Report examines rising costs for elderly health care

California companies are developing new medicines for diabetes: Report

UMDNJ identifies direct link between phthalates in plastics and inflammation in newborns

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