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Lotus fiscal year revenue increases 28.7% to $72.7 million for 2010

Lotus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a fast-growing, profitable developer, manufacturer and seller of medicine and drugs in the People's Republic of China, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

29 Mar 2011

Study finds 'white coat' hypertension in patients during 24-hour ambulatory monitoring

A third of patients thought to have resistant hypertension had "white coat" hypertension during 24-hour ambulatory monitoring, in a large study reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

29 Mar 2011

Atypical antipsychotics is a safe mental health medication for nursing home residents

Conventional antipsychotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines often administered to nursing home residents are no safer than atypical antipsychotics and may carry increased risks, according to an article in CMAJ.

29 Mar 2011

CINJ scientist receives University of Texas award for cancer therapeutic research

In recognition of efforts made in cancer therapeutic research, Joseph R. Bertino, MD, chief scientific officer at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, has been honored with The Jeffrey A. Gottlieb Memorial Award sponsored by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

29 Mar 2011

Scientists develop new model that can predict early adverse drug reactions

All medications have side-effects from common aspirin to herbal remedies and from standard anticancer drugs to experimental immunosuppressants. However, predicting important side effects, serious adverse drug reactions, ADRs, is with current understanding almost impossible.

29 Mar 2011

CPRIT awards $36.7 million grant to UT Southwestern for cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has awarded more than $36.7 million in new grants to investigators at UT Southwestern Medical Center to support cancer-related projects and to recruit pre-eminent cancer investigators.

29 Mar 2011

Drugs for prevention of breast cancer

According to an international panel of cancer experts, women at high risk of developing breast cancer should be given preventative drugs. The experts write in the Lancet Oncology adding, drugs such as tamoxifen could reduce the chances of developing breast cancer. They suggest that this would be something similar to prescribing statins to patients at risk of heart disease. But tamoxifen has been linked with womb cancer, blood clots and stroke.

28 Mar 2011

Medicaid realities: More harm than good (Op-ed)

On January 7, 2011, 33 governors and governors- elect sent a letter to the White House and Congressional leaders detailing how new federal Medicaid mandates will drown their states in more debt.

28 Mar 2011

Alternative anti-inflammatory approach to epilepsy management

If common anticonvulsant drugs fail to manage epileptic seizures, then perhaps the anti-inflammatory route is the way to go. That's according to Mattia Maroso and colleagues from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, who found that giving mice repeated doses of a specific enzyme inhibitor significantly reduced both chronic epileptic activity and acute seizures.

28 Mar 2011

Nurse staffing levels, safety net status both factors in patient outcomes

A new study finds that higher nurse staffing levels can lead to better patient outcomes. However, the study also found this to not always be the case at safety net hospitals. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Mirror reports on hospitals' efforts to reduce readmissions. And, in other news, new research has found that patients are less likely to fill prescriptions when doctors specify brand names instead of allowing generic substitutions.

28 Mar 2011

Bionovo initiates enrollment in Menerba Phase 1 clinical trial for menopausal hot flushes

Bionovo, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of safe and effective treatments for women's health and cancer, today announced that enrollment has started for the Phase 1 clinical trial testing the safety of two doses of Menerba in postmenopausal women for the treatment of menopausal hot flushes (study # MF101-008), also known as "menopausal hot flashes."

28 Mar 2011

Metagenics announces 2011 schedule for educational programs in lifestyle medicine

Metagenics Inc., a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company dedicated to reducing chronic illness and improving health, announced today the 2011 schedule for educational programs in lifestyle medicine as well as for certification programs for its FirstLine Therapy, a turnkey, lifestyle medicine program.

28 Mar 2011

Drugs can prevent risk of breast cancer in women, experts say

Drugs could be used to prevent breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease in the same way that statins are used for heart disease if trials looking at ways of predicting risk are successful, according to an international panel of cancer experts.

28 Mar 2011

Research: Written action plan with prescriptions can improve asthma control in children

It sounds unbelievably simple but it's true - a written action plan for asthma treatment, attached to the drug prescription, improves asthma control in children. "Acute care visits for asthma often signal a management failure," said Dr. Francine Ducharme, of the University of Montreal's Department of Pediatrics and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre.

28 Mar 2011

ALCMI launches new CASTLE study to treat lung cancer

The Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute today announced the enrollment of the initial subjects into its inaugural clinical trial known as CASTLE, targeting 250 subjects over two years among academic and community medical centers in the United States.

28 Mar 2011

University of Aberdeen, TPP enter agreement to develop novel future medicines

TPP Global Development Ltd has announced an agreement with the University of Aberdeen to collaborate on the development of novel pre-clinical intellectual property originated within the University.

28 Mar 2011

Molecular pharmacologist receives AACR Award for cancer research

Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., will receive the Eighth Annual AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research. Horwitz conducted pioneering research by discovering the mechanism of action of the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel, which prompted the development of this drug as an important therapy for many common solid tumors, including ovarian, breast, and lung carcinomas.

28 Mar 2011

CHPA issues statement in response to anti-consumer law on cold and allergy drugs

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association today issued the following statement in response to passage of Senate Bill 437: "Legislation sponsored by Senator Percy Malone and now signed into law places new, onerous burdens on Arkansas families and makes it more difficult for those with common colds and allergies, even basic aches and pains, to get the medications they need. Unfortunately, Senate Bill 437 falls short of the common-sense approach Arkansans expect from their leaders."

28 Mar 2011

New discovery provides insight into complex Rad50 molecular motor function

Over the last years, two teams of researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have steadily built a model of how a powerful DNA repair complex works. Now, their latest discovery provides revolutionary insights into the way the molecular motor inside the complex functions - findings they say may have implications for treatment of disorders ranging from cancer to cystic fibrosis.

28 Mar 2011

FDA approves ipilimumab for metastatic melanoma treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today its approval of a new treatment for advanced melanoma, the deadliest and most difficult-to-treat form of skin cancer.

28 Mar 2011