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Common genetic variation in HLA region associated with late-onset sporadic Parkinson's disease: Research

A team of researchers has discovered new evidence that Parkinson's disease may have an infectious or autoimmune origin. "Common genetic variation in the HLA region is associated with late-onset sporadic Parkinson's disease" appears online in Nature Genetics.

16 Aug 2010

Obesity diabetes link found

Melbourne researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have found that inflammatory cells in fat tissue cause the body to become resistant to the effects of insulin – a common precursor to type II diabetes.

16 Aug 2010

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, OCNA urge FDA to allow use of Avastin

Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance today urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to continue to allow the use of the drug bevacizumab, commonly known as Avastin, for metastatic breast cancer patients, noting that it is effective for some patients and warning of a chilling effect on new drug development if approval is withdrawn.

13 Aug 2010

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

While Florida continues to add up to 300 people each month to its waiting list for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program, scores of AIDS activists, care providers and patients will gather at a protest and press briefing hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Friday, August 13th at 12:00 Noon outside the Tampa offices of United States Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL).

13 Aug 2010

Management of therapy-resistant schizophrenia

The psychotic symptoms of up to 30% of schizophrenic patients do not respond adequately to treatment with antipsychotic drugs, other than clozapine. These refractory patients are generally among the most disabled of all people with schizophrenia and require special assessment and treatment.

13 Aug 2010

U.S. FDA purchases more licenses to Simulations Plus' DDDPlus software

Simulations Plus, Inc., a leading provider of software for pharmaceutical discovery and development, today announced that it has received a purchase order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the number of licenses for the Company's DDDPlus™ simulation software.

13 Aug 2010

CeNeRx BioPharma raises $13 million through Series C financing to support TriRima Phase II trial

CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc., a clinical stage company developing and commercializing innovative treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), today announced completion of a $13 million Series C financing. Existing investors Perseus Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund, L Capital Partners and Pappas Ventures all participated in the financing. CeNeRx plans to use the proceeds to conduct a Phase II trial of its improved formulation of its novel antidepressant TriRima™.

13 Aug 2010

Medical Facilities second-quarter revenue decreases 1.9% to $51.2 million

Medical Facilities Corporation today reported its financial results for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2010.

13 Aug 2010

Achillion second-quarter net loss increases to $6.4 million

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs to combat the most challenging infectious diseases, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010. For the second quarter of 2010, the Company reported a net loss of $6.4 million, compared with a net loss of $6.1 million for the same period last year. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of June 30, 2010 were $19.5 million.

13 Aug 2010

UMass Memorial selects McKesson's CytoCare robot to automate compounding of hazardous IV drugs

UMass Memorial Medical Center in Massachusetts has selected the CytoCare™ robot from McKesson to automate the compounding of intravenous (IV) drugs. The robotic technology will enable the 830-bed facility to more safely prepare hazardous IVs, protecting both their patients and their staff from exposure risks.

13 Aug 2010

Mercator signs license agreement with MD Anderson Cancer Center and closes $2.0 million seed round

Mercator Therapeutics, the first biopharmaceutical company to use in vivo phage display technology systematically to develop novel cancer drugs, today announced the signing of a license agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the closing of a $2.0 million seed round.

13 Aug 2010

CPF urges people to consider clinical trials for pulmonary fibrosis

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF) is urging the more than 128,000 people known to suffer from the deadly lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis (PF), to consider clinical trials, including two new ones funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Clinical trials of potential drug therapies are critical to the discovery of treatments for any disease and for a disease like PF that claims as many lives each year as breast cancer with virtually no survivors, they are the likely path to answers and saved lives.

13 Aug 2010

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

The Boston Globe: "With a few computer keystrokes, Massachusetts physicians will soon be able to identify patients who travel from clinic to clinic in pursuit of potent prescription drugs that feed lethal addictions. State health regulators yesterday unanimously approved the new detection system designed to stop 'doctor shopping' by addicted patients who try to dupe doctors into prescribing narcotics. The practice, specialists said, has fueled a surge in drug-related deaths in Massachusetts" (Smith, 8/12).

13 Aug 2010

New criteria by ACR for early diagnosis, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

New criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), published in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, could prevent thousands of people from developing disabling late stage disease, by redefining how RA should be classified.Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive autoimmune inflammatory disease, primarily of the joints. If untreated, it leads to damage of bone and cartilage, joint deformities and disability. Around 350,000 people in the UK are living with RA, which affects around three times as many women as men.

13 Aug 2010

Prices drop for PBMs; Pharmacy lobby opposes survey regarding Medicaid prices

Prices are falling for major pharmacy benefit managers, such as Medco and CVS Caremark, as the firms compete for clients, but the falling rates "don't appear to be sliding into a frenzy of unreasonable pricing," The Wall Street Journal reports. "In the current 'selling season,' when PBMs look to sign customers for the following year, discounts on new contracts have deepened by one or two percentage points, on average, from a year ago.

13 Aug 2010

Study finds Olaparib can reduce tumor size in ovarian cancer women

Understanding the underlying genetic weakness of certain types of cancer may lead to targeted therapy and provide the key to effective treatment, a new study suggests. An international consortium of researchers has shown that an investigational drug, Olaparib, can reduce the size of tumors in women with advanced hereditary ovarian cancer with BRCA gene mutations.

13 Aug 2010

Statin drugs can neutralise heart disease dangers of fatty food: Study

Fast food outlets could provide statin drugs free of charge so that customers can neutralise the heart disease dangers of fatty food, researchers at Imperial College London suggest in a new study published this week.Statins reduce the amount of unhealthy "LDL" cholesterol in the blood. A wealth of trial data has proven them to be highly effective at lowering a person's heart attack risk.

13 Aug 2010

WHO releases H1N1 Emergency Committee roster

Five of the 15 experts advising the WHO on H1N1 (swine flu) had ties to the pharmaceutical industry, "including for flu vaccine research," according to the Emergency Committee members' list released by the agency Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Aug 2010

Study examines comparative value of different blood pressure lowering medications

Expensive brand-name medications to lower blood pressure are no better at preventing cardiovascular disease than older, generic diuretics, according to new long-term data from a landmark study.Paul Whelton, MB, MD, MSc, reported the results on Aug. 13 at the plenary session of the China Heart Congress and International Heart Forum in Beijing. Whelton is president and CEO of Loyola University Health System and chairman of the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heat Attack Trial (ALLHAT), which has examined the comparative value of different blood pressure-lowering medications.

13 Aug 2010

Fast food outlets can provide statin drugs to help customers neutralise heart disease: Researchers

12 Aug 2010

Drugs News and Research

Common genetic variation in HLA region associated with late-onset sporadic Parkinson's disease: Research

Obesity diabetes link found

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, OCNA urge FDA to allow use of Avastin

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

Management of therapy-resistant schizophrenia

U.S. FDA purchases more licenses to Simulations Plus' DDDPlus software

CeNeRx BioPharma raises $13 million through Series C financing to support TriRima Phase II trial

Medical Facilities second-quarter revenue decreases 1.9% to $51.2 million

Achillion second-quarter net loss increases to $6.4 million

UMass Memorial selects McKesson's CytoCare robot to automate compounding of hazardous IV drugs

Mercator signs license agreement with MD Anderson Cancer Center and closes $2.0 million seed round

CPF urges people to consider clinical trials for pulmonary fibrosis

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

New criteria by ACR for early diagnosis, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Prices drop for PBMs; Pharmacy lobby opposes survey regarding Medicaid prices

Study finds Olaparib can reduce tumor size in ovarian cancer women

Statin drugs can neutralise heart disease dangers of fatty food: Study

WHO releases H1N1 Emergency Committee roster

Study examines comparative value of different blood pressure lowering medications

Fast food outlets can provide statin drugs to help customers neutralise heart disease: Researchers

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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