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Illicit drug users may face increased risk of microbial infections

Illicit drug users are at increased risk of being exposed to microbial pathogens and are more susceptible to serious infections say physicians writing in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

10 Mar 2011

Vertex to present telaprevir and VX-222 study results against hepatitis C at EASL annual meeting

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced today that 15 abstracts on the company's medicines in development for hepatitis C, including its protease inhibitor, telaprevir, and polymerase inhibitor, VX-222, were accepted for presentation at the 46th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Berlin, Germany, March 30 to April 3, 2011.

9 Mar 2011

Merck to present VICTRELIS phase III study data against HCV at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced that several new data analyses from Phase III studies of VICTRELIS, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, will be presented at The International Liver CongressTM / 46th European Association for the Study of the Liver annual meeting.

9 Mar 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

The Importance Of Investing In Adolescent Girls: A Lancet editorial examines the challenges adolescent girls living in developing countries face and the work of the U.N. Adolescent Girls Task Force to help young women overcome these barriers.

5 Mar 2011

Roche, OraSure receive FDA 510(k) clearance for Oral Fluid Drug Testing System

OraSure Technologies, Inc. and Roche announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the Companies 510(k) clearance on four homogeneous fully automated oral fluid drugs of abuse assays developed to be used exclusively as part of OraSure's Intercept Oral Fluid Drug Testing System.

3 Mar 2011

Two genes linked to binge drinking

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have identified two genes associated with binge drinking that may open doors to new, more effective treatments for excessive alcohol drinking. The scientists found that manipulating two receptors in the brain, GABA receptors and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), "caused profound reduction" of binge drinking for two weeks in rodents that had been bred and trained to drink excessively. The study was published online the week of Feb. 28 in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

1 Mar 2011

New treatment using naltrexone implants can reduce heroin dependency: Study

A new treatment using naltrexone implants could lead to a significant reduction in heroin dependency. According to the researchers responsible for a recent Norwegian study, this should have major implications for the treatment options offered to heroin-dependent patients.

16 Feb 2011

AP: Crooks find Medicare Part D an easy target

Crooks are taking advantage of lax oversight in Medicare's Part D prescription drug program to obtain highly addictive drugs including oxycodone, Ritalin, and methadone, according to results of a federal probe.

14 Feb 2011

Mallinckrodt receives FDA approval for Fentanyl Transdermal System patch ANDA

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that Mallinckrodt Inc., a Covidien company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for its Fentanyl Transdermal System (FTS) patch. Covidien is the largest supplier of controlled pain medications in the United States based on number of prescriptions.

10 Feb 2011

Reuters examines how Russia's 'drug problem' has 'become an AIDS problem'

Reuters, in a piece exploring the issue of heroin use in Russia describes how the country's "drug problem has now become an AIDS problem."

28 Jan 2011

Quest Diagnostics releases new data on oral fluid testing system

OraSure Technologies, the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, announced today that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated released new data indicating that oral fluid revealed approximately five times more heroin use in the general U.S. workforce than previously believed.

From Quest Diagnostics 27 Jan 2011

Sucampo, Takeda initiate dosing in third lubiprostone phase 3 trial for opioid-induced bowel dysfunction

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. today announced the dosing of the first patient in the third phase 3 clinical trial of lubiprostone for the treatment of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OBD) in subjects with chronic, non-cancer pain, excluding those taking methadone. The primary endpoint is an overall responder rate based on the change from baseline in the reported frequency of spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs).

7 Jan 2011

Unique vaccine produces long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice

Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Cornell University have produced a long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a unique vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.

5 Jan 2011

Researchers develop unique vaccine that produces long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice

5 Jan 2011

Lightlake acquires US Patent for method of terminating methadone maintenance

Lightlake Therapeutics Inc has acquired US Patent 5,587,381, entitled: 'Method for terminating methadone maintenance through extinction of the opiate-taking responses', using an opioid antagonist as treatment. The Patent also covers treatment for addiction to other legally available opioids and to stimulant drugs such as Cocaine and Amphetamines.

17 Dec 2010

Using buprenorphine to treat opioid-dependent pregnant women may result in healthier babies

Using buprenorphine instead of methadone — the current standard of care — to treat opioid-dependent pregnant women may result in healthier babies, suggests new findings from an international team led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published in the Dec. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Dec 2010

Opinions: Obama's Global Fund pledge; harm reduction in Iran; HIV prevention; African development

There are some encouraging signs in the epic battle against AIDS and HIV infections. But those bright spots dim considerably in the face of the fact that about 7,100 people a day become infected.

30 Nov 2010

Merck announces initial results from ISENTRESS Phase III study in HIV-1

Merck today reported initial results from the Phase III study investigating the efficacy and safety of a treatment regimen including ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) Tablets once daily in treatment-naïve adult patients infected with HIV-1. ISENTRESS is indicated in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced adults.

29 Nov 2010

Opiate substitution treatment reduces mortality risk by 85%

Giving people opiate substitution treatment to help with their drug addiction can lead to a 85% plus chance of reducing mortality, according to a new study published on bmj.com today.

27 Oct 2010

Reuters examines how harm reduction policies in Switzerland could serve as model for reducing spread of HIV/AIDS among IDUs

Switzerland's innovative policy of providing drug addicts with free methadone and clean needles has greatly reduced deaths while cutting crime rates and should serve as a global model, health experts said on Monday, Reuters reports in an article that examines the outcomes of drug policy reform in the country