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Anti-inflammatory prescription drug reduces the risk of common skin cancer in humans

A widely-available anti-inflammatory prescription drug can reduce the risk of a common skin cancer in humans, according to a researcher at Stanford's School of Medicine.

5 Jan 2010

ART publishes impressive data on its bioresorbable stent

Arterial Remodeling Technologies (“ART”) announced today that it has disclosed impressive in vivo and in vitro data related to its bioresorbable stent platform—data that validates the Company’s approach to simultaneously balance biocompatibility, biomechanics and bioresorption in a bioresorbable PLA (polylactic acid) stent without altering healing by drug elution from the stent platform.

5 Jan 2010

Use of botulinum type A toxins may offer cost efficient alternative to serotonin reuptake inhibitors

According to an article in the January 2010 edition of Drugs In Dermatology (abstract available at http://jddonline.com ), the use of botulinum type A toxins such as Botox and Dysport may offer a cost efficient alternative to the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

5 Jan 2010

Majority of Medicaid patients on antipsychotic drugs do not undergo metabolic tests, says study

Despite government warnings and professional recommendations about diabetes risks associated with second-generation antipsychotic drugs, fewer than one-third of Medicaid patients who are treated with these medications undergo tests of blood glucose or lipid levels, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Jan 2010

Research shows licorice root might be effective in fighting antibiotic-resistant infections

A team of scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch and Shriners Hospitals for Children show how a compound from licorice root (glycyrrhizin from Glycyrrhiza glabra) might be an effective tool in battling life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections resulting from severe burns.

5 Jan 2010

NPR examines future of U.S. global AIDS strategy

NPR's "All Things Considered" examines the Obama administration's global HIV/AIDS policy. "Instead of relying on one program, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric] Goosby says the U.S. has a new five-year strategy that would help low and middle income countries build their own health care systems that incorporate international health programs," according to NPR.

5 Jan 2010

New York Times examines U.S. H1N1 reponse

As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. continues to wane, the New York Times reflects on how federal officials handled the pandemic and other contributing factors.

5 Jan 2010

AP series examines worldwide impact of drug resistance

The Associated Press reports on how the misuse of drugs worldwide has contributed to drug-resistant diseases in a series of articles following a six-month investigation by the news service.

5 Jan 2010

Peginterferon alpha-2a yields better results in treating patients with chronic hepatitis C

In patients with chronic hepatitis C, treatment with peginterferon alpha-2a (PegIFNα2a) plus ribavirin (RBV) better suppresses the virus to undetectable levels in the blood than treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b (PegIFNα2b) plus RBV, according to two new head-to-head studies in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.

5 Jan 2010

FDA approves generic donepezil hydrochloride orally disintegrating tablets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic versions of Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride) orally disintegrating tablets on Dec. 11. Donepezil hydrochloride is indicated for the treatment of dementia related to Alzheimer's disease.

5 Jan 2010

Montana high court allows physician-assisted suicide

The Associated Press/NPR reports: "The Montana Supreme Court said Thursday that nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide, making Montana the third state that will allow the procedure. Patients and doctors had been waiting for the state's high court to step in after a lower court decided a year ago that constitutional rights to privacy and dignity protect the right to die. The Montana Supreme Court opinion will now give doctors in the state the freedom to prescribe the necessary drugs to mentally competent, terminally ill patients without fear of being prosecuted, advocates said" (1/2).

5 Jan 2010

Positive results from Pearl Therapeutics' PT005 Phase 2a trial for COPD

Pearl Therapeutics Inc., a company developing high-quality combination therapies for the treatment of highly prevalent chronic respiratory diseases, today announced positive results from its first clinical trial in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

5 Jan 2010

A 'cocktail' to kill cancerous tumors

A team of researchers in California and Massachusetts has developed a "cocktail" of different nanometer-sized particles that work in concert within the bloodstream to locate, adhere to and kill cancerous tumors.

5 Jan 2010

Boston Scientific commences enrollment in its TAXUS Liberte Stent System study

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced that it has enrolled the first patient in its TAXUS Liberte post-approval study. The study is designed to evaluate real-world clinical outcomes data for the TAXUS® Liberte® Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in combination with a dual antiplatelet therapy drug regimen that includes aspirin and Effient®, a new antiplatelet medication. Co-sponsors of the study include Eli Lilly and Company and Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., manufacturers of Effient, which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

4 Jan 2010

U.S. encounter with swine flu highlights health system weaknesses

As the number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases in the U.S. continues to wane, the New York Times reflects on how federal officials handled the pandemic and other factors that helped the situation. "The outbreak highlighted many national weaknesses: old, slow vaccine technology; too much reliance on foreign vaccine factories; some major hospitals pushed to their limits by a relatively mild epidemic," the newspaper writes.

4 Jan 2010

Scientists uncover an important link between inflammation and breast cancer stem cells

Scientists at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered an important link between inflammation and breast cancer stem cells that suggests a new way to target cells that are resistant to current treatments.

4 Jan 2010

CBI signs definitive share purchase agreement to acquire GL Biochem

Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. (“CBI”) is pleased to announced it has entered into a revised and binding definitive share purchase agreement to acquire the parent of Shanghai-based GL

4 Jan 2010

FDA grants Priority Review designation for InterMune's NDA for pirfenidone

InterMune, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review and granted Priority Review designation for the company's New Drug Application (NDA) for pirfenidone for the treatment of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

4 Jan 2010

ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals submits a NDA for its vinorelbine injectable emulsion

ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its product candidate ANX-530 (vinorelbine injectable emulsion).

4 Jan 2010

Rally for passage of the Alcohol-Related Services Act

To advocate for the passage of AB 1019, the Alcohol-Related Services Act - Authored by Assembly Member Jim Beall (D-San Jose), the bill creates the Alcohol-Related Services Program within the California Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs.

4 Jan 2010