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New health study reveals Ontario women less likely to receive cardiac care than men

Gender differences persist in the quality of cardiac care across Ontario, according to a health study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

10 Dec 2009

Rx In-Stream to address the unique needs of pharmaceutical industry launched

Tremor Media, the world's largest online video advertising ad network and provider of the Acudeo® video monetization platform to over 1,000 websites, today announced that it has launched Rx In-Stream, the first in-stream advertising solution created to address the unique needs of the pharmaceutical industry.

10 Dec 2009

Scientists identify potential drug development target for epilepsy seizures

A team of scientists from The University of Alabama used worms to reel in information that they hope will lead to a greater understanding of cellular mechanisms that may be exploited to treat epilepsy.

10 Dec 2009

Pharmaceutical industry to execute new strategies in the coming year

As they pop the champagne corks to celebrate New Year's Eve, drug industry executives will likely be glad to put 2009 behind them. That's because pharmaceutical companies who make top-selling drugs for heart disease, asthma, and many other conditions had a tough year in the midst of mounting market pressures and a global recession.

10 Dec 2009

Washington Post, New York Times examine PEPFAR

The Washington Post examines the Obama administration's goal "to get the 'emergency' out of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" and integrate HIV/AIDS programs more into the health infrastructure of recipient countries. A five-year strategy for PEPFAR was released last week.

9 Dec 2009

Reid to meet this afternoon with Democrats on health care reform deal

"Senate Democrats plan to hold a special caucus on health care reform at 5 p.m. Wednesday to discuss a tentative deal on how to change the bill's public insurance option," Roll Call reports. "A group of 10 Democrats — five centrists and five liberals — agreed Tuesday night to send a set of proposals to the Congressional Budget Office for an official score, but the details have yet to be presented to all 60 Members of the Democratic Conference.

9 Dec 2009

Also in global health news: Illegal drug trade in E. Africa; Somalia humanitarian crisis; alcohol, IV drug use in Russia; HIV/AIDS in China; FBOs engage in HIV fight

"[D]ozens of people" from China's Henan province who contracted HIV/AIDS from blood transfusions "demonstrated in front of the country's health ministry in Beijing" to highlight the challenges facing Chinese AIDS patients, the Irish Times reports.

9 Dec 2009

Pacific Beach BioSciences signs licensing agreement with major pharmaceutical company

Pacific Beach BioSciences, Inc. today reported that it has granted non-exclusive rights to a large pharmaceutical company for the use of one of its anti-fungal compounds required for the manufacturing of a clinical stage product.

9 Dec 2009

Drug makers attract scrutiny over cost and ads, but may benefit from overhaul

Drug makers came under scrutiny after the AARP published research recently showing their wholesale prices had increased by an average of 9.3 percent during the past year, offsetting the value of rebates the industry promised as part of a health care overhaul to help seniors pay for drugs.

9 Dec 2009

Misuse of blood thinners in dialysis patients reported

Reuters/ABC News reports on research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that examined the misuse of two blood thinners - Lovenox and Integrilin - in "about 20 percent of kidney dialysis patients who undergo a procedure to open a blocked artery [who] are given the wrong blood clot medicine, increasing the chances of significant bleeding, researchers said Tuesday.

9 Dec 2009

First Edition: December 9, 2009

Today's coverage details last night's tentative agreement struck by Senate Democratic negotiators in an effort to clear the public option impasse, and a vote on an abortion amendment.

9 Dec 2009

AHS annual meeting focuses on myeloma, says IMF

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF)—supporting research and providing education, advocacy and support for myeloma patients, families, researchers and physicians— says a large number of abstracts – nearly a quarter of the presentations submitted this year to the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) were for myeloma, with one being presented at the prestigious plenary session.

9 Dec 2009

Report on the community-acquired pneumonia drug market

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the patent expiries of three blockbuster antibiotics -- levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and piperacillin/tazobactam -- will be the primary factors contributing to a decline of more than 15 percent in the community-acquired pneumonia drug market though 2018.

9 Dec 2009

CSC's stem cell-derived motor neuron product for SMA receives FDA orphan drug designation

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) and Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (FSMA) announced today that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to MOTORGRAFT™, a stem cell-derived motor neuron product, for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

9 Dec 2009

European markets for Parkinson's disease therapeutics to reach $2.28 billion in 2015

The Parkinson's disease therapeutics market in 2008 amounted to over $1 billion in the European Union (EU), which includes total sales of carbidopa/levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors and anticholinergics used for disease symptom relief.

9 Dec 2009

Discovery of new compounds may dispel cravings of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction

Sarah Steele and Langtian "Ren" Yuan were both self-admittedly inexperienced Duke freshmen in the spring of 2006. But then they followed helpful directions of an assistant chemistry professor, added their own patience and ingenuity, and ended up identifying compounds that might allay the powerful cravings of methamphetamine and cocaine addiction.

9 Dec 2009

Smokers taking the Respiragene test try to quit smoking, reveals study

Smokers who see their own personal risk of developing lung cancer after genetic-based testing show stronger intention and take more action on quitting smoking, according to clinical trial results presented to an American Association of Cancer Research conference.

9 Dec 2009

Depression drug TC-5214 earns USF its most lucrative patent royalties to date

A depression drug created and patented by a team of University of South Florida researchers is at the center of major deal between global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC and Targacept, Inc., earning the university its potentially most lucrative patent royalties to date.

9 Dec 2009

Breakthrough findings may lead to new treatments for Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the structure of a critical protein from the Ebola virus, which, though rare, is one of the deadliest viruses on the planet killing between 50 and 90 percent of those infected.

9 Dec 2009

New guidelines on the management of antithrombotic agents for endoscopic procedures published

According to a new guideline from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) regarding the management of antithrombotic agents for endoscopy, aspirin and/or NSAIDs may be continued for all elective endoscopic procedures.

9 Dec 2009