Drugs News and Research

RSS

New type of chemistry promises less expensive drugs

With a newly discovered method of assembling organic molecules, a team of Princeton University chemists may have found a way to sidestep many of the expensive and hazardous barriers that stand in the way of drug development.

3 Apr 2007

New blood thinner thrombin-receptor antagonist may work without bleeding risk

When studying a new blood thinner, one of the first signs the drug is working is seeing a slight increase in minor bleeding, nose bleeds and bruising, an inconvenient side effect of preventing the blood clots that are the leading cause of heart attack and stroke.

3 Apr 2007

Body uses a 'dual key' system to secure immune system

"Dual key" activation, in which two people must act in concert to launch a weapon, is often installed to safeguard highly destructive arms.

2 Apr 2007

Effect of Torcetrapib on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis

Investigators report that torcetrapib, a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol), did not slow the progression of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries as measured using an ultrasound probe (IVUS).

2 Apr 2007

Addition of torcetrapib to statin therapy has no benefit for atherosclerosis progression

For some patients with high cholesterol, even the most aggressive treatment with statin drugs fails to prevent coronary artery disease.

2 Apr 2007

Adding estradiol to a polymer-free rapamycin-eluting stent is not associated with any measurable benefit

Patients admitted to the hospital with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are often treated with a catheter-based procedure known as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), during which a stent is inserted into an occluded or narrowed coronary artery to restore blood flow to and from the heart.

2 Apr 2007

Xenotransplantation - what are the barriers?

Given the huge shortage of donor organs, researchers have been trying to find ways to transplant animal organs across different species (known as "xenotransplantation"), with the eventual aim of transplanting animal organs into humans.

2 Apr 2007

Synthesis, characterization, DNA binding and in vivo activity of Ru(II)/Pt(II) complexes

Chemists and biologists at Virginia Tech continuing to design light-activated molecular systems to attack cancer cells have introduced a DNA targeting component.

2 Apr 2007

Validation of an LED array for use in DNA photocleavage assays

Biology and chemistry researchers from Virginia Tech are creating molecular complexes to bind to and disrupt the DNA of diseased tissues, such as tumors or viruses.

2 Apr 2007

Costs due to complications from preterm birth are staggering

In Canada, outlays for specialized care of surviving preterm infants are estimated to be almost $2 billion per year.

2 Apr 2007

Immunity to cancer stem cells may help protect people with a precancerous condition from developing the full-blown disease

Although stem cells hold incredible promise in the fight against certain diseases, in cancer they're anything but helpful. In fact, mounting evidence is showing that a tumor's growth and spread may depend on "cancer stem cells," which comprise only a very small subset of the tumor.

2 Apr 2007

Takeda acquires rights for drug to treat cervical dysplasia, HPV

Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda on Friday announced that it has acquired from 3M the rights for a drug, called R-851, to treat cervical dysplasia and "high-risk" human papillomavirus infection, Reuters reports.

2 Apr 2007

HIV in Asia set to explode

The number of HIV-positive people in Asia could more than double to 20 million during the next five years unless funding levels increase and governments respond more effectively to the epidemic, officials from the Commission on AIDS in Asia said on Friday at a two-day Southeast Asia sub-regional workshop in Manila, the Philippines, the AP/ABCNews reports.

2 Apr 2007

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief making significant contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic

...but it needs to strengthen its prevention efforts and develop programs that ensure long-term sustainability in focus countries, according to a report released Friday by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, the Washington Post reports

2 Apr 2007

Lesotho struggles to contain spread of tuberculosis

Lesotho is "struggling to contain" the spread of tuberculosis in the face of its HIV/AIDS epidemic, IRIN News reports. In 2006, the country reported 12,000 new TB cases, but TB expert Peter Saranchuk of Medecins Sans Frontieres said the actual number of cases likely is much higher.

2 Apr 2007

Stark introduces universal health insurance bill

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a bill that would seek to provide health insurance to all U.S. residents through Medicare and employer-sponsored coverage, the Oakland Tribune reports.

2 Apr 2007

Breakthrough research finds genes which may help smoking cessation

Scientists supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, have for the first time identified genes that might increase a person's ability to abstain from smoking.

2 Apr 2007

SCHIP program needs substantial work

When given health insurance through the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP), teens see their doctors more often, racial disparities are eliminated and more preventive care is received.

2 Apr 2007

Efficacy of Ugandan HIV prevention programs decreasing

The efficacy of Uganda's HIV prevention programs is decreasing because a new generation of young people are no longer receiving the messages of fidelity that helped curb the country's HIV epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Post reports.

2 Apr 2007

About 50% of people fail to take medication as directed

USA Today on Thursday examined how multiple studies have shown that only about half of people with chronic conditions in the U.S. and other developed countries continue to take medication as directed.

2 Apr 2007