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Gleevec receives FDA priority review for gastrointestinal stromal tumors after surgery

Novartis has announced that Gleevec (imatinib mesylate) tablets, (known as Glivec (imatinib) outside the US, Canada and Israel), has been granted priority review status by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first therapy to be reviewed for use after surgery in kit-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

27 Aug 2008

FDA grants CLIA waiver to American Bio Medica for drug test

American Bio Medica Corporation has announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted CLIA waived status to the Company's Rapid TOX point of collection drug test product line.

From Medica Corporation 27 Aug 2008

UT Southwestern discovery may lead to new drug-abuse treatments

Increased connections among brain cells caused by excessive drug use may represent the body's defense mechanism to combat addiction and related behaviors, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Aug 2008

Time is right to make cancer control a development priority

For public health, the complexity of cancer control has increased enormously following the shift of the disease burden from wealthy to less affluent countries. Cancer causes around 7.9 million deaths worldwide each year. Of these deaths, more than 72% are now occurring in low- and middle-income countries. This is a shocking statistic, with huge implications for human suffering, health systems, health budgets, and the drive to reduce poverty.

27 Aug 2008

Potential new targets for antidepressants

The news about antidepressant medications over the past several years has been mixed. The bad news from large multicenter studies such as STAR*D is that current antidepressant medications are effective, but not as effective as one might hope. Thus, there is a significant need for new treatment mechanisms for depression. On that front, there has been mixed news as well.

27 Aug 2008

Democratic National Committee approves platform with health care language; Obama campaigns in Iowa

The Democratic National Committee on Monday during the Democratic National Convention voted to adopt a non-binding party platform that includes language about health care, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports. According to the AP/Newsday, the platform in large part follows recommendations from presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) but moves "beyond his proposals in calling for guaranteed health care for all" (Woodward, AP/Long Island Newsday, 8/26).

26 Aug 2008

Indian physicians concerned about malaria drug resistance, recommend combination therapy

India has reported an increase in drug-resistant malaria cases this year, leading physicians to express concern and recommend that the disease be treated with a combination of drugs, India's Daily News and Analysis reports.

26 Aug 2008

HIV-positive women in Swaziland protest Royal Family's use of funds

More than 1,500 mostly HIV-positive women on Thursday protested against a foreign shopping trip taken by eight of King Mswati's 13 wives in what appeared to be the first demonstration in the country by HIV-positive people questioning how money should be spent, AFP/Khaleej Times reports.

26 Aug 2008

Namibia to launch program that will address HIV/AIDS among workers at sea

A program that will provide employees in Namibia who work at sea with information on HIV/AIDS and focus on antiretroviral treatment is in an advanced stage of development, the New Era/AllAfrica.com reports.

26 Aug 2008

HIV/AIDS groups express concern about potential for new antiretroviral advertising to 'scare off' patients

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined a new trend for drugmakers marketing HIV/AIDS treatments to release ads that "tak[e] aim at rival HIV drugs, hinting at side effects and other drawbacks."

26 Aug 2008

Aggressive treatment regimens can successfully treat XDR-TB, MDR-TB

Aggressive treatment regimens successfully can treat nearly half of patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and can help prevent multi-drug resistant TB from developing into XDR-TB, according to a study conducted in prisons in Tomsk, Russia, and published Monday in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports. XDR-TB is resistant to the two most potent first-line treatments and at least two of the classes of second-line drugs.

26 Aug 2008

Lack of oversight by CMS to ensure private Medicare drug plans have anti-fraud programs in place 'risks significant use of funds,' according to GAO

CMS has not conducted audits to ensure that Medicare prescription drug plans have implemented programs to prevent fraud as required by law, a lack of oversight that "risks significant misuse of funds in this $39 billion program," according to a Government Accountability Office report scheduled for release on Monday, the AP/Orlando Sentinel reports. For the report, GAO examined five unnamed plans to determine whether they met requirements to participate in the Medicare prescription benefit.

26 Aug 2008

Galapagos acquires structure-based drug discovery from Sareum

Galapagos NV and Sareum Holdings plc has announced today that Galapagos has acquired Sareum's assets in drug discovery services, for a total cash consideration of EUR 695,000 (£553,000). These assets will position Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI strongly in the growing field of structure-based drug discovery.

26 Aug 2008

Normalizing tumor vessels to improve chemotherapy drug delivery

Chemotherapy drugs often never reach the tumors they're intended to treat, and radiation therapy is not always effective, because the blood vessels feeding the tumors are abnormal-"leaky and twisty" in the words of the late Judah Folkman, MD, founder of the Vascular Biology program at Children's Hospital Boston.

25 Aug 2008

Breakthrough discovery may lead to new drugs to fight bird flu, other epidemics

Researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin have reported a discovery that could help scientists develop drugs to fight the much-feared bird flu and other virulent strains of influenza.

25 Aug 2008

Century old rule of chemistry overturned - major implications for drug delivery

A new study by research chemists at the University of Warwick has challenged a century old rule of pharmacology that defined how quickly key chemicals can pass across cell walls. The new observations of the Warwick researchers suggest that the real transport rates could be up to a hundred times slower than predicted by the century old "Overton's Rule". This could have major implications for the development and testing of many future drugs.

25 Aug 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation blasts GlaxoSmithKline print advertisements that promote fear of HIV treatment

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is blasting British multi-national drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for a recent series of direct-to-consumer print advertisements that, under the guise of patient education, capitalize on patients' fears of HIV treatment.

25 Aug 2008

NicOx updates on PF-03187207 and research collaboration with Pfizer

NicOx S.A. has announced the results of a dose-ranging phase 2 study conducted with PF‑03187207 in Japanese patients with glaucoma by its partner Pfizer Inc. PF-03187207 is a nitric oxide-donating prostaglandin analog. The study was designed to compare the safety and efficacy of several doses of PF-03187207 to Xalatan (latanoprost) and enrolled 112 Japanese patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

25 Aug 2008

Study reveals how blood flow force protects against atherosclerosis

Machines on cell surfaces, mechanical and lifeless as bed springs, protect blood vessels by responding to blood flow force, according to research published today in the Journal of Cell Biology. By sensing and reacting to force, such machines interfere with inflammatory pathways central to atherosclerosis, the cause of clogged arteries that lead to heart attack and stroke, the authors said. The next set of studies, already underway, seeks to "tweak" the process with the goal of designing a new class of therapies.

25 Aug 2008