Placebo News and Research

RSS

Tetrahydrobiopterin plays a key role in arterial health of women

Researchers studying why arteries stiffen in postmenopausal women have found a specific chemical cofactor that dramatically improves vascular function.

15 Feb 2012

Antibiotic prescriptions do not reduce sinus symptoms

Antibiotics that doctors typically prescribe for sinus infections do not reduce symptoms any better than an inactive placebo, according to investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

15 Feb 2012

FDA accepts Gilead's Truvada sNDA and grants Priority Review

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) and granted a six-month Priority Review for once-daily Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection among uninfected adults.

14 Feb 2012

Trevena commences TRV130 Phase I clinical trial for severe post-operative pain

Trevena, Inc., the leader in discovery and development of G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) biased ligands, announced today the initiation of a Phase I clinical trial of TRV130, a novel candidate designed for the intravenous treatment of moderate-to-severe post-operative pain.

13 Feb 2012

Regeneron reports total revenues of $123.0M for fourth quarter 2011

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 and provided an update on development programs.

13 Feb 2012

Santarus initiates enrollment in UCERIS Phase IIIb study for ulcerative colitis

Santarus, Inc. today announced that it has begun patient enrollment in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIIb clinical study with the investigational drug UCERIS (budesonide) tablets 9 mg to evaluate whether there is an incremental benefit when UCERIS 9 mg is added to current oral aminosalicylate (5-ASA) therapy for patients with mild or moderate active ulcerative colitis who are not adequately controlled on background 5-ASA therapy.

13 Feb 2012

Pioglitazone can prevent long term effects of maternal obesity on offspring

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting -, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication Pioglitazone can prevent the long term effects of maternal obesity on offspring.

13 Feb 2012

Tai chi could benefit Parkinson’s disease patients

A new study found that a six-month program of Tai Chi exercises helped people with various stages of Parkinson's disease improve stability, their ability to walk and reduced the frequency of falls.

12 Feb 2012

PAP improves attention, anxiety and QOL in children with OSAS

Children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea had substantial improvements in attention, anxiety and quality of life after treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP)—a nighttime therapy in which a machine delivers a stream of air through a mask into the nose.

10 Feb 2012

FDA panel votes against Amgen’s Xgeva in prostate cancer

An FDA panel of oncologists has voted against a new use for Amgen's Xgeva in prostate cancer on Wednesday, saying the drug's ability to slow the spread of the disease did not translate into meaningful benefits for patients. Xgeva is already approved to prevent fractures in cancerous bones, and for osteoporosis, in a different formulation called Prolia.

9 Feb 2012

Researchers examine effectiveness of Omega 3 in treating psychiatric symptoms

Researchers at Zucker Hillside Hospital's Recognition and Prevention (RAP) Program who have worked with teenagers at risk for serious mental illness for the past decade are now studying the effectiveness of Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oil) for treating psychiatric symptoms.

9 Feb 2012

Genzyme announces four-year data from eliglustat tartrate phase 2 trial on Gaucher disease type 1

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced today four-year follow-up data from patients enrolled in the phase 2 clinical trial for its investigational oral therapy for Gaucher disease type 1 known as eliglustat tartrate.

8 Feb 2012

Exemestane has negative effect on postmenopausal women's bone health

Exemestane, a drug used in the prevention of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, has a negative effect on bone density and structure in these women, despite calcium and vitamin D supplements.

8 Feb 2012

GSK launches Medivir's Xerclear for OTC use in Europe

Medivir AB, the research-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases, announces that its unique cold sore product Xerclear, which Medivir developed in-house, is now being launched for over-the-counter (OTC) use by its partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Europe.

8 Feb 2012

FDA accepts Genentech's pertuzumab BLA and grants Priority Review

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company's Biologics License Application for pertuzumab and granted Priority Review.

8 Feb 2012

Forum for Collaborative HIV Research suggests new approach for conducting Phase 3 HIV clinical trials

As the war on HIV/AIDS begins its fourth decade, medical researchers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patient advocates and government regulators face a new and unexpected scientific challenge: how to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of promising new antiretroviral drugs when the two traditional study designs – the superiority trial and the non-inferiority trial – are no longer useful in showing improvements in both "treatment experienced" patients and those who have never received drug therapy (treatment-naive patients).

7 Feb 2012

FDA approves ivermectin lotion for treatment of head lice

Sanofi announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sklice® (ivermectin) lotion, 0.5% for the topical treatment of head lice, in patients 6 months of age and older. Effective and well-tolerated, Sklice Lotion treats lice in most patients with a single 10-minute application of the lotion, without nit combing.

7 Feb 2012

FDA reviews Amgen’s prostate cancer drug Xgeva

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers say that an Amgen drug slowed the spread of cancer to the bone in men with hard-to-treat prostate cancer, though the drug did not extend life and carried significant side effects.

7 Feb 2012

Merck completes two suvorexant Phase III trials on insomnia

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today provided an update on the development program for suvorexant, the company's investigational orexin receptor antagonist, which, if approved, will be a new mechanism for the treatment of insomnia.

7 Feb 2012

EpiCept seeks FDA Fast Track designation for AmiKet to treat CIPN

EpiCept Corporation today announced that it has filed for Fast Track designation for AmiKet(amitriptyline 4%, ketamine 2% cream) for the treatment for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

7 Feb 2012