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SBA provision, antitrust exemption and FTC involvement need to be addressed in Senate, says PIA

Inclusion of a provision in the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) allowing insurance agents to sell health policies offered by health insurance exchanges is positive, but other issues remain to be addressed in the Senate, according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).

10 Nov 2009

Phase 2a clinical trial in nonsense mutation hemophilia A and hemophilia B initiated

PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC) today announced it is expanding the development of ataluren, an investigational new drug, to a third indication with the initiation of a Phase 2a clinical trial in nonsense mutation hemophilia A (nmHA) and hemophilia B (nmHB).

26 Oct 2009

Congress reauthorizes Ryan White Care Act - funding for HIV/AIDS

The New York Times: "The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation allocating billions of dollars in federal money for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. By a vote of 408-9, the House reauthorized the Ryan White Care Act, first enacted in 1990 and named for the Indiana teenager who died of AIDS. The Senate has already passed the bill by unanimous consent."

24 Oct 2009

Data on ULORIC treatment for gout flares presented at the 73rd American College of Rheumatology meeting

Data presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology highlight effects of baseline characteristics on achievement of serum uric acid (sUA) levels to <6.0 mg/dL and the frequency of flares with ULORIC- (febuxostat) treatment.

20 Oct 2009

CONFIRMS trial demonstrates efficacy of ULORIC for treating hyperuricemia in patients with gout

19 Oct 2009

NIH awards UNC researcher $507,000 for rotavirus vaccine study

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher has been awarded a four-year, $507,000 grant from the National Institute of Health's Fogarty International Center to study the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in the Central American nation of Nicaragua.

14 Oct 2009

Grunenthal to distribute Labopharm's tramadol-acetaminophen formulation in EU market

Labopharm Inc. today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Labopharm Europe Limited, has completed a distribution and supply agreement with Grunenthal GmbH for its twice-daily tramadol acetaminophen formulation for a number of countries in Europe.

8 Oct 2009

Researchers engineer antidotes for blood-thinner aptamers

Imagine a surgical patient on a blood-thinning drug who starts bleeding more than expected, and an antidote that works immediately - because the blood thinner and antidote were designed to work together. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have engineered a way to do this for an entire, versatile class of drugs called aptamers and published their findings in Nature Medicine.

4 Oct 2009

Rough rhetoric pervades health care debate in the House

Democrats and Republicans in the House continue to assail each other as the debate on health care proposals progresses.

3 Oct 2009

Multi-topic, hour-long series hosted by a cardiac surgeon premiers today

"The Dr. Oz Show," a high octane, multi-topic hour-long series hosted by trusted health expert, best-selling author, and world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, premieres in syndication today (check local listings). Episodes airing during its premiere week feature two of the recently announced "Core Team Oz" guest contributors, fashion and style expert Tim Gunn ("Project Runway") and fitness specialist Bob Harper ("The Biggest Loser"). Also debuting this week as a member of Core Team Oz is "America's vet," Dr. Marty Becker, the popular author and regular veterinary contributor on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."

14 Sep 2009

Prolifiq's sales communication software for Life Sciences companies

Today at the annual RAPS (Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society) conference in booth #607, Prolifiq announced software that allows Life Sciences companies to comply with an increasingly complex web of regulations governing sales communication. Prolifiq for Life Sciences--designed for medical device, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies--is used to organize, send and track approved digital content to health care practitioners.

14 Sep 2009

Insecticide-treated bed nets prevent infant deaths from malaria

Giving insecticide-treated bed nets to nearly 18,000 mothers at prenatal clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo prevented an estimated 414 infant deaths from malaria, a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers concludes.

3 Sep 2009

InterMed Discovery acquires microbial Omega-3 fatty acid production strains from the University of Saarland

InterMed Discovery (IMD), a world class natural product lead-discovery company, today announced the acquisition of unique microbial Omega-3 fatty acid production strains and related know-how from the University of Saarland.

20 Aug 2009

Grassley: Senate will not include end of life care provision, controversy continues

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, says a Senate health bill will not include end-of-life care consultation, as the dispute over the provision continues to swirl.

16 Aug 2009

Therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest is cost-effective

A brain-preserving cooling treatment called therapeutic hypothermia is a cost-effective way to improve outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which claims the lives of more than 300,000 people each year in the United States and leaves thousands of others neurologically devastated.

6 Aug 2009

Leptin influences baseline dopamine levels and motivation to eat

As we all know from experience, people eat not only because they are hungry, but also because the food just simply tastes too good to pass up. Now, a new study in the August 6th Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, helps to explain how leptin, a hormone produced by fat tissue, influences that motivation to eat.

5 Aug 2009

Cooling unconscious cardiac arrest survivors increases survival, cost effective

Cooling unconscious cardiac arrest survivors can increase survival and has a cost effectiveness comparable to other widely accepted treatments in modern health care, researchers report in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

4 Aug 2009

No recess rest in health reform ad wars

Major groups are promising that the August recess will be filled with advertising wars trying to manage the message of the health care reform debate, Politico reports.

4 Aug 2009

Muscular dystrophy diagnosis delayed in boys

Boys show signs of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) for 2 ½ years before they obtain a diagnosis and disease-specific treatment, about the same length of delay children have endured for the past 20 years despite advances in genetic testing and treatment.

11 May 2009

Schering-Plough's investigational oral thrombin receptor antagonist meets primary endpoint in a newly published study

Results of a Schering-Plough Corporation Phase II trial of SCH 530348, a novel oral thrombin receptor antagonist (TRA), were published today in The Lancet and demonstrated that the investigational antiplatelet compound met its primary endpoints of safety and tolerability.

12 Mar 2009