Pharmaceuticals News and Research

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Swing state highlights: Medicare steals spotlights in congressional campaign ads, debates

KHN's Sarah Barr samples political coverage each week from swing states to see how health policy developments, and other political issues, are playing.

19 Oct 2012

Islamic Azad University develops new medicated gum for motion sickness

A new prototype for medicated chewing gum has been developed for motion sickness that may offer many advantages over conventional oral solid dosage forms. About 33 percent of people are susceptible to motion sickness in mild circumstances and 66 percent are affected in more severe conditions.

19 Oct 2012

Quinic acid derivative shows promise for treating radiation exposure

A quinic acid derivative, known as KZ-41, increases 30-day survival threefold compared with placebo when given to rats 24 hours after exposure to high levels of radiation.

17 Oct 2012

Bayer’s riociguat Phase III trial data on pulmonary hypertension to be presented at ACCP meeting

Bayer HealthCare announced today that data on its investigational pulmonary hypertension compound riociguat (BAY 63-2521) will be presented in a scientific forum at the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) annual meeting October 20 – 25, in Atlanta, GA.

17 Oct 2012

Panelists discuss global health law, innovation, access, justice

Intellectual Property Watch reports on a roundtable on global health law, innovation, access and justice, hosted last week by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Georgetown Law School.

17 Oct 2012

FDA accepts A.P. Pharma’s resubmission of NDA for APF530

A.P. Pharma, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Company's resubmission of its New Drug Application (NDA) for APF530.

17 Oct 2012

Novel drug increases survival in animal models exposed to high-dose radiation

A novel drug that mimics a naturally occurring molecule found in coffee and blueberries has been developed to treat radiation exposure. Charles R. Yates, Pharm.D., Ph.D., and colleagues Duane Miller, Ph.D., and Waleed Gaber, Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Baylor College of Medicine, show that application of this drug, starting 24 hours after radiation exposure, increases survival in animal models by three-fold compared to placebo.

17 Oct 2012

Benzocaine oral strip immediately relieves pain from burns

A dissolvable oral strip has been developed to immediately relieve pain from burns caused by ingestion of hot foods and liquids, such as coffee, pizza, and soup. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 14 - 18.

17 Oct 2012

BioLineRx completes pre-clinical development of BL-8020 for HCV

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today that it has successfully completed the pre-clinical development of BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and plans to commence a Phase I/II safety and efficacy study for BL-8020 in Europe during the first quarter of 2013.

17 Oct 2012

Hillenbrand enters definitive agreement to acquire Coperion

Hillenbrand, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Coperion Capital, a portfolio company of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, for an estimated purchase price of €408 million ($530 million at current exchange rates), which includes the assumption of an estimated €76 million of net debt and €100 million pension liability.

16 Oct 2012

Physicians urged to think twice before they prescribe compounded drugs

The recent outbreak of meningitis in the US-and the subsequent deaths of 15 individuals-has renewed scrutiny on the contemporary practice of pharmacy compounding. The risks to patients, and associated liability risk to prescribing physicians, largely outweigh the benefits when the practice goes beyond the traditional, extemporaneous role, according to Sarah Sellers from q-Vigilance LLC and Wulf Utian from Case Western Reserve University in the US. Sellers and Utian's opinion piece appears online in the journal Drugs, published by Adis.

16 Oct 2012

FTC votes to approve Watson's acquisition of Actavis

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has voted to approve Watson's acquisition of the Actavis group of companies.

16 Oct 2012

Therapeutic HPV16 and HPV18 vaccine ‘may eliminate infection’

A candidate vaccine against human papillomavirus serotypes 16 and 18 appears to induce robust immune responses to antigens, potentially leading to the elimination of virus-infected cells and regression of dysplasia, say US investigators.

15 Oct 2012

Civitas to present CVT-301 Phase 1 study results at Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Conference

Civitas Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held pharmaceutical company developing transformative therapeutics using the ARCUS respiratory delivery platform, announced today that the Company will make its first public presentation at the Sixth Annual Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Conference, sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, to be held on October 24th in New York City.

15 Oct 2012

Enrollment complete in Idera's IMO-3100 Phase 2 trial for psoriasis

Idera Pharmaceuticals today announced that it had completed patient enrollment in its randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial of IMO-3100 in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. IMO-3100 is an antagonist of specific Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) that the Company is developing for the treatment of psoriasis and other autoimmune diseases.

15 Oct 2012

Maryland professor receives 2012 Distinguished Service Award from AAPS

Larry Augsburger, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, has received the 2012 Distinguished Service Award of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), one of the highest honors bestowed by the group of 12,000 members in more than 70 countries.

15 Oct 2012

Database of drug-induced liver injury now available from NIH

A free source of evidence-based information for health care professionals and for researchers studying liver injury associated with prescription and over-the-counter drugs, herbals, and dietary supplements is now available from the National Institutes of Health. Researchers and health care professionals can use the LiverTox database to identify basic and clinical research questions to be answered and to chart optimal ways to diagnose and control drug-induced liver injury.

15 Oct 2012

AAPS recognizes top scientists in pharmaceutical sciences

During the Opening Session of the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, AAPS President David Y. Mitchell, Ph.D., presented the following ground-breaking researchers with awards commemorating their contributions to the pharmaceutical sciences:

15 Oct 2012

Indonesia issues order to override patents on 7 HIV, hepatitis drugs

"Indonesia's government has quietly issued an order to override the patents on seven important medicines used to treat people with HIV and hepatitis B and allow cheap versions to be made by local drug companies," Guardian Health Editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

15 Oct 2012

Tanzania investigating circulation of fake HIV drugs, stops local ARV production

BBC News reports on an investigation into the circulation of fake HIV drugs in Tanzania, writing, "Analysts say there is concern about the quality of locally made drugs given widespread corruption in political circles in the East Africa nation."

15 Oct 2012