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Quit-smoking drug Chantix effective in cocaine and alcohol addiction

Varenicline is unique among anti-addiction medications in the way it affects the brain. Like nicotine, varenicline activates a specific receptor for a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, but it does so less intensely than the active ingredient of cigarettes does. The net effect is that the drug seems to help by both cutting cravings and making the formerly desired drug less pleasant — without making non-drug pleasures less intense. Alcohol works on the same chemical receptors in the brain as nicotine, and it may enhance the pleasurable effects of smoking.

18 Feb 2012

Medicare Part D beneficiaries flock to lower cost Part D plans with competitive pharmacy networks

New 2012 Medicare Part D data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) show the growing popularity among Medicare Part D beneficiaries in choosing plans featuring lower cost preferred pharmacy network options.

18 Feb 2012

CMS urged to limit definition of research for reporting under Physician Payment Sunshine Act

Expressing concerns that many physicians will be discouraged from conducting medical research because of cumbersome reporting requirements and potential mischaracterizations of their income, the Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) is urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to adopt a limited definition of research for purposes of reporting under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act.

18 Feb 2012

NASDAQ notifies CytRx of non-compliance with minimum bid price requirement

CytRx Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in oncology, today announced that, as anticipated, on February 15, 2012, the Company was notified by The NASDAQ Stock Market that because the Company has not regained compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), the Company's common stock would be subject to delisting from The NASDAQ Capital Market unless the Company requests a hearing before a NASDAQ Hearings Panel.

18 Feb 2012

PCMA launches That's What PBMs Do campaign in Maryland

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) has launched a new ad campaign in Maryland that highlights the core value proposition of pharmacy benefit managers.

18 Feb 2012

Aptuit sells Clinical Trials Supply business to Catalent Pharma Solutions

Aptuit announces the completion of the sale of the Clinical Trials Supply business to Catalent Pharma Solutions on February 17, 2012. Timothy C. Tyson, Chairman and CEO of Aptuit, LLC stated that Aptuit will continue to deliver scientific and service excellence to provide integrated capabilities for the early to mid phase drug development markets.

18 Feb 2012

Meda's 2011 group net sales increase 18% to SEK 12,856 million

MEDA: Group net sales reached SEK 12,856 million (11,571). At fixed currency rates, sales increased 18%.

18 Feb 2012

Semantics in Healthcare and Life Sciences Conference to be held Feb. 22-24

Web scientist and Research Associate Professor Joanne Luciano in the Tetherless World Constellation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is co-chairing the 2012 Semantics in Healthcare and Life Sciences (CSHALS) conference Feb 22-24 in Boston, Mass.

18 Feb 2012

Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, Pfizer sign framework agreement

Pfizer Inc. and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical, a leading pharmaceutical company in China, today signed a framework agreement, advancing their previously announced memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint venture to develop, manufacture and commercialize off-patent pharmaceutical products in China and global markets.

18 Feb 2012

Par Pharmaceutical acquires Edict

Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of privately-held Edict Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, an India-based developer and manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals.

18 Feb 2012

Scientists produce mathematical model of calcium activity within atrial heart cell

What we perceive as the beating of our heart is actually the co-ordinated action of more than a billion muscle cells. Most of the time, only the muscle cells from the larger heart chambers contract and relax. But when the heart needs to work harder it relies on back-up from the atrial muscle cells deep within the smaller chambers (atria) of the heart.

18 Feb 2012

Nano-enabled intranasal formulation of teriparatide can treat osteoporosis

The University of Nottingham spin-out company, Critical Pharmaceuticals, has announced a -545,000 collaboration with the University to develop a nano-enabled intranasal formulation of teriparatide for the treatment of osteoporosis.

18 Feb 2012

Alexza prices underwritten public offering of 44,000,000 shares of common stock and warrants

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or the Company, today announced that it has priced its previously announced underwritten public offering of 44,000,000 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 44,000,000 shares of common stock.

17 Feb 2012

BYETTA-basal insulin combination therapy receives EMA CHMP positive opinion

Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion in the European Union for the expanded use of BYETTA (exenatide twice-daily) as an add-on therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or Actos (pioglitazone), for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults who have not achieved adequate glycemic control with these agents.

17 Feb 2012

New potential strategy for KRAS-mutant colon cancers

Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center have identified a new potential strategy for treating colon tumors driven by mutations in the KRAS gene, which usually resist both conventional and targeted treatments.

17 Feb 2012

New preclinical data from Regulus' miR-21 study on kidney fibrosis

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, today announced that new preclinical data investigating the role of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in the treatment of kidney fibrosis has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

17 Feb 2012