Celebrex News and Research

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Celecoxib is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, acute pain, painful menstruation and menstrual symptoms, and to reduce numbers of colon and rectum polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. It is marketed by Pfizer. It has the brand name Celebrex and Celebra (in other countries) for arthritis and Onsenal for polyps. Celecoxib is available by prescription in capsule form.

Pfizer withdraws Bextra from market

Despite an expert panel stating last month that the three COX-2 drugs Vioxx, Bextra and Celebrex were safe enough to be marketed, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has this week told drug manufacturer Pfizer to remove the drug Bextra from the market and a statement by Pfizer confirms that the European Union regulators have done the same.

7 Apr 2005

Patch therapy provides similar pain relief as oral medications for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) knee pain

Researchers from the Altoona Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center have announced that data presented at the 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society suggest that patch therapy provides similar pain relief as oral medications for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) knee pain.

3 Apr 2005

Battle in the Senate over FDA

In the congressional battle over the safety of America's prescription drugs, two University of Washington experts with opposing views have been enlisted into the fray.

7 Mar 2005

FDA wants full authority to control labeling for drugs

Sandra L. Kweder, FDA's deputy director for new drugs, wants Congress to issue the FDA with the authority to control labeling for drugs to stop the prolonged disputes on this matter.

2 Mar 2005

Celebrex provides a two pronged attack against prostate cancer

Celecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor with promising anti-cancer properties, has now been found to attack prostate cancer cells in a second way that differs from Vioxx (rofecoxib), another anti-inflammatory drug that also inhibits COX-2.

1 Mar 2005

Aggressive industry promotion of prescription drugs may be a danger to patients and doctors

Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra hit the market in the late 1990s & 2001, as a breakthrough class of drugs for arthritis that would help avoid ulcers and other digestive ailments linked to medicines such as aspirin.

28 Feb 2005

Paradox suggests reasons why COX-2 inhibitors hurt and help

Laboratory studies at Johns Hopkins have revealed that certain products of the enzymes COX-1 and COX-2 can both protect and damage the brain. The findings, published in the February 2005 issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry, offer tantalizing clues to why drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex, which block COX-2, can ease arthritis but potentially harm the heart and brain.

14 Feb 2005

Painful surgical adhesions may be preventable by taking the COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex

Adhesions – bands of scar tissue that bind together two internal body surfaces – develop in 55 percent to more than 90 percent of patients undergoing surgery, depending on the type of operation. They are part of normal healing, but when surfaces fuse together that shouldn't, serious pain and complications can result.

26 Jan 2005

Vioxx could have caused 140000 excess cases of coronary heart disease in the USA since 1999

The arthritis drug Vioxx could have caused an estimated 88 000–140 000 excess cases of serious coronary heart disease in the USA since its launch in 1999, concludes a study published online by The Lancet.

24 Jan 2005

More studies on risks and benefits of COX-2 inhibitors

A group of studies published in the January 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine add to the growing body of medical literature about the cardiovascular risks that may be associated with the class of pain-relieving drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors.

24 Jan 2005

Physicians should avoid prescribing Bextra altogether

Physicians should avoid prescribing Bextra altogether, or use it only as a drug of last resort, says a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues in an editorial published on-line Jan. 17 in Circulation, a publication of the American Heart Association.

19 Jan 2005

Further evidence for the role of cyclooxygenases (COX) in heart-disease risk

In two articles, published in Circulation, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine provide further evidence for the role of cyclooxygenases (COX) in heart-disease risk.

17 Jan 2005

Trial of naproxen and celecoxib suspended

Use of study drugs in a large, federally funded Alzheimer prevention trial has been suspended following a decision by the study's leadership on Dec. 17, 2004.

9 Jan 2005

Zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers

Cancer researchers at Jefferson Medical College and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that zinc treatment may help prevent esophageal and oral cancers in those individuals at high risk.

9 Jan 2005

Fallout from Vioxx and Celebrex market recall challenges industry

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries face further marketing and sales challenges in 2005 as the fallout from the Vioxx and Celebrex market recall and warning make it increasingly challenging for companies across the industry to reach physicians and consumers with effective campaigns without the distractions of the unfavorable press these recent events have generated.

7 Jan 2005