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Estrogen receptor beta inactivates critical genes, arrests cancer cell growth

Bionovo, today announced the publication of a study demonstrating that ERb causes cancer cell growth arrest by inactivating critical genes and enzymes responsible for cell growth. These results provide evidence that drugs that stimulate the production of or activate ERb are potential new therapies to prevent breast cancer.

9 Dec 2010

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

Los Angeles Times: Three pharmaceutical firms — Roxane, Abbott Laboratories and B. Braun Medical — "agreed to pay more than $421 million to settle claims of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid — the latest in a string of large healthcare fraud settlements announced by the Justice Department. The drug companies charged one set of prices to doctors and pharmacies but reported another set of inflated figures that were used as benchmarks by government insurers reimbursing healthcare providers, authorities said" (Zajac, 12/8).

9 Dec 2010

e-cigarettes spark debate in U.S.

Electronic cigarettes have been seen as a tobacco product but not as drugs. The US Food and Drug Administration had appealed to the court to treat these cigarettes as drugs but the court says this is an oversight. The FDA cited five e-cigarette distributors for poor manufacturing practices and falsely claiming that the products help people stop smoking.

8 Dec 2010

Momenta prices underwritten public offering

Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the characterization and engineering of complex drugs, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares of its common stock at $14.35 per share. The total proceeds, before expenses, to Momenta will be approximately $57.4 million. The offering is expected to close on December 13, 2010, subject to customary closing conditions.

8 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more detail on the deal reached to avoid a scheduled cut in physician's Medicare pay.

8 Dec 2010

Lung transplant saves economist from near-lethal bout of swine flu

According to the critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital who treated him, Allen Bagents, 24, of Arlington, Va., is the least likely person anyone ever expects to get sick, let alone suffer a six-week, potentially fatal bout with the swine flu, better known as H1N1 influenza.

8 Dec 2010

Court ruling on regulation of electronic cigarettes as drugs and devices is wrong

A federal appeals court ruling today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot regulate electronic cigarettes as drugs and devices is wrong on the law, wrong on the facts and fails to take into account the harmful implications of this decision for public health. This decision will allow any manufacturer to put any level of nicotine in any product and sell it to anybody, including children, with no government regulation or oversight at the present time. We urge the government to appeal this ruling.

8 Dec 2010

FDLI to launch Food and Drug Policy Forum publication in 2011

In 2011, the Food and Drug Law Institute will launch a new publication — FDLI"s Food and Drug Policy Forum. "The Policy Forum is designed to provide a new electronic marketplace for the exchange of ideas among food and drug law, regulation, and policy professionals," notes Susan C. Winckler, President and CEO of FDLI.

8 Dec 2010

Low-dose diazepam with NS-398 combination has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone

Status epilepticus, prolonged seizures, can lead to significant neurological deficits and, rarely, even death. The anticonvulsant diazepam, a first line therapy for the condition, is neuroprotective when administered in high doses within two hours from seizure onset. Researchers at the 64th AES Annual Meeting now report that the combination of low-dose diazepam and NS-398, a COX-2 inhibitor, has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone.

8 Dec 2010

Audax Medical licenses novel TBL technology to fix broken bones from Brown

Here's the vision: an elderly woman comes into the emergency room after a fall. She has broken her hip. The orthopaedic surgeon doesn't come with metal plates or screws or shiny titanium ball joints. Instead, she pulls out a syringe filled with a new kind of liquid that will solidify in seconds and injects into the break. Over time, new bone tissue will take its place, encouraged by natural growth factors embedded in the synthetic molecules of the material.

8 Dec 2010

Small molecules show promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases

Investigators at Southern Methodist University and The University of Texas at Dallas have discovered a family of small molecules that shows promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's, which afflict millions.

8 Dec 2010

Golden Living establishes in-house consulting pharmacy company

Golden Living has established a new, in-house consulting pharmacy company that will focus on improving medication safety and patient outcomes. Golden Clinical Rx Services is based on an innovative clinical pharmacist model that will make certified geriatric pharmacists (CGPs) part of the interdisciplinary clinical teams that care for Golden LivingCenter patients and will leverage technology to improve patient outcomes.

8 Dec 2010

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego developed an explanation for why some types of neurons die sooner than others in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. These insights, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on November 21, come from detailed models of brain energy metabolism developed in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

8 Dec 2010

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, UH College of Pharmacy earn national 'best practices' award

With antibiotic resistance on the rise worldwide, health care professionals are continually seeking to optimize how they combat drug-resistant infections.

8 Dec 2010

European Commission must stop attacking generic medicines, says ITPC

On International Human Rights Day, as the European Commission (EC) and the Government of India meet in Brussels to finalise a European Union (EU)-India free trade agreement, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) calls on Indian negotiators to put the right to health of its citizens and of the fifteen million HIV-positive people worldwide needing treatment above the pharmaceutical companies' interests and profits.

8 Dec 2010

Novel therapy against hepatitis C disease

University of Maryland School of Pharmacy researchers have developed a mathematical model for choosing an appropriate dosage of the hepatitis medications for individual patients. The work helps explain why African American patients tend to not respond as well to the drugs as other patients.

8 Dec 2010

Financial Times contrasts 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches to developing country drugs

The Financial Times contrasts the model of drug development for developing countries being used by non-profit groups like the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), which recently rolled out the MenAfriVac, to that of some pharmaceutical companies.

8 Dec 2010

CML patients treated with dasatinib associated with better treatment adherence, lower health costs: Study

Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who were treated with nilotinib are found to be associated with better treatment adherence, less hospitalizations, and lower total health care costs than patients treated with dasatinib, according to a new study released by Analysis Group Inc., a leading provider of health care research and economic consulting.

8 Dec 2010

Vision community, FDA discuss use of PROs to improve labeling of ophthalmic treatments, products

The vision community is discussing with the Food and Drug Administration how vision-related patient-reported outcomes might be used in improving the labeling of ophthalmic treatments and products. The group — composed of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and representatives from industry and vision associations — attended a one-day symposium sponsored by the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute and the FDA on October 13, 2009.

8 Dec 2010

Novel drug therapy treats brain diseases

Pankaj Karande, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, is among a new generation of scientists and engineers developing exciting and novel new techniques to treat some of the most complex brain illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, and brain cancer.

8 Dec 2010

Drugs News and Research

Estrogen receptor beta inactivates critical genes, arrests cancer cell growth

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

e-cigarettes spark debate in U.S.

Momenta prices underwritten public offering

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Lung transplant saves economist from near-lethal bout of swine flu

Court ruling on regulation of electronic cigarettes as drugs and devices is wrong

FDLI to launch Food and Drug Policy Forum publication in 2011

Low-dose diazepam with NS-398 combination has twice the neuroprotective effect of NS-398 alone

Audax Medical licenses novel TBL technology to fix broken bones from Brown

Small molecules show promise in protecting brain cells against nerve-degenerative diseases

Golden Living establishes in-house consulting pharmacy company

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, UH College of Pharmacy earn national 'best practices' award

European Commission must stop attacking generic medicines, says ITPC

Novel therapy against hepatitis C disease

Financial Times contrasts 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches to developing country drugs

CML patients treated with dasatinib associated with better treatment adherence, lower health costs: Study

Vision community, FDA discuss use of PROs to improve labeling of ophthalmic treatments, products

Novel drug therapy treats brain diseases

Drug Discovery - Second Edition eBook

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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