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Gene mapping project promises new targeted cancer therapies

Government researchers in the United States have this week launched a pilot project to find all the little genetic changes that cause cancer in the hope it will lead to a whole new world of targeted cancer therapy.

14 Dec 2005

MorphoSys signs agreement with Merck

MorphoSys AG announced today that it has signed a five-year license agreement with U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc. for the use of MorphoSys’s HuCAL GOLD and AutoCAL technologies in research and development of human therapeutic antibodies.

14 Dec 2005

Testosterone replacement therapy shows promise for Alzheimer sufferers

The first study of the effects of testosterone on mood, behavior and psychological health in men with mild Alzheimer disease finds significant improvements in quality of life, as assessed by caregivers.

13 Dec 2005

AMN107 drug shows promise in leukemia resistance to Gleevec

The targeted agent AMN107 can produce dramatic benefits in patients with some forms of leukemia that are resistant to Gleevec, the standard therapy for these cancers, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

13 Dec 2005

Roche chooses partners to help make Tamiflu

The producer of sought after bird flu drug Tamiflu, drug giant Roche, has apparently chosen 12 possible partners to help it churn out enough of the drug.

12 Dec 2005

Is the FDA too influenced by big pharma?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) historically sound reputation could be in jeopardy due to it's possibly too close relationship with the major pharmaceutical companies.

12 Dec 2005

Buttock injections do not provide proper dose

Women may not be getting the most out of vaccines and other injections, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

7 Dec 2005

New anti-clotting treatment

Volunteers at the Jack and Linda Gill Heart Institute at the University of Kentucky were the first ever to receive a new anti-clotting therapy.

7 Dec 2005

Physicians slow to prescribe newer heart drugs

An analysis of the treatment received by more than 100,000 heart patients has shown that physicians' prescription practices for drugs proven effective for treating heart disease has shown steady improvement over the past three years, cardiologists at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) have concluded.

7 Dec 2005

Pricey head lice treatment nothing but common cleanser

An expensive experimental head lice treatment for children has been revealed as nothing more than a common skin cleanser costing as little as $10 a bottle.

5 Dec 2005

Findings may help in development of new anti-inflammatory compounds

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers studying the enzyme that triggers inflammation have found that it may be a target for a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, lung and colon cancers and Alzheimer's disease.

2 Dec 2005

Herceptin - can healthcare afford this expensive drug?

New research into the cost of using the breast cancer drug Herceptin warns that healthcare authorities and the organisations advising them should not rush to prescribe it for early breast cancer without working out extremely carefully the budget implications and cost-effectiveness of the drug.

2 Dec 2005

New anthrax antibody

A new anthrax antibody engineered by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin protects and defends against inhalation anthrax without the use of antibiotics and other more expensive antibodies.

2 Dec 2005

Warning that breast cancer drug can harm fetus

Health Canada along with drug company Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada, have issued a warning concerning the drug Femara (letrozole), which is used to treat breast cancer in women who are postmenopausal.

30 Nov 2005

Drug partners in fight against AIDS say measles shot could be the answer!

Major drug company GlaxoSmithKline is hoping to develop an experimental AIDS vaccine by "piggy-backing" on a shot against measles.

29 Nov 2005

Low doses of aspirin increase chance of developing ulcers

Aspirin has long been hailed as one of the most effective, low-cost ways to help guard against a heart attack or stroke. However, international medical researchers caution that low doses of aspirin also increase a patient's chance of developing an ulcer, often without warning signs.

28 Nov 2005

Indonesia to make Tamiflu

The Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari has announced that the Ministry of Health has been given special rights from drug company Roche, maker of the bird flu drug Tamiflu, to produce the drug.

28 Nov 2005

Star anise sought after in bird flu fight

The ancient spice star anise is apparently the main source of shikimic acid, a key ingredient in the bird flu drug Tamiflu, and farmers in China's southern region of Guangxi are being encouraged to capitalise on the growing demand for the spice.

28 Nov 2005

Study of two drugs for angina treatment shows equal outcomes to patients

Researchers have found that the blood-thinning drug Lovenox works as well as a standard artery-clearing drug in patients with severe heart-related chest pain, but neither reduced the risk of death after a year of treatment.

24 Nov 2005

Compound from Salinispora (marine bacteria) kills blood cancer cells

An anti-cancer compound derived from bacteria dwelling in ocean-bottom sediments appears in laboratory tests to be a potent killer of drug-resistant multiple myeloma cells, and potentially with less toxicity than current treatments, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers in the November issue of Cancer Cell.

21 Nov 2005