Pharmaceuticals News and Research

RSS

New anticancer drug SU11248 shows continued response for patients with late-stage kidney cancer

Recent studies of a new anticancer drug show continued response for patients with late-stage kidney cancer. Robert Motzer, MD, attending physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), reported a response rate of 40 percent in patients with metastatic (advanced) renal cell (kidney) cancer who received SU11248 in second-line therapy.

15 May 2005

First advance in pancreatic cancer treatment in a decade offers new hope

The first advance in pancreatic cancer treatment in a decade has been achieved by researchers in a Canadian-led study, and at last gives some encouragement to scientists and invigorates a field that has experienced more than its share of disheartening failures.

15 May 2005

Fat-fighting drugs may be a far riskier business than they seem

Experts are warning that despite the fact that obesity is one of the biggest preventable causes of death, fat-fighting drugs may be a far riskier business than they seem, particularly for investors.

11 May 2005

NIAID has awarded 10 grants and 2 contracts totaling approximately $27 million to fund development of new therapeutics and vaccines against bioterrorism

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded 10 grants and 2 contracts totaling approximately $27 million to fund development of new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the most deadly agents of bioterrorism including anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola virus, pneumonic plague, smallpox and tularemia.

11 May 2005

Canada may ban bulk exports of drugs to the United States

In a move to forestall a potential drug shortage in Canada, Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, is contemplating imposing a ban on bulk exports of drugs to the United States.

10 May 2005

Vaccine against Alzheimer's disease may still be on the cards

A new, but modified, trial of an Alzheimer's vaccine has begun in the U.S. despite an earlier one being abandoned in 2002 due to safety concerns.

10 May 2005

Pharmacies in supermarkets: Where's the public benefit?

Protecting public health is more important than Woolworths' profits and should be the primary consideration in any government decision over whether to allow pharmacies in supermarkets, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia Vice-President Frank Payne said yesterday.

10 May 2005

Combining behavior modification therapy with medication is the most effective way to improve the behavior of many ADHD children

In fact, when the two are combined, the study showed, the amount of medication required to achieve the same results as use of medication alone can be reduced by two-thirds.

10 May 2005

Expert analyzes why manufacturers have gradually abandoned vaccines

Recent shortages of vaccines, most recently the flu vaccine during the past winter, are not short-term glitches--they reflect long-term problems in the vaccine industry. A variety of social, legal and economic forces have caused pharmaceutical companies to withdraw their commitment to vaccines, according to pediatrician and vaccine expert Paul A. Offit, M.D., chief of Infectious Diseases at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

10 May 2005

Cataract treatment in the blink of an eye

Researchers at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand are pioneering the development of an eye drop to halt the development of cataracts.

10 May 2005

Parkinson's drug Mirapex accused of causing gambling addiction

A drug prescribed to millions of patients in the U.S. as a treatment for Parkinson's disease and other conditions, has allegedly turned some patients into gambling addicts.

9 May 2005

Bionomics files key U.S. patents relating to cancer drug target BNO69

Bionomics Limited announced today that it has filed further patent applications in key markets (including the US) relating to its proprietary cancer drug target BNO69.

9 May 2005

Clues about how alcoholic behavior is “switched” on

As part of an ongoing effort to understand the biochemical basis of alcohol abuse, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have published two studies on how modulating receptors for dopamine - a chemical “signaler” in the brain’s reward circuits - affects drinking behavior in mice and rats.

9 May 2005

Global epidemic of avian flu - Governments bury their heads

Governments around the world must stop burying their heads in the sand over the growing threat of a global epidemic of avian flu, argues a GP in this week's BMJ.

5 May 2005

Research is first to test effectiveness of a new patch for treating ADHD

A new University at Buffalo study of treatments for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has found that combining behavior modification therapy with medication is the most effective way to improve the behavior of many ADHD children.

5 May 2005

New discovery could improve IVF results

Scientists in the U.S. think they may have solved the puzzle of why some embryos fail to implant in their mother's womb, which is one of the main causes of IVF failures.

4 May 2005

Specific variants of genes predict bleeding after heart surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that the presence of specific variants of genes that control clotting and the contractility, or "tone," of blood vessels can double the ability of physicians to predict those heart surgery patients at greatest risk of bleeding after surgery.

4 May 2005

Vaccine developed at Rockefeller University boosts natural killer T cells in patients with cancer

A new vaccine designed at The Rockefeller University boosted a type of fast-responding immune system cell called the natural killer T (NKT) cell in patients with advanced cancer. The study surprised researchers by revealing the ability of these NKT cells to spur other, slower-responding immune cells to go to work.

4 May 2005

Monitoring program has successfully identified a large number of previously unknown, serious and often-fatal drug reactions

A monitoring program developed by a Northwestern University researcher has successfully identified a large number of previously unknown, serious and often-fatal drug reactions associated with 15 commonly used drugs, including Plavix®, thalidomide and drug-coated cardiac stents.

3 May 2005

Critical lock and key mechanism found for the assembly of tumor blood vessels

A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply.

3 May 2005