Rifampicin News and Research

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Immunitor completes V5 Phase IIb imm01 clinical trial enrollment for TB

Immune Network Ltd., advises that its potential acquisition, Immunitor USA Inc., has announced the completion of enrollment in its Phase IIb imm01 clinical trial of V5 in tuberculosis.

15 Nov 2010

New test detects TB faster, with more accuracy than current diagnostics, study says

A new molecular test for tuberculosis can diagnose the disease and detect a drug-resistant form of it in less than two hours and more accurately than current tests, according to the findings of a study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, Reuters reports (Kelland, 9/1).

3 Sep 2010

Philippine FDA's LSD attains ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories

In an effort that will contribute to raising the quality of medicines in the Philippines and surrounding regions, the Laboratory Services Division (LSD) of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has attained the internationally recognized accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories, International Organization for Standardization/ International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17025:2005.

13 Jul 2010

Bayer signs agreement to supply Adalat XL product to Teva Canada

Bayer Inc. and Teva Canada Limited today announced they have entered an agreement regarding Bayer's Adalat XL (nifedipine) 20, 30 and 60 mg product. Effective immediately, Bayer Inc. will supply Adalat XL exclusively to Teva Canada Limited and Teva Canada Limited will become the sole distributor in Canada of brand name Adalat XL product.

28 Jun 2010

Antwerp ITM calls for change in WHO guidelines on Buruli ulcer

Buruli ulcers, one of the 'neglected tropical diseases' left aside by big pharma and governments alike, are reasonably well treatable, also in poor regions. But then more attention has to be paid to early diagnosis and correct treatment. This means the rules of the World Health Organization urgently need to be changed. So say scientists of the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), based on ten years of research in Congo.

18 Jun 2010

Scientists awarded $3.9M grant to study how XDR-TB transmitted in rural South Africa

The National Institutes of Health has awarded scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $3.9 million grant to study how extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is transmitted in rural South Africa. The findings could alter public health approaches for controlling the XDR-TB epidemic in the developing world.

3 Jun 2010

Bayer's Adalat XL product and Mylan's nifedipine extended release 60 mg not bioequivalent: Study

Bayer Inc. today responded to Professor Marvin Meyer's letter to the editor, entitled: "Critical questions concerning the validity of the Bayer study report of differences in bioavailability between 60 mg of nifedipine osmotic push-pull systems after fasted and fed administration" and published in the online edition of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Bayer responded to the clinical relevance of the differences in formulation and dissolution behaviour and the delayed absorption of Mylan's extended release nifedipine.

25 May 2010

Cepheid to launch GeneXpert Infinity-48 in Europe at 20th ECCMID

Cepheid will initiate European launch of its newest addition to the GeneXpert® family of molecular diagnostic testing systems, the GeneXpert Infinity-48, at the 20th annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Vienna, Austria. The GeneXpert Infinity-48 System is the world's first and only fully-automated, random-access system designed for management of the entire molecular testing workflow — from sample data, cartridge loading and unloading, to final reporting of test results and disposal of cartridges.

7 Apr 2010

New WHO report estimates 440,000 MDR-TB cases worldwide in 2008

There were an estimated 440,000 cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) around the world in 2008 - one-third of which were fatal, according to a new WHO report on drug-resistant TB, the Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, 3/19).

20 Mar 2010

WHO estimates 440 000 MDR-TB cases in 2008

In some areas of the world, one in four people with tuberculosis (TB) becomes ill with a form of the disease that can no longer be treated with standard drugs regimens, a World Health Organization (WHO) report says.

19 Mar 2010

Study: Generic nifedipine product not bioequivalent to Adalat XL

An extended release generic nifedipine product (Mylan-Nifedipine extended release 60 mg formerly Gen-Nifedipine extended release 60mg, Genpharm ULC) is not bioequivalent to the Canadian originator product, Adalat(R) XL(R), according to the results of a study recently published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

4 Feb 2010

Swedish study opens new potential for combating resistant bacteria

Neisseria meningitidis, the meningococcus, is a bacterium that can cause diseases with high fatality rates, and there has therefore been considerable concern that, like other bacteria, it might become resistant to antibiotics. But now a study from örebro University and örebro University Hospital in Sweden shows that there has not been any increase in resistant meningococci in Sweden over the last 15 years. According to researcher Sara Thulin Hedberg, the reason for this may be that it is not especially advantageous for bacteria to develop resistance.

5 Jan 2010

Rifampicin resistant tuberculosis

Scientists have identified a strain of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis that thrives in the presence of rifampin, a front-line drug in the treatment of tuberculosis. The bacterium was identified in a patient in China and is described in a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Chongqing Pulmonary Hospital, Lanzhou University and Fudan University.

22 Dec 2009

Results of IES presented at ECCO

Pfizer Inc today announced new, longer-term data from the Intergroup Exemestane Study (IES) showing that women who switched to AROMASIN® (exemestane tablets) after taking tamoxifen for two to three years experienced a significant reduction (18%) in the risk of disease-free survival (DFS) events. In addition, IES showed that AROMASIN prolonged overall survival (OS) in the ER+/unknown population with a 14% reduction in the risk of dying. These results demonstrate that the benefits of treatment are maintained in long term follow-up. These results were presented at the joint ECCO 15/ESMO 34 meeting in Berlin, Germany.

23 Sep 2009

MSD's ISENTRESS approved by the EU Commission for treating HIV-1 infection in adult patients

Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD) announced today that ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) has been granted an expanded licence from the European Union Commission (Commission) for use in combination with other antiretroviral (ARV) medicinal products for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adult patients, including adult patients starting HIV-1 therapy for the first time (treatment-naïve), as well as treatment-experienced adult patients.

15 Sep 2009

Increase in Rifampicin dosage shortens tuberculosis treatment duration

According to Dutch researcher Hanneke Later-Nijland, it may be possible to shorten the duration of treatment for tuberculosis. Due to the long duration of treatment, not every patient sees it through. Partly because of this, tuberculosis is one of the most lethal diseases in developing countries.

3 Sep 2009

Lancet Infectious Diseases examines spread of XDR-TB

The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines the worldwide spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Currently, about 500,000 of the 9 million new cases of TB that are identified each year are strains of XDR-TB. "Drug resistance is largely man-made - it is vitally important to review antibiotic treatment strategies and to ensure the Stop TB Strategy is fully applied to prevent further selection of drug-resistant mutants," Leonard Amaral of Universidade Nova de Lisboa said.

24 Jun 2009

Slow-growing tuberculosis bacteria point the way to new drug development

The discovery of a large number of slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause tuberculosis (TB), in the lungs of TB patients could be an important step forward in the design of new anti-TB drugs.

30 Mar 2009

How RNA polymerase kick starts gene activation revealed

How 'molecular machines' inside cells swing into action to activate genes at different times in a cell's life is revealed in new research published in Molecular Cell.

7 Nov 2008

TB Alliance enters into collaboration with sanofi-aventis to fight tuberculosis

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) and sanofi-aventis announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to accelerate the discovery, development and clinical use of drugs against tuberculosis (TB). The TB Alliance is a not-for-profit, product development partnership, whose goal is the development of new TB drugs.

14 Oct 2008