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Safety of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil 'lost' in debate

The effectiveness and safety of Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil has "been lost" because of Merck's lobbying campaign for mandating vaccination for school attendance, and the "real losers" might be "girls and women who need access" to the vaccine, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman writes in an opinion piece .

5 Mar 2007

CMS Administrator Norwalk says releasing data on Medicare prescription drug benefit discounts would undermine negotiations

CMS Administrator Leslie Norwalk in a letter to lawmakers on Thursday said that the agency will not disclose information on discounts obtained by pharmacy benefit managers for Medicare prescription drug plans, CQ HealthBeat reports.

5 Mar 2007

FDA is using a "dysfunctional" computer system to track the safety of prescription drugs

...and efforts to establish a new system to track adverse drug events have been delayed by at least four years, according to a November 2006 report commissioned by the agency, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 Mar 2007

Lilly to acquire neuroscience drug discovery co. Hypnion

Eli Lilly and Company and Hypnion, Inc. today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement whereby Lilly will acquire Hypnion, a privately held neuroscience drug discovery company focused on sleep disorders.

5 Mar 2007

Two experimental drugs aimed at controlling viral loads among HIV-positive people who have developed drug resistance show promise

Two experimental antiretroviral drugs, called TMC278 and elvitegravir, show promise in controlling the viral loads of HIV-positive people who have developed resistance to available drugs, researchers said Wednesday at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Mar 2007

FDA approval for new cattle antibiotic will cause controversy

According to reports the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is about to approve the use of another antibiotic in cattle.

4 Mar 2007

Fox Chase Cancer Center and Cancer Research Technology initiate drug discovery collaboration

Cancer Research Technology Inc. (CRT Inc.) and Fox Chase Cancer Center have announce the initiation of an oncology-focused drug discovery collaboration.

1 Mar 2007

Warning about the indiscriminate use of diet drugs

The United Nations (UN) has issued a warning about the rise in a number of countries of the use of diet drugs to lose weight.

1 Mar 2007

New Crohn's disease treatment Humira promises to reduce symptoms

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has given it's approval for the use of the drug Humira (adalimumab) to treat adults suffering from Crohn's disease.

28 Feb 2007

New York State moves closer to lower drug prices

It's a lot easier to negotiate a better price on something when you buy in volume -- that's the approach the State Assembly is hoping the state will take when buying its prescription drugs.

28 Feb 2007

AHF launches ad campaign against Bristol-Myers Squibb over antiretroviral pricing in Mexico

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation recently launched an advertisement campaign against Bristol-Myers Squibb over the price of the pharmaceutical company's antiretroviral drugs Reyataz and Videx in Mexico, the AP/Forbes reports.

28 Feb 2007

Campaign seeks to counter influence of pharma sales reps

The Boston Globe on Monday examined the Independent Drug Service project, a $1 million campaign in Pennsylvania that sends consultants to inform physicians about the effectiveness of different medications based on scientific evidence to "combat the sales pitches" of pharmaceutical companies.

28 Feb 2007

PPD licenses dyslipidemia statin from Ranbaxy

Ranbaxy Laboratories and PPD, Inc. have announced that PPD has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and market Ranbaxy's novel statin for the treatment of dyslipidemia.

27 Feb 2007

Cancer Research UK secures fenretinide orphan drug licence

A previously shelved drug could prove effective for treating a group of rare childhood cancers, and Cancer Research UK today announced it has been granted exclusive marketing rights for the drug in these indications by the European Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

27 Feb 2007

FDA approves Humira (adalimumab) for Crohn's disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Humira (adalimumab) to treat adult patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines, which affects an estimated one million Americans.

27 Feb 2007

FDA approves antidepressant Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

Eli Lilly and Company announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the antidepressant Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a condition that affects more than 6.5 million American adults in a given year.

26 Feb 2007

Danish court injunction prohibits sale of generic Lipitor

Pfizer has announced that a Danish court has granted a preliminary injunction against Nomeco A/S -- the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in Denmark -- that prohibits the sale of a generic version of Lipitor by generics manufacturer Ranbaxy.

25 Feb 2007

Ohio Gov. Strickland to remove name from effort to back law that would limit use of Mifepristone

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) has filed a brief with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requesting that his name be removed from a lawsuit defending an Ohio law (HB 126) that would restrict how Danco Laboratories' Mifeprex is used to induce a medical abortion, the AP/Coshocton Tribune reports.

25 Feb 2007

State actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals

The following highlights recent news of state actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals. Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.

25 Feb 2007

Texas Gov. Perry says Merck campaign contribution had no effect on decision to mandate Gardasil

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Thursday said that contributions made by a Merck political action committee to his campaign had no influence on his decision to issue an executive order requiring that all girls entering the sixth grade receive a human papillomavirus vaccine, the AP/International Herald Tribune reports

25 Feb 2007

Pharmaceutical News

Safety of Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil 'lost' in debate

CMS Administrator Norwalk says releasing data on Medicare prescription drug benefit discounts would undermine negotiations

FDA is using a "dysfunctional" computer system to track the safety of prescription drugs

Lilly to acquire neuroscience drug discovery co. Hypnion

Two experimental drugs aimed at controlling viral loads among HIV-positive people who have developed drug resistance show promise

FDA approval for new cattle antibiotic will cause controversy

Fox Chase Cancer Center and Cancer Research Technology initiate drug discovery collaboration

Warning about the indiscriminate use of diet drugs

New Crohn's disease treatment Humira promises to reduce symptoms

New York State moves closer to lower drug prices

AHF launches ad campaign against Bristol-Myers Squibb over antiretroviral pricing in Mexico

Campaign seeks to counter influence of pharma sales reps

PPD licenses dyslipidemia statin from Ranbaxy

Cancer Research UK secures fenretinide orphan drug licence

FDA approves Humira (adalimumab) for Crohn's disease

FDA approves antidepressant Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) for treatment of generalized anxiety disorder

Danish court injunction prohibits sale of generic Lipitor

Ohio Gov. Strickland to remove name from effort to back law that would limit use of Mifepristone

State actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals

Texas Gov. Perry says Merck campaign contribution had no effect on decision to mandate Gardasil

Real-time Raman monitoring for pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion

Synthetic Psychedelics: A Growing Public Health Concern

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

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