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Corrective information can successfully reduce false beliefs about flu vaccines

With health systems in the U.S., U.K., and around the world trying to increase vaccination levels, it is critical to understand how to address vaccine hesitancy and counter myths about vaccine safety. A new article in the journal "Vaccine" concludes, however, that correcting myths about vaccines may not be the most effective approach to promoting immunization among vaccine skeptics.

8 Dec 2014

Study indicates major added benefit of propranolol in some children with haemangioma

The Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG)investigated in a dossier assessment whether propranolol offers an added benefit in comparison with the appropriate comparator therapy in infants with proliferating infantile haemangioma (sometimes called "strawberry mark").

7 Dec 2014

Researchers assess efficiency and safety of breast milk stimulant

Most women can make all the milk their baby needs, but some mothers turn to medications to help increase their supply. While some specialists encourage the off-label use of domperidone to stimulate breast milk production, some studies have suggested it may be related to negative side effects, including irregular heartbeat and sudden cardiac death.

6 Dec 2014

BRI signs license agreement with SOBI for Kineret (anakinra)

Baylor Research Institute, the research arm of the Baylor Scott & White Health, announced that it has signed an agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) to non-exclusively license Baylor's patents pertaining to the treatment of Systemic Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA or SOJIA) using interleukin-1 (IL-1) beta antagonists.

6 Dec 2014

Research findings may lead to new ways to thwart drug resistance

Penicillin, the wonder drug discovered in 1928, works in ways that are still mysterious almost a century later. One of the oldest and most widely used antibiotics, it attacks enzymes that build the bacterial cell wall, a mesh that surrounds the bacterial membrane and gives the cells their integrity and shape. Once that wall is breached, bacteria die -- allowing us to recover from infection.

6 Dec 2014

Promising anti-malarial compound uses novel mechanism to kill malaria parasite

An international research collaborative has determined that a promising anti-malarial compound tricks the immune system to rapidly destroy red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite but leave healthy cells unharmed. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the study, which appears in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Dec 2014

Jakafi receives expanded approval from FDA for use in treatment of polycythemia vera

Diplomat Pharmacy, Inc., the nation's largest independent specialty pharmacy, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an expanded indication of Jakafi (ruxolitinib).

5 Dec 2014

FDA Advisory Committee votes in favor of Actavis' ceftazidime-avibactam

Actavis plc today announced that the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has voted to recommend approval of Actavis' New Drug Application (NDA) for ceftazidime-avibactam, an investigational antibiotic being developed to treat hospitalized patients when limited or no treatment options are available for complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) (in combination with metronidazole) and complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) (including acute pyelonephritis) caused by Gram-negative pathogens.

5 Dec 2014

Isis Pharmaceuticals CEO honored with SCRIP Lifetime Achievement Award

Stanley T. Crooke, Ph.D., M.D., founder, CEO and chairman of the board of directors of Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has been awarded the 2014 SCRIP Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the most prestigious of its kind in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries worldwide.

5 Dec 2014

Two medical imaging techniques could predict effectiveness of TB drugs

Two medical imaging techniques, called positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT), could be used in combination as a biomarker to predict the effectiveness of antibiotic drug regimens being tested to treat tuberculosis (TB) patients, according to researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

5 Dec 2014

Added benefit of nalmefene not proven for alcohol dependence

Nalmefene (trade name Selincro) has been approved since February 2013 for people with alcohol dependence who currently drink a lot of alcohol, but who do not have physical withdrawal symptoms and who do not require immediate detoxification. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care examined in a dossier assessment whether the drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy in this patient group.

5 Dec 2014

Mylan gets tentative approval from FDA for two pediatric dosages of abacavir/lamivudine tablets

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Mylan Laboratories Limited has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its New Drug Applications (NDAs) for two dosages of abacavir/lamivudine tablets for oral suspension for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in pediatric patients.

4 Dec 2014

MRIGlobal awarded $3 million contract to provide HPV vaccine

MRIGlobal today announced that it has been awarded a $3 million contract amendment from the National Cancer Institute's PREVENT Cancer Program to provide a vaccine for the Human Papillomavirus or HPV, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. MRIGlobal will lead a team that will produce the vaccine to be used in a Phase I clinical trial.

4 Dec 2014

Pharmacyclics wins 2014 Society for Medicines Research Award for Drug Discovery

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today announced that it has won the prestigious 2014 Society for Medicines Research Award for Drug Discovery for its discovery of ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA). The award was presented by The Society of Medicines Research at its biennial award lecture in Kensington, London.

4 Dec 2014

Oncologists examine efficacy of rose bengal against cancer

Rose Bengal has been around for decades starting as a way to dye wool. Originally used in medicine as a stain for ophthalmologists, it has a solid safety record going back to the 1930s. Recently, oncologists have examined its efficacy against cancer, specifically melanoma.

4 Dec 2014

New collaborative project aims to generate 3% productivity boost at Australian pharmaceutical sites

META, a collaborative network of high potential manufacturing businesses and researchers, has today announced a collaborative project between Hospira, GlaxoSmithKline and CSL to generate a targeted 3% productivity boost with an estimated return on investment of up to $2.4M dollars at Australian pharmaceutical sites.

4 Dec 2014

Endocrinologist examines benefits and harms of testosterone therapy

An article in the latest edition of Australian Prescriber looks at the prescribing of testosterone, often used for ‘male menopause’ symptoms such as reduced energy, poor concentration and increased body fat. Over the past decade there has been a steep rise in the amount of testosterone dispensed in Australia and globally.

4 Dec 2014

Non-ergot derived dopamine agonists may be safe for the heart

Non-ergot derived dopamine agonists used to treat Parkinson's disease may be safe for the heart, according to preliminary research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014 by Dr Hilal Erken Pamukcu, cardiologist at Ankara Diskapi Education and Research Hospital in Turkey.

4 Dec 2014

New targeted therapy shows promise in patients with ALK-positive advanced NSCLC

An international study involving Manchester researchers has found that for previously untreated lung cancer patients with a particular genetic change, a new targeted therapy is better than standard chemotherapy.

4 Dec 2014

Study explores association between statin use and cataracts

Few classes of drugs have had such a transformative effect on the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) as have statins, prescribed to reduce total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

4 Dec 2014