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Idaho's adoption of NPLEx to block illegal methamphetamine sales receives praise

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) today applauded Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter for signing into law real-time, stop-sale technology called the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) which allows check-out clerks to block illegal pseudoephedrine purchases right at the point of sale and provides law enforcement with valuable criminal data up to the minute.

9 Apr 2012

Pacira launches EXPAREL in the U.S.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the commercial launch of EXPAREL (bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension) in the United States. Starting today, EXPAREL will begin shipping to hospital and ambulatory care customers through their normal wholesaler and distributor channels.

9 Apr 2012

KU researchers receive inventorship credit on NIH-owned Velcade patents

Pillsbury today announced that its clients, the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc., a nonprofit corporation affiliated with KU, prevailed in a closely watched legal battle over cancer drug formulation patents after an arbitration panel ruled in KUCR's favor following years of litigation against the National Institutes of Health.

7 Apr 2012

Sangui patent-based chronic wound spray now available

Based on a patent by Sangui, the technology for a spray aiming at improved healing of chronic wounds is now available. According to a notification by SastoMed GmbH a certification as class III medical product was granted. Global licensee SastoMed will be in charge of marketing and distribution.

7 Apr 2012

Study shows artemisinin-resistant malaria parasite spreading along Thai-Myanmar border

A strain of malaria that is resistant to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) is spreading along the Thai-Myanmar border and has the potential to spread to Africa if efforts to effectively treat and prevent the disease are not undertaken, according to a study published in the Lancet on Friday, Reuters reports.

7 Apr 2012

NORD, Corcept partner to establish Cushing's Syndrome Patient Assistance Program

In partnership with Corcept Therapeutics Inc., the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has established a Cushing's Syndrome Patient Assistance Program for patients with endogenous Cushing's syndrome who need financial assistance with certain costs related to their medical diagnosis and/or care.

7 Apr 2012

No one funding model is sufficient to ensure availability of life-saving drugs

"Trade deals are threatening generic drugs -- we need new ways to incentivize affordable drug development," Daniele Dionisio, head of the research project Geopolitics, Public Health and Access to Medicines (GESPAM) and a member of the European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases, writes in this SciDev.Net opinion piece.

7 Apr 2012

Par Pharmaceutical commences shipment of modafinil tablets

Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. today announced that it began shipping all strengths of modafinil tablets, a generic version of Teva's Provigil brand.

7 Apr 2012

Lilly, Avid receive FDA approval for Amyvid to treat Alzheimer's

Eli Lilly and Company and Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Lilly, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for brain imaging of beta-amyloid plaques in patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's Disease and other causes of cognitive decline.

7 Apr 2012

Teva's ANDA for Provigil entitled to 180-day exclusivity

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announces that the FDA has decided that its wholly owned subsidiary, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, is sole first-to-file for both Orange Book patents listed for Provigil (modafinil) and therefore Teva's ANDA alone is entitled to 180-day exclusivity.

6 Apr 2012

Antibiotics may have absolutely no effect within a few decades

The increased resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a global problem. Antibiotics are increasingly less effective. Microbiologist Dr. John Hays of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam is sounding the alarm: "The problem is so dire that within a few decades antibiotics will have absolutely no effect".

6 Apr 2012

Regeneron, Sanofi announce clinical and regulatory update for ZALTRAP

Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Priority Review of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for the investigational agent ZALTRAP (aflibercept) concentrate for solution for infusion in combination with the irinotecan-fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) previously treated with an oxaliplatin-containing regimen.

6 Apr 2012

Methylphenidate may help induce recovery from propofol anesthesia

The ability of the commonly used stimulant methylphenidate (Ritalin) to speed recovery from general anesthesia appears to apply both to the inhaled gas isoflurane, as previously reported, and to the intravenous drug propofol. Members of the same Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team that reported the isoflurane study are publishing similar results for propofol in the May issue of Anesthesiology, and their paper has been issued online.

6 Apr 2012

AP: Prescription painkiller sales have 'exploded,' leading experts to fear 'addiction epidemic'

Sales of the nation's two most popular prescription painkillers have exploded in new parts of the country, an Associated Press analysis shows, worrying experts who say the push to relieve patients' suffering is spawning an addiction epidemic.

6 Apr 2012

Positive effect of tafamidis on neurological degeneration

Tafamidis meglumine was approved in November 2011 for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis in adults. This rare disorder is caused by a defective gene and is associated with progressive nerve damage (neurological degeneration) that tafamidis is supposed to delay.

6 Apr 2012

Purdue Pharma launches Intermezzo for middle-of-the-night insomnia

Purdue Pharma L.P. announced today that Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate) sublingual tablet CIV is now available in 1.75 mg and 3.5 mg dosage strengths by prescription in retail pharmacies nationwide.

6 Apr 2012

Astellas' mirabegron for OAB receives FDA advisory committee approval

Astellas Pharma US, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., announced today that the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted that the overall risk/benefit assessment supports approval of mirabegron for the treatment of overactive bladder.

6 Apr 2012

African-Americans and Hispanics with MDD less likely to get antidepressants

African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants.

6 Apr 2012

Mylan seeks to overturn FDA decision on generic Provigil

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc., has filed suit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to overturn a decision by FDA, which awarded Teva sole 180-day exclusivity for the generic version of its affiliate Cephalon's Provigil.

6 Apr 2012

Doctors continue to prescribe dangerous nifedipine drug to elderly patients

Despite the fact that nifedipine increases the risk of heart attacks and death, doctors still prescribe this immediate-release blood pressure drug to elderly patients. The Cologne-based research group led by Ingrid Schubert has now published the results of their investigation in the current issue of Deutsches -rzteblatt International.

6 Apr 2012