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Counterfeit anti-cancer drug Avastin raises concerns

The market is flooded with a counterfeit version of cancer drug Avastin worry doctors and patients. Injectable drugs have become increasingly attractive to counterfeiters, in part because they often fetch a higher price than regular pills.

15 Feb 2012

FDA approves preservative-free drug for glaucoma

The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has approved tafluprost ophthalmic solution (Zioptan, Merck) 0.0015%, the first preservative-free prostaglandin analog ophthalmic solution for glaucoma.

15 Feb 2012

VPCI announces successful petition to the FDA for removal from Import Alert

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains strict labeling requirements for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). If an API does not maintain adequate labeling as per section 502(f)(1) of the Act, the FDA will consider the material to be misbranded. Foreign APIs which are misbranded are subject to detention without physical examination under FDA's Import Alert 66-66 "Red List."

15 Feb 2012

Steady increase in Low Molecular Weight Heparin use for blood clots: Study

The use of an injectable, clot-preventing drug known as Low Molecular Weight Heparin to treat patients with advanced cancer complicated by blood clots increased steadily between 2000 and 2007, according to a new study published in The Oncologist, funded by the National Cancer Institute and led by Kaiser Permanente Colorado.

15 Feb 2012

Mylan responds to current preservative-free Methotrexate Injection shortage

Mylan Inc. today commented on its response to the current shortage of preservative-free Methotrexate Injection.

15 Feb 2012

Curcumin prolongs life and enhances activity of fruit flies with AD

Curcumin, a substance extracted from turmeric, prolongs life and enhances activity of fruit flies with a nervous disorder similar to Alzheimers. The study conducted at Link-ping University, indicates that it is the initial stages of fibril formation and fragments of the amyloid fibrils that are most toxic to neurons.

15 Feb 2012

New group of compounds may protect brain cells from inflammation

Scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have identified a new group of compounds that may protect brain cells from inflammation linked to seizures and neurodegenerative diseases.

15 Feb 2012

New vaccine can prevent bacterial infection of orthopaedic implants

Methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA) infections are resistant to antibiotics and can cause a myriad of problems -- bone erosion, or osteomyelitis, which shorten the effective life of an implant and greatly hinder replacement of that implant. MRSA can result in prolonged disability, amputation and even death.

15 Feb 2012

Antibiotic prescriptions do not reduce sinus symptoms

Antibiotics that doctors typically prescribe for sinus infections do not reduce symptoms any better than an inactive placebo, according to investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

15 Feb 2012

Kowa announces data of LIVALO vs. Crestor on pharmacodynamics of warfarin

Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. today announced data assessing the effect of LIVALO (pitavastatin) compared with Crestor (rosuvastatin) on steady-state pharmacodynamics (PD) of warfarin by measuring international normalized ratio (INR) in healthy adult subjects.

14 Feb 2012

Abbott's Tacrolimus assay provides consistent medication monitoring for organ transplant patients

A new study published in the journal Clinical Chemistry reported Abbott's ARCHITECT Tacrolimus assay provides accurate and consistent medication monitoring for patients taking tacrolimus, an immunosuppressive medication, after receiving solid organ transplantation.

14 Feb 2012

Stress protein effectively activates replication of HBV in liver cells

People who have received a donor organ need lifelong immunosuppressant drugs to keep their immune system from attacking the foreign tissue. However, with a suppressed immune system, many infectious agents turn into a threat. Infections such as with human cytomegalovirus and a certain type of human polyomavirus frequently cause complications in transplant recipients.

14 Feb 2012

Karo Bio decides to discontinue development program for eprotirome

Karo Bio AB (publ) has decided to discontinue the development program for eprotirome after an animal study has demonstrated unwanted effects following long-term exposure. The planned spin-off of the preclinical part of operations will not proceed.

14 Feb 2012

Supply of childhood leukemia drug nearly exhausted

A medicine to treat children's leukemia is in such short supply that hospitals may run out within weeks; meanwhile, families of people with Alzheimer's disease are clamoring to use a skin-cancer drug after a promising study in mice.

14 Feb 2012

FDA requests a budget of $4.5 billion to protect and promote public health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting a budget of $4.5 billion to protect and promote the public health as part of the President's fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget – a 17 percent increase over the FDA enacted budget for FY 2012.

14 Feb 2012

FDA accepts Gilead's Truvada sNDA and grants Priority Review

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) and granted a six-month Priority Review for once-daily Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV-1 infection among uninfected adults.

14 Feb 2012

Norwegian government introduces legal limits for 20 illegal drugs and medicines

Legal limits for twenty illegal drugs and medicines with an abuse potential have been introduced by the Norwegian government. Norway is the first country to define both impairment-based legislative limits and limits for graded sanctions for drugs other than alcohol. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health participated to provide the scientific basis for the new limits.

14 Feb 2012