Pharmaceutical News

RSS

Watson introduces new oral contraceptive, Vestura

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Watson Pharma, Inc. has launched Vestura(TM), a generic version of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Yaz(R) oral contraceptive product.

18 Jan 2012

EMA grants Orphan Drug Designation to Ceptaris' chlormethine gel for treatment of CTCL

Ceptaris Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Ceptaris' investigational drug, chlormethine gel, for the treatment of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma.

18 Jan 2012

Pfizer and Medivation drop further testing of failed Alzheimer’s drug

A phase III clinical trial of an investigational Alzheimer's disease drug dimebon failed to show encouraging results dooming its future according to its commercial sponsors.

18 Jan 2012

Counterfeit malaria drugs endanger millions of lives

According to researchers fake and poor quality anti-malarial drugs are threatening efforts to control the disease in Africa and could put millions of lives at risk. These counterfeit medicines could harm patients and promote drug resistance among malaria parasites, warns the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

18 Jan 2012

Ampio announces two new European patents for Zertane combination therapy

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced notification by the European Patent Office they will be awarded two new patents in Europe for the combination of Zertane with any erectile dysfunction drug of the PDE5 inhibitors family such as sildenafil, tadalafil and the likes and for a combination of Zertane with compounds that reduce the side effects of tramadol.

18 Jan 2012

Melanoma drug makes pre-existing cells with RAS mutation grow into skin squamous cell cancers

Patients with metastatic melanoma taking the recently approved drug vemurafenib (Zelboraf) responded well to the twice daily pill, but some of them developed a different, secondary skin cancer.

18 Jan 2012

Mandatory pre-contract performance-enhancing drugs screening policy for potential UFC athletes

Continuing a commitment to the health and safety of its athletes, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that all potential UFC and STRIKEFORCE signees will be subject to a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance-enhancing drugs. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, all incoming athletes will be tested prior to finalizing a contract with the world's premier mixed martial arts organization.

18 Jan 2012

Paragon receives JVAP-CBMS contract from DoD

Paragon Bioservices, Inc., a Baltimore-based CMO focused on the process development and manufacturing of biologics, announced today that it has been awarded a JVAP-CBMS contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) for the vaccine development and subsequent GMP manufacturing of the "VEE Replicon Particle Trivalent Filovirus Vaccine."

18 Jan 2012

Bioengineers receive $2 million NIH grant to develop new toxicology tests

Chemicals in pharmaceutical drugs can obviously save lives. But as more and stronger chemicals have been introduced, our basic knowledge of the broader health impact of all these chemicals has not kept up with the rapid pace of innovation. There is exceptionally little information on how chemicals in our drugs and also in the environment around us, including on the food we eat, impact some of the most important cells in our body: stem cells. Without basic knowledge and tests on the impact of chemicals on our stem cells, we may be unwittingly damaging essential regenerative functions in our body.

18 Jan 2012

Alpha-1-antitrypsin may reduce effects of GVHD

A natural enzyme derived from human blood plasma showed potential in significantly reducing the effects of graft-vs.-host disease, a common and deadly side effect of lifesaving bone marrow transplants.

18 Jan 2012

EMA approves Genzyme's Fabrazyme manufacturing plant in Framingham

Genzyme, a Sanofi company, announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved its manufacturing plant in Framingham, Mass., for the production of Fabrazyme.

18 Jan 2012

LEITAT, JPT and IUCT partner to develop enhanced anticancer therapy

JPT Peptide Technologies GmbH (JPT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BioNTech AG, IUCT and LEITAT announced today their collaboration on the joint development of an enhanced anticancer therapy based on the biofocused targeting of nucleoside analogs linked to small cyclic peptidomimetics.

18 Jan 2012

Counterfeit, substandard drugs threaten progress in controlling malaria in Africa, researchers report

"Hopes of controlling malaria in Africa could be wrecked by criminals who are circulating counterfeit and substandard drugs, threatening millions of lives, scientists" said in a study published in the Malaria Journal last month, the Guardian reports.

18 Jan 2012

Research reports on effectiveness of Scriptaid in breast cancer cell lines

Although endocrine therapy for breast cancer has shown excellent results in controlling the disease, responsiveness to the therapy depends on whether or not there is expression of estrogen receptors in breast cancer cells. Research from the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, a nonprofit cancer, cardiovascular and diabetes research center located in Philadelphia, PA, reports on the effectiveness of a new molecule, Scriptaid, that restores receptivity to endocrine therapy in breast cancer cell lines that had tested negative for the expression of estrogen receptors.

18 Jan 2012

Study compares adoptive T-cell therapy with drug-based cancer treatment

In the treatment of large tumors, how effective is adoptive T cell therapy in comparison to drug-based cancer treatment? To answer this question, Dr. Kathleen Anders and Professor Thomas Blankenstein of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and researchers of the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, California, USA designed and carried out a study comparing the two methods. Based on a mouse cancer model, the researchers elucidated the mechanisms of the two different treatments.

18 Jan 2012

Researchers develop simple process for synthesis of artemisinin

The most effective anti-malaria drug can now be produced inexpensively and in large quantities. This means that it will be possible to provide medication for the 225 million malaria patients in developing countries at an affordable price. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Freie Universit-t Berlin have developed a very simple process for the synthesis of artemisinin, the active ingredient that pharmaceutical companies could only obtain from plants up to now.

18 Jan 2012

Voraxaze receives FDA approval for treatment of toxic methotrexate levels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Voraxaze (glucarpidase) to treat patients with toxic levels of methotrexate in their blood due to kidney failure.

18 Jan 2012

Vitamin D supplements can fight against age-related macular degeneration

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found that vitamin D reduces the effects of ageing in mouse eyes and improves the vision of older mice significantly. The researchers hope that this might mean that vitamin D supplements could provide a simple and effective way to combat age-related eye diseases, such as macular degeneration (AMD), in people.

17 Jan 2012

Almac, MGB Biopharma partner to manufacture MGB-BP3 gram positive antibacterial compound

MGB Biopharma and Almac's Sciences Business Unit have entered into a collaboration where Almac will manufacture the production of their lead gram positive antibacterial compound MGB-BP3.

17 Jan 2012

Actavis, Scil Proteins sign Reteplase supply agreement

Scil Proteins, a private biotech company specialized in the research, development and production of recombinant proteins, announced today that it has signed a supply agreement with Actavis, one of the world's leading generic pharmaceutical companies, for the future manufacturing of Reteplase.

17 Jan 2012