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UM launches campaign on medication adherence in Baltimore

Months before U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, came to Baltimore on Nov. 2 to officially launch the city's leg of a three-year national campaign to raise awareness about medication adherence, pharmacy students had already taken up the challenge, said Cherokee Layson-Wolf, PharmD, CGP, associate professor of pharmacy practice and science at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

8 Nov 2011

QRxPharma receives date for US pain drug launch, pending approval

Australian pain-relief drug developer QRxPharma (QRX) has announced today that they have received from the US Food & Drug Adminstration.

8 Nov 2011

Congress examines options to improve availability of prescription drugs

Shortages of prescription drugs are leaving a growing number of patients waiting for life-saving medicines. Federal officials say the number of prescriptions in short supply tripled from 2005 to 2010. Limited supplies of some drugs have sent prices soaring 1,000 times above normal.

8 Nov 2011

Children's Hospital project to investigate effectiveness of BET antagonists against HIV

Terri Finkel, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Rheumatology at Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled "Use of a BET Antagonist to Control and Cure HIV Infection."

8 Nov 2011

Live virus used in polio vaccine can evolve and infect, warns TAU researcher

Health professionals and researchers across the globe believe they are on the verge of eradicating polio, a devastating virus which can lead to paralysis and death. Despite successful eradication in most countries, there are still four countries where the virus is considered endemic -- and many more in which the virus still lurks.

8 Nov 2011

Georgia Tech/CDC project focuses on microneedle patches for polio vaccination

Mark Prausnitz, Regents' professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, will pursue an innovative global health research project focused on using microneedle patches for the low-cost administration of polio vaccine through the skin in collaboration with researchers Steve Oberste and Mark Pallansch of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 Nov 2011

Link between heavy methamphetamine use and schizophrenia

In the first worldwide study of its kind, scientists from Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence that heavy methamphetamine users might have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.

8 Nov 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb receives FDA approval for Erbitux to treat head and neck cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Erbitux (cetuximab) for use with chemotherapy to treat patients with late-stage (metastatic) head and neck cancer.

8 Nov 2011

A prescription for prevention

Medicine-related hospital admissions could be reduced by a simple initiative designed and implemented by researchers at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Pharmacy.

7 Nov 2011

DSM and Svelte Medical Systems enter into license and supply agreement

DSM, and Svelte® Medical Systems, Inc., a privately held company developing next generation endovascular therapies, today announced they have entered into a license and supply agreement granting Svelte the right to use DSM’s proprietary bioerodible amino acid based drug carrier in the design of their All In One non-thrombogenic, non-inflammatory drug-eluting stent system.

7 Nov 2011

Perrigo and Synthon commence shipping generic Xyzal Oral Solution

Perrigo Company and its partner Synthon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Perrigo has begun shipping Levocetirizine Solution, 2.5 mg/5ml, a generic version of UCB's Xyzal Oral Solution.

7 Nov 2011

Prostate cancer drug market forecast to grow from $3.6 billion in 2010 to $10.1 billion in 2020

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, driven by the launches of several promising emerging therapies, the prostate cancer drug market will experience robust growth over the next decade, increasing from $3.6 billion in 2010 to $10.1 billion in 2020 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

7 Nov 2011

DuoCort Pharma granted marketing authorization for adrenal insufficiency drug, Plenadren in Europe

The Swedish specialty pharma company, DuoCort Pharma, announced today that the European Commission has granted a European Marketing Authorisation for Plenadren (hydrocortisone, modified release tablet), an orphan drug for treatment of adrenal insufficiency in adults, bringing these patients their first pharmaceutical innovation in over 50 years.

7 Nov 2011

MILV subsidiary acquires formula to restore proper kidney function

Nature's Bioceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mistral Ventures Inc. announced that it has executed the formal closing documents and acquired the chronic kidney disease formula. This formula was developed to restore proper kidney function.

7 Nov 2011

Study: Young adults in the north west of England consume illegal drugs after mephedrone ban

Young adults in the north west of England have turned to unidentified white powders following the ban on former 'legal high' mephedrone and the falling purity of popular street drugs such as cocaine, according to new research published today in the journal Drug and Alcohol Today.

7 Nov 2011

Scientists achieve major step toward goal of producing synthetic Taxol

Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes one of the most important cancer drugs ever discovered, Taxol, among other cancer treatments. But the difficulty producing these complex molecules in the lab has hampered or blocked exploration of the family for further drug leads. Now, a group of Scripps Research Institute scientists has successfully achieved a major step toward the goal of synthetically producing Taxol and other complex taxanes on a quest to harness chemical reactions that could enable research on previously unavailable potential drugs.

7 Nov 2011

Study evaluates JIA disease activity after treatment with etanercept

Among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who initiated treatment with the drug etanercept, one-third achieved an excellent response, and this response was associated with low measures of disability at study entry, younger age at the onset of JIA, and fewer disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs used before initiating etanercept, according to a study appearing in JAMA.

7 Nov 2011

PKM2 enzyme has important non-metabolic functions in cancer formation

The embryonic enzyme pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) has a well-established role in metabolism and is highly expressed in human cancers. Now, a team led by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in advance online publication of the journal Nature that PKM2 has important non-metabolic functions in cancer formation.

7 Nov 2011

$Narcotic analgesics increase risk of falls and fractures among elderly$

Narcotic analgesics increase risk of falls and fractures among elderly

Falls and fractures among senior citizens have increased since rofecoxib was removed from the market in 2004, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

Anti-TNFs, methotrexate may reduce risk of cardiovascular disease in people with RA

Taking methotrexate or anti-TNFs is associated with a reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease in people with rheumatoid arthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011