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GlaxoSmithKline, XenoPort receive FDA approval for Horizant to treat RLS

On April 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Horizant Extended Release Tablets, a once-daily treatment for moderate-to-severe restless legs syndrome.

8 Apr 2011

Study suggests depression treatment may have long-term benefits

Ian Colman, an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, recently completed a study that suggests that treatment of depression may have long-term benefits.

8 Apr 2011

CFFT, Vertex collaborate to develop new medicines for cystic fibrosis

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. today announced they will collaborate on the continued discovery and development of new medicines known as correctors that aim to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis in people with the most common form of the disease.

8 Apr 2011

Study: DBS surgery allows 77% of patients to stop anti-tremor medication use

Deep brain stimulation, a surgical procedure to suppress faulty nerve signals, allowed 77 percent of patients to stop the medications used to treat their essential tremors within one year following the surgery, University of South Florida researchers report.

8 Apr 2011

Opinions: Support antibiotic R&D; foreign aid budget cuts

"The framework for antibiotic discovery, development and approval is broken," Matthew Cooper of the University of Queensland and David Shales, former vice president at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, write in a Nature comment, calling for "a sustained effort from government and industry to develop new drugs quickly."

8 Apr 2011

IDSA develops plans to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant 'super bugs'

To head off a health care disaster, the Infectious Diseases Society of America has developed a plan to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant "super bugs" and is rolling out the multi-pronged plan today, on World Health Day 2011.

8 Apr 2011

Patients with stroke can benefit from antidepressants

A University of Iowa study finds that patients treated with a short course of antidepressants after a stroke have significantly greater improvement in physical recovery than patients treated with a placebo.

8 Apr 2011

Shionogi launches CUVPOSA for pediatric chronic severe drooling

Shionogi Inc., the U.S.-based group company of Shionogi & Co., Ltd., today announced the U.S. commercial availability of CUVPOSA™ (glycopyrrolate) oral solution, the first and only FDA-approved treatment to reduce chronic severe drooling in patients aged 3 to 16 with neurologic conditions associated with problem drooling, such as cerebral palsy.

7 Apr 2011

FDA issues Approvable Letter for Oceana's Solesta in treatment for bowel incontinence

Oceana Therapeutics, a global company focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing best-in-class specialty therapeutics, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Approvable Letter for Solesta® as a treatment for fecal (bowel) incontinence.

7 Apr 2011

CoMeD urges UN to ban mercury use in pharmaceuticals

While the United Nations actively questions the use of a vaccine preservative that contains the known neurotoxin mercury, the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs, a Maryland-based, non-profit organization, is urging the UN to ban it.

7 Apr 2011

Alnylam to extend RNAi therapeutics research collaboration with AlCana and UBC

AlCana Technologies, Inc., The University of British Columbia, and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that Alnylam has elected to extend the companies' RNAi therapeutics research collaboration for a third year.

7 Apr 2011

Alexion submits Soliris marketing applications to FDA, EMA for aHUS treatment

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the company has submitted marketing applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for Soliris as a treatment for patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.

7 Apr 2011

Vismodegib is an effective treatment for patients with basal cell carcinomas

A new drug is effective in preventing new basal cell carcinomas in patients with an inherited predisposition to the disease.

7 Apr 2011

Powerful natural formula is an effective treatment for men with prostate cancer

Researchers at Indiana University and Methodist Research Institute publish the dramatic effects of a natural formula against prostate cancer. This is the second in-depth study supporting the effectiveness of this formula against the disease.

7 Apr 2011

DSP, BBI sign license agreement for BBI608

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. and Boston Biomedical, Inc., today announced that they have signed a Product Option License Agreement for BBI608 for all oncology indications in Japan and exclusive right of negotiation for BBI608 for the United States and Canada.

7 Apr 2011

Patients with type 2 diabetes can benefit from metformin than other drugs

New research suggests that several commonly prescribed drugs for type 2 diabetes may not be as effective at preventing death and cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and stroke, as the oral anti-diabetic drug, metformin.

7 Apr 2011

AstraZeneca's vandetanib receives FDA approval in medullary thyroid cancer

AstraZeneca today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the orphan drug vandetanib for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or that has spread to other parts of the body.

7 Apr 2011

Cliffside encourages patients to continue antidepressant use despite health risks

Cliffside Malibu, one of America's leading drug and alcohol treatment centers, is strongly urging its patients who are currently taking antidepressants not to stop, despite a new study and subsequent media reports that such drugs could raise the risk of heart attack or stroke in middle-age men taking the medications.

7 Apr 2011

Top 10 global pharmaceutical company, Medicago sign deal to develop non-influenza vaccine

Medicago Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles, today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement for the development of a non-influenza vaccine candidate with a top 10 global pharmaceutical company.

7 Apr 2011

Fish oil can serve as beneficial booster for tamoxifen breast cancer therapy

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women, with more than 200,000 women diagnosed each year. Being exposed to estrogen over a long period of time is one factor that can increase a woman's risk of developing the disease.

7 Apr 2011