Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Researchers discover new compound to fight against shingles

Researchers at the University of Georgia and Yale University have discovered a compound with the potential to be more effective than existing agents in treating the very painful blisters known as shingles-a condition that affects up to 30 percent of Americans, mostly elderly, and for which no specific treatment exists.

22 Apr 2011

FDA approves Spectrum's FUSILEV Injection to treat metastatic colorectal cancer

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with fully integrated commercial and drug development operations with a primary focus in oncology, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Company's Supplemental New Drug Application for FUSILEV Injection.

22 Apr 2011

GM-SCF therapy can reduce flu symptoms and prevent death

New research on mice has shown that pulmonary administration of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor significantly reduces flu symptoms and prevents death after a lethal dose influenza virus.

22 Apr 2011

Merck and Sanofi Pasteur commence Phase III trial of pediatric hexavalent combination vaccine

Merck and Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, announced today the initiation of a Phase III clinical program to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational pediatric hexavalent combination vaccine.

21 Apr 2011

WSU researcher develops potential vaccine for Chlamydia

A Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher has developed a potential first ever vaccine for Chlamydia, the world's most prevalent sexually transmitted disease and the leading cause of new cases of blindness.

21 Apr 2011

Meridian Bioscience second quarter net sales increases 32% to $41.1 million

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., today reported fiscal 2011 second quarter and six months net sales of $41.1 million and $78.3 million, respectively, increases of 32% and 6%, respectively, from the same periods of the prior fiscal year;

21 Apr 2011

Baxter’s first quarter global sales increase 12% to $3.3 billion

Baxter International Inc. today announced strong financial results for the first quarter of 2011, and raised its outlook for full-year 2011.

From Baxter International Inc. 21 Apr 2011

FDA warns four firms to stop making unproven MRSA prevention claims

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued four warning letters to companies that manufacture and market over-the-counter (OTC) drug products, including hand sanitizers, that claim to prevent infection from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (MRSA).

21 Apr 2011

Covidien second quarter net sales up 10% to $2.80 billion

Covidien plc today reported results for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 (January - March 2011). Net sales of $2.80 billion increased 10% from the $2.55 billion reported in the second quarter a year ago. Foreign exchange rate movement added approximately two percentage points to the quarterly sales growth rate.

21 Apr 2011

Report: Prescription drug spending growth slows

Americans and their insurers spent $307.4 billion on prescription drugs in 2010, up just 2.3 percent from the previous year, according to data released Tuesday by IMS Health Inc.

21 Apr 2011

Shanghai Pharmaceutical and Pfizer enter MOU to pursue potential business opportunities

Shanghai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Pfizer Inc. today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the companies to jointly pursue potential business opportunities in China.

21 Apr 2011

CMS unveils 2012 hospital Medicare payment proposal

The American Hospital Association responded by saying it was "deeply disappointed" by the proposal, which would cut acute-care hospital payments in the coming year.

21 Apr 2011

Gilead, MicroDose enter collaboration for inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor MDT-637

Gilead Sciences, Inc. and MicroDose Therapeutx, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of MDT-637, MicroDose's inhalable small molecule antiviral fusion inhibitor for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

20 Apr 2011

Spanish tool measures infant pain rapidly and simply

It turns out to be difficult to find out exactly how much a child who cannot yet speak suffers after a surgical operation. Researchers at the University Hospital of La Paz, in Madrid, have validated the 'Llanto' scale, the first, and only, tool in Spanish which measures infant pain rapidly and simply.

20 Apr 2011

Furiex acquires full rights to JNJ-Q2, a novel broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has acquired full exclusive license rights to develop and commercialize the compound JNJ-Q2 under its existing development and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V.. Furiex acquired these rights as a result of Janssen's decision not to exercise its option under the agreement that gave Janssen the opportunity to continue development of JNJ-Q2.

20 Apr 2011

Forest Labs fourth quarter net sales increase 9.7% to $1,091.9 million

Forest Laboratories, Inc., an international pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketer, announced that reported earnings per share equaled $1.12 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

19 Apr 2011

BIDMC: Physicians need to create healthy distance between work, home online identities

With ubiquitous social media sites like Facebook and Twitter blurring private and professional lines, there is an increasing need for physicians to create a healthy distance between their work and home online identities, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians assert.

19 Apr 2011

Countries agree to draft framework on virus sharing, WHO says

After almost four years of negotiations, the WHO on Saturday announced it had reached an agreement on sharing flu virus samples, Agence-France Presse reports.

19 Apr 2011

Transgene, Inovio and ChronTech collaborate for novel vaccine phase I trial in HCV

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today it has signed a collaboration agreement with Transgene S.A. and ChronTech Pharma AB to evaluate a novel therapeutic vaccination strategy against genotype 1 hepatitis C virus in a phase I clinical study.

18 Apr 2011

Positive results from Nabriva's BC-3781 Phase II trial in ABSSSI

Nabriva Therapeutics today announced the successful results of a Phase II clinical trial of BC-3781 in acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.

18 Apr 2011