Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

Latest Cold, Flu & Cough News and Research

CHMP adopts positive opinion on pending MAA for SYCREST sublingual tablets

Merck announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use adopted a positive opinion on the pending Marketing Authorization Application for SYCREST (asenapine) sublingual tablets. The CHMP has recommended that the European Commission grant a marketing authorization for SYCREST for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults. The CHMP did not support an indication for the treatment of schizophrenia.

25 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 25, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the latest news about the House passing a temporary ban on cuts in Medicare reimbursements to doctors, while Senate Democrats failed to gain approval for their jobs bill, which included enhanced Medicaid aid to states.

25 Jun 2010

HHS Secretary to speak about benefits of Affordable Care Act for women

Today, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will speak to the National Partnership for Women and Families about how the Affordable Care Act will benefit women.

25 Jun 2010

IDRI signs Research Collaboration Agreement with PATH

Two global health non-profit organizations headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the Infectious Disease Research Institute and PATH, have entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement to evaluate novel adjuvants for their ability to enhance the immune response of pandemic influenza vaccines in development. The collaboration supports the goal of PATH's influenza vaccine project to advance the development of promising new influenza vaccines focusing on novel technologies that can be accessible, affordable, and available to people in low-resource countries in a global outbreak.

25 Jun 2010

Opinions: Harper and global health; Health workers in developing countries; Funding commitments; DDT, GMO use

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "can use the relatively intimate setting of the G8's Muskoka meeting to press for a renewal of the G8's commitment to better health for Africans, and help the developed world be truly accountable for its promises," the Globe and Mail writes in an editorial. "The G8's failure to fully fund the historic aid commitments to Africa it made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit" puts the future success of the developing world at risk, the editorial states.

25 Jun 2010

Latino population less likely to receive basic preventive tests, says study

"Prevention" is the new buzzword for health professionals and the new emphasis for containing future health care costs. Yet Latinos, who currently represent about 15 percent of the U.S. population, have the lowest level of preventive care of all racial and ethnic groups in the nation.

25 Jun 2010

New book provides comprehensive review of the functions of p53 family

The p53 tumor suppressor gene, the "guardian of the genome," protects cells against genotoxic stress but is mutated in many cancers. It encodes one of a family of proteins that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, senescence, and cell death. Mutations in p53 allow cells to escape normal growth controls and thereby contribute to tumor malignancy.

24 Jun 2010

June issue of Clinic Women's HealthSource provides overview of anemia

Anemia is not a normal part of aging, yet it's fairly common in older adults and causes frailness, weakness and increased risk of falls. According to Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource, more than one in 10 older adults has anemia. Twenty percent of women are anemic by age 85.

24 Jun 2010

Telefonica Mexico, Myriad Group nominated for 'Service: Social Use' at 2010 Global Messaging Awards

Telefonica Mexico and Myriad Group AG, in partnership with the Mexican Federal Ministry of Health and researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, today announced that their combined effort in conducting a H1N1 flu survey via mobile phones was named a finalist for 'Messaging Application or Service: Social Use' at the 2010 Global Messaging Awards.

24 Jun 2010

Mutation in ion channel that changes its dynamics is implicated in epilepsy: Scientists

In 2004, Washington University in St. Lous researcher Jianmin Cui was handed a puzzling clue to the structure of an ion channel his lab had been studying for five years.

24 Jun 2010

Company took measures to protect employees from H1N1 flu: National poll

In response to the H1N1 flu, most employees at U.S. businesses say their company took measures to protect them from illness, such as encouraging sick employees to stay home, according to a national poll of employees by researchers from the Harvard Opinion Research Program at Harvard School of Public Health.

23 Jun 2010

US physicians concerned about health risk to patients from heat-damaged medicinal products

In a recent Harris Interactive survey of US physicians about the proper storage and handling of temperature-sensitive medicines prescribed and administered to patients, physicians reported being concerned about this issue, and the overwhelming majority are concerned that heat-damaged products resulting from cumulative exposure to temperatures outside the specified temperature range pose a health risk to patients. The announcement of the study findings was made today by Temptime Corporation.

23 Jun 2010

HealthGrades study examines mortality rates for patients entering hospitals through emergency departments

The quality of emergency medical care at the nation's hospitals varies widely - both individually and by state - according to a new HealthGrades study released today that, for the first time, examines mortality rates for patients entering hospitals through emergency departments.

23 Jun 2010

GSK, Medivir sign exclusive agreement for commercialization of Xerclear

GlaxoSmithKline and Medivir today announced an exclusive agreement for the commercialization of cold sore treatment, Xerclear (acyclovir and hydrocortisone) for non-prescription use (OTC) in key global markets. Xerclear is the first and only topical herpes labialis (cold sores) treatment clinically proven to help prevent cold sore lesions appearing.

23 Jun 2010

Cell>Point submits IND application for Phase 1b/2 99mTc-EC-G diagnostic trial in assessing CAD patients

Cell>Point announced today that it has submitted to the Food and Drug Administration an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a Phase 1b/2 trial of its 99mTc-EC-G diagnostic in assessing patients with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

23 Jun 2010

Walgreen third-quarter sales up 6.1% to record $17.2 billion

Walgreens today announced earnings and sales results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010.

22 Jun 2010

SynCon DNA vaccine shows advantages in magnitude and breadth of immune responses in non-human primates

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Therapy has published a paper entitled "Comparative Analysis of Immune Responses Induced by Vaccination With SIV Antigens by Recombinant Ad5 Vector or Plasmid DNA in Rhesus Macaques." The paper, co-authored by researchers from Merck, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, notes that significant advances in the design, formulation, and delivery of DNA plasmid-based vaccines have dramatically increased their ability to induce antigen-specific immune responses.

22 Jun 2010

Most Americans view paid sick days as basic worker right

Paid sick leave is a benefit prized by American workers but frequently missing on the job — a situation that leads to serious consequences, a new study released Monday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago shows.

22 Jun 2010

Pfizer to discontinue commercial availability of Mylotarg for AML in U.S.

Pfizer Inc. announced today that based on discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it will be discontinuing commercial availability of Mylotarg® (gemtuzumab ozogamicin for Injection) (used for the treatment of relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML)) in the United States and that it will be voluntarily withdrawing the new drug application (NDA) for Mylotarg effective October 15, 2010.

22 Jun 2010

Asthmatics to suffer more this winter warn experts

Asthma sufferers in Australia have been warned about a bad cold and flu season ahead. 58 percent of the susceptible population is already experiencing asthma attacks since the start of the season according to The National Asthma Council Australia (NACA) on Monday. They went on to say that nearly half of this population is still not vaccinated against seasonal flu.

21 Jun 2010