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Political ripples of overhaul remain uncertain

Lawmakers received mixed receptions at home after last week's vote, and speculation continues to swirl about how the health overhaul will play out in November's midterm elections.

30 Mar 2010

Enobia Pharma unveils findings from first HPP self-reported patient survey at ACMG 2010

Enobia Pharma Inc. unveiled findings from the first hypophosphatasia self-reported patient survey intended to evaluate the burden of illness associated with HPP at the 2010 American College of Medical Genetics Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting.

30 Mar 2010

LCT receives approval for New Zealand Phase II human trial of DIABECELL

Living Cell Technologies Limited, a global company pioneering the development of a cell implant to treat diabetes, today announced that it has received approval to advance to the next phase of its New Zealand Phase II human clinical trial with its groundbreaking DIABECELL®. The approval follows a positive assessment from the New Zealand Data Safety and Monitoring Board of the first four patients to receive its DIABACELL® implants.

30 Mar 2010

Massachusetts governor's race focuses on national health question: Cost control

The Massachusetts governor's race "is focused on the question that now confronts the nation: how to keep spiraling costs from bankrupting the experiment," The New York Times reports.

30 Mar 2010

DIATHERIX GI test panel can detect nine types of GI infections

DIATHERIX Laboratories adds a gastrointestinal panel to its lineup of highly sensitive, rapid response diagnostic tests. In a single result, the DIATHERIX GI panel can detect and differentiate nine types of GI infections so physicians can quickly identify patients who have severe, life-threatening infections.

30 Mar 2010

Cangene extends botulism antitoxin contract with BARDA

Cangene Corporation today reports that it has signed a no-cost modification to extend its botulism antitoxin contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ("BARDA"). BARDA is the department within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that manages the two biodefence-related, stockpiling contracts Cangene has with HHS.

30 Mar 2010

How the health legislation will affect consumers

The Los Angeles Times explores some key questions: Will insurers continue to raise premiums; when will the Medicare "doughnut hole" close; and, "how do I sign up for my new insurance?" In answer to the last one, the Times writes, "Although there are some provisions that take effect this year, such as bans on lifetime limits and the denial of coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, the part of the bill that provides new insurance options does not take effect until 2014" (Geiger, 3/28).

30 Mar 2010

GenVec announces discontinuation of TNFerade PACT trial for pancreatic cancer

GenVec, Inc. announced today that it is discontinuing its Phase 3 clinical trial of TNFerade™ in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer based on results of an interim analysis. This interim analysis of overall survival, conducted after the 184th death (two-thirds of total expected events), was designed to determine whether the study should continue.

30 Mar 2010

Conference on the actions of Vitamin D on human health

An important conference on the actions of Vitamin D on human health is being hosted by Barts and The London Medical School and the MRC Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma.

30 Mar 2010

Researchers to study health literacy among Indigenous people living with cardiovascular disease

Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto are part of an international team of researchers recently awarded a multi-million dollar grant for their work in cardiovascular disease among Indigenous people in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Canadian team will receive $742,000 in funding for its part of the project from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnerships.

30 Mar 2010

Shinseki tries to squelch rumors about health reform and Vets

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Erik Shinseki "addressed fears that some veterans have expressed that their health care and, specifically, their TRICARE medical coverage will be adversely affected by the health-reform legislation," according to the Providence Journal.

30 Mar 2010

Cephalon receives FDA Complete Response Letter for NUVIGIL supplemental new drug application

Cephalon, Inc. today announced the company has received a Complete Response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its supplemental new drug application for NUVIGIL® (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] in the treatment of patients with excessive sleepiness associated with jet lag disorder resulting from eastbound travel.

30 Mar 2010

Health industry will see more patients with reform; Physicians give mixed reviews

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "The health care plan aims to send a wave of paying patients to hospitals, doctors and pharmacists." Expanded coverage will mean less uncompensated care, a boon to traditional safety-net hospitals, but also more Medicaid patients. Hospitals say Medicaid fees don't cover their costs, so that influx could hurt the bottom line.

30 Mar 2010

Astellas Pharma, OSIP enter into confidentiality agreement

Astellas Pharma Inc. confirmed today that it has entered into a confidentiality agreement with OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Under the agreement, OSI will provide Astellas with access to certain non-public information. This follows Astellas' approach to OSI after OSI's announcement that its board of directors had instructed its management and financial advisors to contact interested third parties regarding a potential transaction.

30 Mar 2010

Trius Therapeutics' Phase 1 trial establishes safety and tolerability of IV torezolid phosphate for MRSA

Trius Therapeutics, Inc. today announced results from its Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the intravenous (IV) dosage form of torezolid phosphate, an IV and orally administered second generation oxazolidinone for the treatment of serious gram positive infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

30 Mar 2010

Democrats reflect on importance of reconciliation in health bill strategy

Reconciliation proved critical to health care reform passage, The New York Times reports: "Just a few months into his first term in 1993, President Bill Clinton went to Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, the protector of Senate rules, to ask permission to use a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to enact a bold health care overhaul.' At that time, Clinton got neither consent nor the passage of a health care law.

30 Mar 2010

Alcon acquires right to market DUREZOL ophthalmic corticosteroid in U.S.

Alcon, the world's leader in eye care, announced today that it received regulatory approval and finalized the acquisition of the rights in the United States for DUREZOL™ emulsion and the global rights, excluding Latin America, for ZYCLORIN™ from Sirion Therapeutics, Inc.

30 Mar 2010

Industry groups, lobbying firms gain from health overhaul

The Associated Press: Under the new health care law, "pharmaceutical lobbyists won new federal policies they coveted and set a trajectory for long-term industry growth." Ramsey Baghdadi, a Washington health policy analyst, "projects a $30 billion, 10-year net gain for the industry. 'I don't see how they could have done much better,'" he said.

29 Mar 2010

Cutting off coverage? An examination of a case in California

The Huffington Post Investigative Fund on the case of Heather Galeotti, a woman in a coma after being hit by a car: "[I]n July 2007, five months into Galeotti's treatment, Kaiser [Permanente] stunned the family with a letter. The Galeottis would have to find another way to pay the bills. Based on information received from her father's employer, Kaiser said that the young woman's coverage had not been in effect when she was hit."

29 Mar 2010

NexMed files IND with FDA for Phase II trial of PrevOnco for HCC

NexMed, Inc, a specialty CRO with a pipeline of products based on the NexACT® technology, today announced that the Company has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for a Phase II trial of its recently acquired cancer drug candidate PrevOnco™, in combination with doxorubicin in patients with advanced, unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The FDA has 30 days to comment on the IND before NexMed can proceed with human testing.

29 Mar 2010