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IOM issues review of national vaccine strategy

Reuters: To strengthen U.S. national vaccine strategy, the country "needs to establish a permanent group that advises the government on vaccine safety and spend more money to address safety concerns about vaccines," according to a report released Friday by the Institute of Medicine.

15 Dec 2009

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries receives approval for newly revised prescribing information for AZILECT

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the newly revised prescribing information for AZILECT® (rasagiline tablets) reducing medication and food restrictions.

15 Dec 2009

Updated clinical data from Phase 2 study evaluating oral ridaforolimus presented

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the presentation of updated clinical data from its Phase 2 study evaluating oral ridaforolimus in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin®) in patients with resistant, metastatic breast cancer.

15 Dec 2009

Celebrex stops aspirin from doing its job effectively

Millions of Americans take Celebrex for arthritis or other pain. Many, if they are middle-aged or older, also take a low-dose aspirin tablet daily to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Yet they may be getting little protection, because Celebrex keeps the aspirin from doing its job effectively, a new study suggests.

15 Dec 2009

NBC News examines 'fastest growing' vector-borne disease: Dengue

Dengue is the "fastest growing" vector-borne disease worldwide, NBC News' "World Blog" writes in a story examining the disease. "It used to be contained largely to south-east Asia, but has been spreading, and is now found in South America, Africa, south Asia and parts of Australia.

15 Dec 2009

Alexza Pharmaceuticals submits its NDA for Staccato loxapine to FDA

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has submitted its New Drug Application (NDA) for Staccato® loxapine (AZ-004) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

15 Dec 2009

Optiquant BKV Quantification Panel for MSSA DNA testing procedures

AcroMetrix, a leading provider of quality control standards for clinical diagnostic laboratories, announced today the launch of the first standardized quality control for MSSA molecular testing.

15 Dec 2009

Ted and Jane Von Voigtlander Foundation gifts $15 million to University of Michigan Health System

The University of Michigan Health System has received a $15 million gift from the Ted and Jane Von Voigtlander Foundation, the largest gift ever made to the Health System for women's health. It will support the construction of a new women's hospital.

15 Dec 2009

Brain plaques associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have long assumed that amyloid brain plaques found in autopsies of Alzheimer's patients are harmful and cause Alzheimer's disease. But autopsies of people with no signs of mental impairment have also revealed brain plaques, challenging this theory.

15 Dec 2009

Experts consider public option compromise, role of OPM in health bill

Kaiser Health News talks to nine experts who weigh in on the proposed public option compromise as a possible spinoff of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to be run by the Office of Personnel Management.

14 Dec 2009

Vion Pharmaceuticals receives complete response letter related to its NDA for Onrigin injection

VION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. today announced that it had received a complete response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") related to its New Drug Application ("NDA") for Onrigin(TM) (laromustine) injection submitted in February 2009.

14 Dec 2009

Boston Scientific completes public offering of $2 billion senior notes

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the completion of a public offering of $2 billion aggregate principal amount of its senior notes under the Company's shelf registration statement.

14 Dec 2009

Senate approves appropriations package, Obama expected to sign

After the Senate approved a House-passed spending package worth almost $450 billion on Sunday, the legislation, which "includes annual foreign aid packages," will go to President Barack Obama, Agence France-Presse reports. Obama is expected to sign the legislation (12/13).

14 Dec 2009

White House: Health reform would curb cost growth

The White House's Council of Economic Advisers has released a report that finds health reform would slow the growth of health costs in the United States and buttress the economy.

14 Dec 2009

Fine print raises alarms over health bill

News reports forecast that some provisions in the Senate health-overhaul legislation could create distractions for Democrats seeking to pass a bill by the year's end.

14 Dec 2009

Amgen receives worldwide rights to Array’s small-molecule glucokinase activator program

Array BioPharma Inc. and Amgen Inc.(NASDAQ: AMGN) today announced that they entered into an agreement granting Amgen exclusive worldwide rights to Array’s small-molecule glucokinase activator program, including ARRY-403, currently being tested in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

14 Dec 2009

Postmenopausal women who take antidepressants face increased risk for stroke and death

Postmenopausal women who take antidepressants face a small but statistically significant increased risk for stroke and death compared with those who do not take the drugs. The new findings are from the federally-funded, multi-institution, Women's Health Initiative Study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, and the results are published in the December 14 online edition of Archives of Internal Medicine.

14 Dec 2009

DeParle gets GOP cold shoulder on health reform

Politico: "Senate Republicans say they want to 'smoke out' Democratic senators who could help them bring down the health care bill, and so far, they think they've found one in Sen. Jim Webb. With all the attention focused on four other fence-sitting moderates, Webb has voted with Republicans six times on the first series of amendments on the Senate floor — giving GOP leaders some hope that the unpredictable Virginian could buck his party in the end and block the bill" (Raju, 12/14).

14 Dec 2009

Data mining by drug companies raises concern

The Los Angeles Times examines a practice called data mining in which drug companies track how doctors prescribe medications by obtaining data from pharmacies and health insurers.

14 Dec 2009

Tea and coffee can reduce risk of type 2 diabetes

Drinking more coffee (regular or decaffeinated) or tea appears to lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to an analysis of previous studies reported in the December 14/28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, JAMA.

14 Dec 2009