Vytorin May Not Be Effective Against Heart Disease

Associated Content: "For many Americans with high cholesterol and a family or personal history of heart disease, Vytorin has been the first line of defense against heart disease. According to MSNBC, a new study may change all of that. In findings presented on Sunday to the American College of Cardiology conference in Chicago, experts say that Vytorin provided no measurable benefit for heart disease sufferers, despite having a dramatic impact on trigylcerides, LDL and artery inflammation."

Is Asthma Drug Linked to Suicidal Behavior?

ABC News: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an investigation Wednesday examining a link between suicide and Merck's popular allergy and asthma drug, Singulair."

video--Former Meth User Says Drug Wrecks Teeth

Former methamphetamine user Wade Burmley talked Wednesday about how his drug abuse caused severe dental problems. Dentist Mitchell Goodis is working to help such patients.

Revisiting Melanie McDaniel -

NYTimes.com - When Melanie McDaniel was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2001, no one expected that an experimental new therapy would help her live to see her seventh birthday.

Managing Seven Common Conditions Without Medication: "We’ve gotten used to taking pills for everything that ails us, but medications have side effects and cost money. The April 2008 issue of the Harvard Health Letter takes a look at how to manage seven common conditions without taking medication. It takes some discipline, but in many cases, the nonpharmacological approach can do as much as pills."

video--Aspirin Helps Prevent Recurring Colorectal Adenomas

FDA Warns Doctors On J&J's HIV Drug Prezista

FDA Warns Doctors On J&J's HIV Drug Prezista: "U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, warned healthcare providers on Friday about a possible link between a Johnson & Johnson's HIV drug Prezista and hepatotoxicity, or chemical-driven liver damage"

Cancer sufferers given experimental drugs

Telegraph: "Terminally-ill cancer patients are being used as human guinea pigs to test experimental drugs which may give them one last chance of beating the disease."The Department of Health has given its approval to a network of 19 hospital units where patients who have no other hope of a cure can agree to take drugs which might be years away from being approved. The first of the Centres for Experimental Cancer Medicine has already opened at Bart’s Hospital in London, and others are being established in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Epix terminates depression drug development

Pharmaceutical Business Review: "Epix Pharmaceuticals has reported that the company is discontinuing clinical development of PRX-00023 due to lack of significant efficacy shown in the recently completed Phase IIb trial in patients with major depressive disorder."

Samaritan acquires rights to Abiogens cancer drug

Pharmaceutical Business Review: "Abioklad is used for the treatment of cancer malignancy-associated hypercalcemia (high blood calcium), the inhibition of osteolysis (degeneration of bone tissue), and the decrease of bone pain associated with cancer. Discovered by Abiogen Pharma, Abioklad is a bisphosphonate that binds to calcium and inhibits osteoclastic bone resorption, crystal formation, and dissolution, resulting in a reduction of bone turnover."

Arena's obesity drug safe for heart patients

Clinical Trials: "Lorcaserin, Arena's internally discovered oral drug candidate for the treatment of obesity, is in an ongoing phase III programme. The compound is the first in a new class of obesity drug candidates targeting the 5-HT2C serotonin receptor, which is located in the hypothalamus, a key area of the brain associated with regulation of food intake and metabolism. Results from phase II studies demonstrated that treatment with lorcaserin produced highly statistically significant, progressive and dose-dependent weight loss over a 12-week period. Lorcaserin was generally well tolerated at all doses in the phase II clinical trials and had no apparent effects on heart valves or pulmonary artery pressure."

FDA approves new leukemia drug

The Money Times: "Pharmaceutical manufacturer Cephalon Inc. of Frazer, Pa., said Treanda (bendamustine hydrochloride) received priority review by the FDA and was approved within six months of the company's application.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, is a slowly progressing blood and bone marrow disease. The American Cancer Society estimates more than 15,000 new cases of the rare disease will be diagnosed in the United States this year."

Roche closer to launching anaemia drug onto US market?

Roche closer to launching anaemia drug onto US market?: "Swiss drugmaker Roche moved a step closer to getting its anaemia drug Mircera onto the US market yesterday, after reportedly agreeing to terms laid out by the judge presiding over its patent infringement tussle with Amgen.

Mircera (methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta) was approved by US regulators back in November last year, but the company has been unable to launch it there because of its ongoing court battle with Amgen, which claims that the drug infringes on its intellectual property surrounding its own erythropoiesis-stimulating agents Epogen (epoetin alfa) and Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa)."

Boehringer Inhaler May Raise Stroke Risk

The Associated Press: "WASHINGTON (AP) — Drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim has told regulators that patients using its respiratory inhaler may face a greater risk of stroke.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that data submitted by the German drug maker show a slightly higher rate of stroke for patients using its Spiriva Handihaler, compared with a placebo. FDA said it has not yet analyzed the figures, which were compiled from 29 patient studies."

Merck: FDA to Speed Review on Gardasil’s Use in Adult Women

efluxmedia: "Drug maker Merck & Co. announced Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would consider whether to expand use of Gardasil, intended to prevent cervical cancer to women aged 27 to 45.

Gardasil, is currently approved in the United States for use in girls and women aged 9 through 26 to block four types of human papilloma virus, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts."

Parkinson's Drug May Fight Cancer

Parkinson's Drug May Fight Cancer: "The drug dopamine -- currently used to treat patients with conditions such as Parkinson's disease, pituitary tumors and heart attack -- may also prove effective in cancer patients, a Mayo Clinic study finds."

Aspirin Reduces Asthma Risk in Women

Medical News: "In non-obese women, a low-dose aspirin every other day reduces the risk of adult-onset asthma by 10%, researcher here said."

But the benefit is completely absent for women whose body mass index is 30 or above, according to Tobias Kurth, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital and colleagues reported online in Thorax.

Doctors See How Cancer Drug Can Damage Kidneys: "The sometimes controversial cancer drug Avastin can cause kidney damage by doing what it's supposed to -- but in the wrong place, a study shows.
Avastin, whose generic name is bevacizumab, is the first member of a family of drugs designed to attack cancers by cutting off their blood supply. It does this by inhibiting the action of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that promotes the growth of blood vessels"

FDA Panel Weighs Safety of Anemia Drugs for Cancer Patients

Dental Plans: "When a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel meets Thursday to weigh whether blood-boosting drugs are safe to use in cancer patients suffering from anemia, the question will not be an easy one to answer.
According to FDA briefing documents filed this week, there are now a total of eight clinical trials that suggest these widely used medications, sold as Epogen and Aranesp by Amgen Inc. and as Procrit by Johnson&Johnson, actually speed the growth of tumors and shorten the lives of cancer victims. Known as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs), they work by stimulating red blood cell production."

Heparin investigation focuses on raw ingredients

Los Angeles Times: "WASHINGTON -- The investigation into a blood thinner suspected in some 19 U.S. deaths is now focusing on the possibility that raw biological ingredients were contaminated even before they reached a factory in China, manufacturer Baxter Healthcare Corp. said Friday."

Is Merck's New Obesity Drug Candidate in Serious Trouble?

Seeking Alpha: "Well, I wish I hadn’t been right about this one. Last month I spent some time expressing doubts about Merck’s (MRK) new obesity drug candidate taranabant, a cannabinoid-1 ligand similar to Sanofi-Aventis’s (SNY) failed Acomplia (rimonabant). S-A ran into a number of central nervous system side effects in the clinic, and although they’ve gotten the drug approved in a few markets, it’s not selling well. U.S. approval, now long delayed, looks extremely unlikely."

Risks of Anemia Drugs for Patients With Cancer to Get More Scrutiny

New York Times: "But in 1990 Dr. Anagnostou published some of the first evidence suggesting that Amgen’s then brand-new anemia drug, Epogen, might fuel the growth of tumors. Few people paid heed."

No pain as Japan develops nasal spray bird flu vaccine

Straits Times: "TOKYO - JAPANESE researchers said on Wednesday they were in the final stage of developing a painless bird flu vaccine which is sprayed up the nose instead of being injected.
The nasal spray could make it easier to vaccinate people in developing countries with limited medical resources, which have borne the brunt of avian influenza since an outbreak in 2003."

Group gets to test new Merck AIDS drug in gel

Turkish Daily News "A group working to develop a gel or cream women could use to protect themselves against the AIDS virus said yesterday they have permission to use an experimental new drug from Merck and Co.
It is the sixth HIV drug to be tested by the International Partnership for Microbicides, said the group's chief executive officer, Dr. Zeda Rosenberg."

Schering applies to sell Santarus drug

Businessweek: "Santarus Inc. said Tuesday that Schering-Plough Corp. has applied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell an over-the-counter version of the specialty drug maker's heartburn treatment Zegerid."

Ahead of the Bell: Amgen clotting drug

Interactive Investor: "WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal health advisers on Wednesday will vote on whether an experimental biotech drug from Amgen should be approved to treat a blood-clotting disorder.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Monday Amgen's drug Nplate showed a range of adverse reactions, from bone-marrow abnormalities to blood clots, in company studies."

Viagra keeps two-year-old British boy alive

The Hindu News Update Service: "London (PTI): Who says anti-impotence drugs are only for old men? A two-year-old boy in Britain is dependent on Viagra -- but for a different reason altogether. Oliver Sherwood takes the medicine four times a day to control pulmonary hypertension (PH), a rare and heart and lung condition that causes chronic high blood pressure, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported on wedneday."

Tighter drug trial laws promised

BBC NEWS "Ministers have promised to tighten laws requiring drug firms to disclose data from clinical trials.
It comes after the drugs regulator announced GlaxoSmithKline would not face criminal proceedings over claims it withheld information on Seroxat."

Mystery substance in Baxter's heparin

chicagotribune.com: "A significant amount of an unidentified foreign substance contaminated Baxter International Inc.'s blood-thinning drug heparin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday, raising the possibility of intentional tampering in a supply chain that begins with pig farms in China."

Vitamin E Supplements Linked to Lung Cancer

MedHeadlines» "According to a study published in the March issue of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vitamin E can increase the risk of developing lung cancer. The study used data on 77,126 men and women between the ages 50 and 76 from the Washington State Vitamins and Lifestyle study, examining their rate of lung cancer over four years."