All News

PharmRep06Rates

PharmRep06Cal

PharmRep06CalRates

November 2005 CE.

Leo H. Sternbach's death feels like the end of an era, a time when the new drugs came easily and it was possible to have a huge impact on patients, then turn around and do it again.

A new meta-analysis confirms the risk of atypical antipsychotics noted by FDA earlier this year. But the reasons for this increased incidence of death remain unclear.

Merck and GSK’s cervical cancer vaccines promise great benefits to women-but there are several key hurdles to clear before the drugs can become the blockbusters the companies are predicting. Analysts debate how long it will take it will take to overcome these obstacles.

Will vaccines against cervical cancer be the blockbusters that Merck and GSK are predicting? Or will issues of cost-effectiveness and parental reluctance hold them back? The experts weigh in on the debate.

A look at the issues facing the Blood Products Advisory Committee when it reviews OraSure’s at-home test next month.

In the interests of helping drug makers prepare for the new legislative climate, database and software provider Cegedim recently organized a seminar.

Thomson CenterWatch recently launched a content management service to assist sponsors in complying with the latest requirements for clinical trial transparency. This web based program serves as a tool for sponsors to register their active clinical trials and publish their clinical trial results while following the data field guidelines established by clinicaltrials.gov and the World Health Organization and ICMJE.

A look at what the advent of generic antiretroviral drugs could mean for the industry.

Experts are thrilled about the development of a new iron chelation drug that could be taken orally, changing the lives of patients who need chronic blood transfusions.

ABthrax takes advantage of new knowledge about anthrax to fight the bacteria’s lethal toxin.

Wolters Kluwer Health is the professional’s first choice for knowledge-based information services and decision-support tools for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life science industries.

October 2005 CE.

Schizophrenia experts interpret the result of an extensive head-to-head comparison of five treatments. Schizophrenia patients frequently change or discontinue treatments. The jury is out on some side effects.

Scientists talk about the medical applications of a protein with 10 trillion possible functional variations. The molecule, present in viruses that infect bacteria, is the closest thing to an antibody ever discovered. And it might be easier to replicate.

Hours after Lester Crawford resigns, the head of the National Cancer Institute takes his place on the FDA hot seat.

A look at the science behind a new class of rheumatoid arthritis drugs that act by suppressing an early stage of inflammation, the activation of T cells.

A University of California San Diego professor explains the results of his research on nuclear receptors and why these findings could lead to new therapies for autoimmune diseases.

Analysis of a new report that says safety-related product withdrawals have not increased since the approval process sped up in the 1990s.

September 2005 CE.

In a few years' time, or so the conventional wisdom goes, personalized medicine will become a reality, and many (or even most) new drugs will come to market supported by tests that will help physicians make the decision of who gets what drug, what's the appropriate dose, and who's in the greatest danger of serious side effects-all based on a better understanding of biological processes and newly available data from testing at the molecular level to characterize patients and disease. We're not there yet, of course. To date only a handful of drugs are accompanied by molecular-level diagnostic tests. At the 2005 Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, Ian Massey, PhD, senior vice president and head of research and preclinical development at Roche, expressed the opinion that molecular diagnostics will only affect a few medicines in the near to mid-term.

Scientists at the University of Michigan found a brain mechanism that increases the release of pain-fighting endorphins when the subject was given a placebo. The implication? Better clinical trials, and maybe, new methods of pain relief, researchers say.

An ingenious pharmacogenetic test from Third Wave Technologies tests for the presence of a genetic change that inhibits metabolism of irinotecan. Oncology specialists explain how it works, and why it matters.

Legal experts play Monday-morning quarterback with Merck's first Vioxx loss. The lessons, they say: learn to present science better, pay attention to jury emotion and, oh yes, worry about shareholder lawsuits.

This vaccine specialist is attempting to create a product that will protect people from influenza A for every future flu season without re-formulation. They are thinking about how to fight influenza B, too.

Migraine specialist abandons one problematic drug and maintains its position by filing an NDA the following week.

Only a year after the National Human Genome Research Institute called for improving sequencing technology, two new methods were announced in the same week. What will the goal of a $1000 human genome mean for medicine and disease research?