May 22, 2013
- Researchers have developed a new drug delivery system that allows inhalation of chemotherapeutic drugs to help treat lung cancer, and in laboratory and animal tests it appears to reduce the systemic damage done to other organs while significantly improving the treatment of lung tumors.
May 21, 2013
- Transparent information on the evidence supporting global recommendations on paediatric medicines should be easily accessible in order to help policy makers decides on what drugs to include in their national drug lists, according to international experts from Ghana and the UK writing in this week's PLOS Medicine.
May 19, 2013
- A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, more costly and often unnecessary prescription drugs. This system, which has been in place for decades, at one time benefitted doctors by keeping them up to date on new medications, and always provided generous amounts of "free" samples to get patients started on the newest...
May 16, 2013
- Injectable nanoparticles developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) may someday eliminate the need for patients with Type 1 diabetes to constantly monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject themselves with insulin. The nanoparticles were designed to sense glucose levels in the body and respond by secreting the appropriate amount of insulin, thereby replacing the function of pancreatic islet cells, which are destroyed in patients with Type 1 diabetes.
AstraZeneca today announced that it will be moving three of its cancer compounds forward to Phase III clinical development. As set out at its Investor Day in March, oncology is one of the company's core therapy areas and accelerating the development of a number of new molecular entities in its pipeline is a strategic priority.
May 15, 2013
- A clinical trial has shown that patients, and their physicians, are eager to jump into next-era cancer care - analysis of an individual's tumor to find and target genetic mutations that drive the cancer. Results of the study, CUSTOM, are being presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology years before investigators thought they would be ready.
May 14, 2013
An ambitious new partnership to save the lives of a million of the poorest children in the world has been launched by GSK and Save the Children. This unique collaboration will see the two organisations work together in a very different way, sharing expertise, resources, reach and influence to tackle some of the leading causes of childhood deaths.
May 13, 2013
- In a landmark cancer study published online in Nature, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have unraveled a longstanding mystery about how pancreatic tumor cells feed themselves, opening up new therapeutic possibilities for a notoriously lethal disease with few treatment options. Pancreatic cancer kills nearly 38,000 Americans annually, making it a leading cause of cancer death. The life expectancy for most people diagnosed with it is less than a year.
May 12, 2013
Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ilaris® (canakinumab) for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) in patients aged 2 years and older. Ilaris is the first interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) inhibitor approved for SJIA and the only treatment approved specifically for SJIA that is given...
May 10, 2013
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and Zhejiang Beta Pharma Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang Beta Pharma) today announced that the companies have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to commercialize Amgen's Vectibix® (panitumumab) in the Chinese market. Together, Amgen and Zhejiang Beta Pharma aim to quickly and efficiently deliver Vectibix to patients in China.