Category Archives: Drugs

Delays in regulator approval mean cancer patients may miss out on the best treatments. Photo: Louie Douvis Australian cancer patients may be missing out on the best treatments due to delays in having them approved by regulators, according to new research. Researchers from Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute have found that 43 per cent of treatment regimens used at the hospital were not included on the government's list of subsidised medicines, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The researchers found that 192 of the 448 regimens - a drug or combination of drugs used to treat a particular cancer - were not PBS-listed. Advertisement: Story continues below The drugs' exclusion from the PBS list was due in most cases to them being used in a different way to that approved by Australia's national drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration. This was despite the uses of the drugs being supported by established treatment guidelines and published research, according to the authors of the study published in the Internal Medicine Journal. Study co-author Associate Professor Michael Michael said the Australian regulatory system was ''way behind the current clinical evidence for a variety of drugs'', potentially affecting treatment options for patients. He said part of … Continue reading →

Frederick Murphy/CDC The Ebola virus causes a hemorrhagic fever that can be deadly. Ebola is one virus you never want to catch. Ever. After some aches and a fever, many infected people develop uncontrolled bleeding. The mortality rates from Ebola infection can run as high as 90 percent. There's no cure for Ebola. But a group of scientists is exploring whether some drugs already approved to treat cancer might help tame the virus. Sounds wild. But there's a reason and now some evidence to think it might work. To reproduce, the Ebola virus needs the help of cells it invades. And a couple of cancer drugs tweak a human protein that new copies of the virus use to leave their host cells so they can infect others. The tested drugs Gleevec and Tasigna, both sold by Novartis are called tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Tyrosine kinases are enzymes that put a phosphate group on a particular amino acid. Amino acids, as you might remember from high school biology, are the building blocks of proteins. When a phosphate group gets attached to the right tyrosine block on the right protein, it changes the shape and function of the protein. And that might change … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (AP) A group of Cowen and Co. analysts said Friday that record numbers of major drugs are facing patent challenges that could leave their makers vulnerable to greater competition in the next few years. The analysts said Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. are particularly vulnerable to patent challenges because each company gets a large chunk of its profits from one key drug. For Endo, that is the Lidoderm pain patch, and for Cubist, it's the antibiotic Cubicin, which brings in almost all of its sales. Teva, which is the world's largest generic drug company, is counting on strong sales of its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. The Cowen analysts said 67 drugs that bring in annual U.S. sales of at least $100 million per year will lose patent protection or marketing exclusivity through 2016, and they said the patents are being challenged on "at least 80 percent" of those drugs. Combined, those drugs had sales of $75 billion in 2011, or almost a third of all U.S. retail drug spending. Generic drugmakers like Teva often challenge the patents on brand-name drugs as part of an effort to start selling their own less-expensive … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it approved two new drugs to aid food digestion in children and adults with rare diseases. The agency approved two pill-based drugs containing the ingredient pancrelipase, which mimics pancreatic enzymes that aid in digestion. Ultresa was approved for adults and children with cystic fibrosis, a deadly inherited disease that causes thick mucus to build up in the lungs and other organs. Patients with the disease have difficulty digesting food normally because their pancreas does not make enough digestive enzyme. The FDA also approved a pill called Viokace for adults who cannot digest food normally because of pancreatitis or surgery to remove the organ. Viokace combines the ingredient pancrelipase with a proton pump inhibitor, a drug used to reduce stomach acid. Unapproved pancreatic enzyme products had been available for many years, but the FDA has been requiring companies to seek regulatory approval for the products since April 2010. Both drugs are made by Bridgewater, N.J.-based Aptalis Pharma U.S. Inc. Read more from the original source: FDA approves 2 drugs for rare digestive disorders … Continue reading →

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Asia-Pacific drugs, health and beauty retail channel is highly fragmented and, in many countries, dominated by small independent family stores. Japan is a notable exception to this and the countrys drugs, health and beauty retail channel is moderately concentrated. SUNDRUG was the strongest performer of the leading drug, health and beauty retailers in Asia-Pacific. The companys strong performance was driven by the high scores it received for operational efficiency pillar. Meanwhile Chinas Nepstar was the weakest performer within the industry. New market research report "Leading Asia-Pacific Drugs, Health and Beauty Retailers Company Benchmarking Analysis Report" designed by Canadean presents a peer group benchmarking analysis of leading drug, health and beauty retailers in Asia-Pacific. The analysis is based on key financial and operating parameters and ratios of a select peer group of companies, compared to one another and to overall global averages for their retail channel. The analysis highlights the companies that are performing the best among the peer group, and in which areas, and therefore clarifies leading performance standards and the strengths and weaknesses of companies covered. The companies reviewed in the report are: Report Details: Title: Leading Asia-Pacific Drugs, Health and Beauty Retailers Company Benchmarking Analysis … Continue reading →

Drugs with a street value of $120,000 have been seized, with police alleging they were destined for this weekend's Sydney Gay Mardi Gras. Four men have been arrested and charged, following the seizure of cocaine, marijuana and almost $100,000 in cash from police searches in Leichhardt, Surry Hills, Paddington and Bondi. A 40-year-old Leichhardt man, arrested on Tuesday with one ounce of cocaine in his car, has been charged with supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, dealing with the proceeds of crime and other drug-related offences. He was granted bail to appear in Central Local Court on April 12. A 35-year-old Rose Bay man was also charged with the same offences, and was granted to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Friday. Two men from Surry Hills, aged 34 and 63, were issued court attendance notices for possession of a prohibited drug and are due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on March 21. Read more from the original source: Drugs destined for Mardi Gras seized … Continue reading →

By Carol Cratty, CNN updated 8:41 PM EST, Wed February 29, 2012 The DEA extended another six months its ban on five chemicals used to make synthetic drugs such as Spice. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Washington (CNN) -- The Drug Enforcement Administration is extending for another six months its emergency ban on five chemicals used to make synthetic drugs such as Spice, the DEA announced on Wednesday. The DEA already had banned the substances for a year, but with that period soon to expire, the DEA announced it will file a notice in the Federal Register on Thursday that will mean the chemicals will continue to be illegal. The substances used to make the fake pot products are: JWH-018, JWH-073, JWH-200, CP-47,497 (that's all one chemical CP-47,497) and cannabicyclohexanol. The names sound like an alphabetical and numerical soup. But the drugs are marketed as herbal incense under such names as K2, Blaze, Spice and Red X Dawn and have been popular with teenagers and young adults. The DEA says the products are made of plant material coated with chemicals that claim to mimic THC, the key ingredient in marijuana. The DEA's emergency action means the chemicals are designated as Schedule 1 substances, … Continue reading →

Some cancer drugs used to treat patients with leukemia may also help stop the Ebola virus and give the body time to control the infection before it turns deadly, US researchers said on Wednesday. The much-feared Ebola virus emerged in Africa in the 1970s and can incite a hemorrhagic fever which causes a person to bleed to death in up to 90 percent of cases. While rare, the Ebola virus is considered a potential weapon for bioterrorists because it is so highly contagious, so lethal and has no standard treatment. But a pair of well-known drugs that have been used to treat leukemia -- known as nolitinib and imatinib -- appear to have some success in stopping the virus from replicating in human cells. Lead researcher Mayra Garcia of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and colleagues reported their finding in Wednesday's edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine. By experimenting with human embryonic kidney cells in a lab, they found that a protein called c-Abl1 tyrosine kinase was a key regulator in whether the Ebola virus could replicate or not. The leukemia drugs work by stopping that protein's activity. In turn, a viral protein called VP40 … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials are adding new safety warnings about risks of memory loss and elevated blood sugar to statins, the most widely prescribed group of cholesterol-lowering medications. The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is making labeling changes to medicines like Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor, AstraZeneca's Crestor and Merck & Co. Inc.'s Zocor. The drugs are used by tens of millions of U.S. patients to help prevent heart-related problems associated with cholesterol. New labeling on all such drugs will warn of memory loss and confusion reported among certain patients taking statins. In general the problems were not serious and went away after patients stopped taking the drugs, according to the FDA. The updated labels will also mention elevated levels of blood sugar, associated with diabetes, that have been reported in some patients taking statins. A growing number of studies published over the last five years have found a link between statin use and type 2 diabetes. Last June, a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed five older randomized trials and concluded the increased risk was small but real for people taking higher doses of any statin. Cardiologists said Tuesday that the lifesaving benefits … Continue reading →

VIENNA (AP) Illegal Internet pharmacies are selling illicit drugs and prescription medicines online and are increasingly targeting young people, a U.N. drug agency warned Tuesday. The International Narcotics Control Board also described North America as continuing to be "the world's largest illicit drug market" in 2010; parts of Europe as the homes of industrial scale cannabis factories; and growing poppy cultivation in West Asia. Focusing on Internet pharmacies as a growing threat, a summary of the agency's 2011 report cited the agency's head, Hamid Ghodse, as saying such use of social media "can put large, and especially young, audiences at risk of dangerous products." The Vienna-based board urged governments to close down illegal Internet pharmacies. It also called on them to seize substances that have been illicitly ordered on the Internet and smuggled through the mail. The organization noted "high levels of illicit drug production manufacture, trade and consumption," with "vast amounts produced in all three countries" in North America the United States, Canada and Mexico. About 90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States is transited through Mexico, even as an increasingly harsh crackdown by Mexican authorities is forcing some drug cartels to move their operations to Central … Continue reading →