Counterfeit medicine is a major problem in the developing world. According to the World Health Organization, up to 10% of drugs circulating are fake, and in all likelihood, the numbers for certain countries in Africa are higher. "Especially in Africa, we know its a very big problem," says Serge Rudaz, an associate professor at Geneva Universitys School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. "We know that people in the drug mafia are moving to the counterfeits." The problem is exacerbated by a lack of formal quality control, high rewards, and the relative ease of producing a few believable-looking pills. "Producing counterfeit drugs may not require building huge infrastructure or facilities," the WHO says. "They can be produced in small cottage industries or in backyards or under the shade of tree." While in rich countries, the most-traded fake drugs are patented products like Viagra, in Africa its more likely to be antibiotics, hormones, analgesics, steroids, malaria pills, or antihistamines--basic stuff. Rudaz says it varies by the country. To try to do something about the problem, he has come up with a relatively cheap machine that labs can use to detect the fakes. Costing about $10,000, it is about a tenth of what commercially available … Continue reading →

JOHNSTOWN, CAMBRIA COUNTY--- Johnstown Police said someone mailed a box of drugs to someone else's house prior to Saturday's shooting. "The homeowners received a package in the mail," said Police Chief Craig Foust. "When they opened it there was a significant amount of drugs inside." Foust said they took the drugs to police station and returned home. "They noticed a car which they recognized from a few days before that was sitting outside there home again," said Foust. According to police two suspects forced their way into the victim's Highland Avenue home Saturday. "He sent the children upstairs with a female to call 9-1-1," said Foust. "The victim got into an altercation with the one suspect about the box of drugs the next thing he knew he was shot." Foust said they believe the suspects returned for the package. The victim was shot in the knee; police said someone fired a gun hitting the one suspect in the head first before the same bullet hit the victim. 'We're not releasing the names of those involved," said Foust. "Both are still in the hospital." The investigation is on going. Read the original post: Drugs Mailed To Wrong House … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Feb. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Injectable Drug Delivery to 2018 - Drugs, Devices, Targets, Therapeutics and Forecasts http://www.reportlinker.com/p01109064/Injectable-Drug-Delivery-to-2018---Drugs-Devices-Targets-Therapeutics-and-Forecasts.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Drug_Delivery_Technology The past decade has seen a dramatic shift in terms of the types of approved injectable drugs, the diseases they target, and the devices used to deliver them. This shift has fostered change on several levels of the healthcare sector. The injectable drug segment has seen a marked increase in the level of drug/device integration, as prefilled syringes and specialized injection devices proliferate in response to safety and economic challenges posed by recombinant protein drugs, while administration of injectables has moved increasingly from practitioner offices and healthcare facilities to patient homes. This report examines the key therapeutic, product, market and regulatory factors for injectable drugs across ten major disease and therapeutic classes, providing essential insight and forecasts into the implications of this evolving landscape. Highlights Analyzes and evaluates the shifting landscape for injectable drug delivery and assesses the market impact of new and emerging injectable drug products by therapeutic indication Analyzes syringe and injector device designs, feature/functionality, product branding, competing technologies and market development issues Provides detailed … Continue reading →

Michael Weitz was out of options. The Californian had endured chemotherapy, radiation and surgery but his lung cancer still spread to his bones and brain. With time running out, the emergency room physician entered a Phase I study - the earliest stage of human testing for a new medicine - of crizotinib. The drug works for about 4 percent of advanced lung cancer patients with a mutated form of a protein called ALK. "Once I knew that I had that mutation, I knew that I had an exciting new chance," said Weitz, now 55, who is cancer-free after three years of taking the drug now sold by Pfizer as Xalkori after an unusually swift development process. It typically has taken a decade and $1 billion to bring a new treatment to market. But in the last two years a handful of cancer drugs - including Onyx Pharmaceutical Inc's Kyprolis for multiple myeloma, Roche's Zelboraf for melanoma, and Pfizer's Xalkori - were approved in about half that time because of improved genetic screening, more definitive Phase I trials and the dire need for new, effective treatments. "We hope to be able to shave years off the time it takes to get … Continue reading →

Diabetes drugs sold by Merck & Co. (MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) may double a users risk of developing an inflammation of the pancreas linked to cancer and kidney failure, an analysis of insurance records shows. Patients hospitalized with pancreatitis were twice as likely to be taking Januvia, Mercks top-selling drug, or using Bristol-Myerss Byetta, than a control group of diabetics who didnt have pancreatitis, according to the analysis today in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Both drugs increase GLP-1, a hormone that stimulates insulin production from the pancreas. Doctors have been concerned that this category of diabetes treatments may damage the pancreas since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in 2007 it received a high number of reports of pancreatitis in patients taking Byetta. The agency issued a similar alert for Januvia in 2009. The study, which analyzed data from 2005 to 2008, showed a doubling in pancreatitis cases. This is the first real study to give an estimate of what the risk is, until now we just had a few case reports, said Sonal Singh, the studys author and an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. These drugs are effective in lower … Continue reading →