NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Oct 15, 2012) - The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has told scientific advisers that the FDA is considering a faster pathway for obesity treatments, life-saving antibiotics and other drugs deemed to offer societal benefit. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the Biotech Industry and provides equity research on MannKind Corporation ( NASDAQ : MNKD ) and Dendreon Corporation ( NASDAQ : DNDN ). Access to the full company reports can be found at: http://www.ParagonReport.com/MNKD http://www.ParagonReport.com/DNDN Under the new pathway the FDA would allow developers of such drugs to conduct smaller, faster clinical trials, and provide a "special medical use" label which would allow doctors to administer drugs to patients with critical needs. Hamburg has said that the FDA needs to take into account the needs of people with deadly or debilitating diseases that may be willing to take on the risks of unproven drugs. "A pathway that would allow products to come to market faster but would ensure they were used only in patients where there was an applicable risk-benefit situation would be good," said Pew Health Group's Allan Coukell, deputy director of medical programs. "It would be good for developers, for … Continue reading →

More than 400 million euro is expected to be shaved off the State's bill for medications over the next three years. Health Minister James Reilly said the new deal was struck during intensive negotiations involving the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) and the Health Service Executive. The scheme will result in significant reductions for patients in the cost of drugs, as well as lower the drugs bill to the State and ease financial pressure on the health service. The IPHA said the new supply agreement will ensure new medicines are made available to Irish patients. David Gallagher, outgoing president who led the negotiations, said: "Medicines are a key pillar of any advanced health system and medical innovation has extended life expectancy through reducing illness and death. "Many patients are in need of new advanced medicines in areas such as Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, cancer, stroke prevention, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis." The State pays out some 2 billion euro on drugs each year - with Dr Reilly heavily criticised for health spending overruns. And his former junior minister, Roisin Shortall, whose shock resignation rocked the coalition Government last week, attacked Dr Reilly for not managing the HSE budget, in particular his … Continue reading →

It should no longer be a criminal offence to use small amounts of drugs, the UK Drug Policy Commission has concluded after a six-year study of Britain's drugs laws. It was funded by an independent charity and is composed of some well-respected figures from medicine and the police. Their report says existing drugs policies struggle to make an impact and in some cases may make the problem worse. The commission's chief executive Roger Howard told the Today programme: "We need to base future drug policy on what works, on evidence, and we're calling for a new body to be set up to be able to promote that." Independent drugs expert Sarah Graham disagrees with some of the report's findings and said: "I'm specifically interested in drugs education in schools. When I work with young people they tell me they don't get enough drugs education. "I think we need to be prioritising drugs education because young people are being educated on the streets, by papers, by pop stars, and we need to make sure the information they're getting is scientifically backed up." Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844. Read more from … Continue reading →

Using illegal drugs is like gambling or eating junk food, the independent body that analyses drug laws has claimed as it called for a review of the Government's approach. The final report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) pointed out that there are "some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit ... rather than to prevent entirely". Its six-year study found much of the 3bn the UK spends annually on tackling illicit drugs is not based on evidence. It said until the Government pursues policies based on what works, it would continue to waste public money and damage lives. Calling for a "wholesale review" of drugs laws and the classification system, it said possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use should be made a civil offence instead of a criminal offence. Some 42,000 people in England and Wales are sentenced each year for the possession of drugs, with about 160,000 people given cannabis warnings, the report added. For cannabis, there was also an argument that amending the law relating to the growing of it, at least for personal use, might go some way to undermining the commercialisation of production, … Continue reading →