Archive for November, 2007

Hidden dangers of sex pills

Herbal sex-pill alternatives pose a hidden danger for men on common heart and blood-pressure drugs: popping one could lead to a stroke, or even death.
Many of the “all-natural” products with names such as Stamina-RX and Vigor-25 work because they contain unregulated versions of the drugs they are supposed to replace.
An Associated Press investigation found that [...]

Prazosin protects brain

A drug used for high blood pressure, enlargement of the prostate and as an antipsychotic may protect the brain from stress, U.S. researchers say.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center say Prozosin (brand name Minipress) appears to block the increase of steroid hormones known as glucocorticoids. Elevated levels of [...]

AIDS vaccines don’t justify hopes

AIDS vaccine researchers are worried about the future of their field after learning an experimental HIV vaccine not only does not work, but just might make recipients more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus!
They are worried about their volunteers and the future of AIDS vaccines in general. And they are worried because they cannot [...]

Amrubicin shows great in treatment of small cell lung cancer

Pharmion Corporation (Nasdaq: PHRM) released interim findings from its Phase 2 trial of Amrubicin in second-line chemo-sensitive small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Amrubicin, the company’s third-generation synthetic anthracycline, is a potent topoisomerase II inhibitor currently in development for the treatment of SCLC. These findings indicate favorable interim results in terms of response rate and survival [...]

Vioxx - a $4.85 billion cost painkiller

Merck & Co. said it will pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx in what is believed to be the largest drug settlement ever.
Merck faced personal injury lawsuits representing 47,000 plaintiffs, and about 265 potential class action cases, filed by people or family members who claimed the drug proved fatal [...]

Cordaptive to replace Zokor?

Merck announced that the extended-release niacin/laropiprant (cordaptive) co administered with simvastatin had significant additive effects on reducing LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), increasing HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and reducing triglyceride levels in a phase III study with patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or mixed dyslipidemia. The results were presented by Merck & Co, Inc. at the American Heart Association 2007 Scientific [...]

Gardasil prevents cervical cancer; new findings

Merck, the manufacturer of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine Gardasil, already being administered in many countries to girls as young as 12 to help prevent cervical cancer, has announced findings of a trial that shows it is also effective for women as old as 45.
The drugmaker announced details of an investigational study where Gardasil reduced the [...]

New blood thinner Prasugrel proved better than Plavix!

A new blood thinner proved better than Plavix, one of the world’s top-selling drugs, at preventing heart problems after procedures to open clogged arteries, doctors reported Sunday. But the new drug also raised the risk of serious bleeding.
People given the experimental drug, prasugrel, were nearly 20 percent less likely to suffer one of the problems [...]

Rivaroxaban submitted for approval

Bayer HealthCare AG announced today the submission of a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) for approval to market rivaroxaban (Xarelto®) for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after major orthopedic surgery of the lower limbs. Rivaroxaban is an investigational, oral, once-daily direct Factor Xa inhibitor. Data [...]

65 percent of foreign drug makers may have never been inspected by FDA!

Two-thirds of the foreign drug manufacturers subject to inspection by the Food and Drug Administration may never have been visited by agency inspectors, a government watchdog reported to Congress Thursday.
The FDA this year listed 3,249 foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers subject to its inspection — yet the agency cannot determine whether it has ever inspected 2,133 of [...]