Drug Week articles from January 2001

Drug Week archives from January 2001

New Pathway for Treatment Identified led.(impotence)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsR.x.com) -- A potential new pathway for treating erectile dysfunction that focuses on decreasing contraction of smooth muscles - rather than enhancing their relaxation which is how drugs like Viagra work - has been identified...

Researchers Debate the Spread of Drug Resistance Between Humans and Animals.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Two groups looking at gut flora from animal populations living close to, or isolated from humans debated the spread of antibiotic resistance in an exchange in the Brief Communications section of the January 4,...

Study Indicates Steroid Medication of No Help.(chronic fatigue syndrome)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Besides suffering severe tiredness and a host of other symptoms, some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) find standing for long periods makes them lightheaded or even faint; eventually their blood...

Widely Used Medication Not Effective for Most Patients.(corticosteroids, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- A recent study, conducted at Mayo Clinic and published in the December 28, 2000, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, has found that patients who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)...

Potent Inhibitor of Tyrosine Kinase Activity Discovered.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- A paper in the December 22, 2000, issue of Nature Structural Biology reports on the design of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. How cells communicate is a major focus of research in biology and medicine. Within and...

New Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes Gains FDA Approval.(Starlix)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation received marketing approval December 22, 2000, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Starlix (nateglinide) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, a disease with...

Insulin Inhalers for Diabetics Tested in Virginia.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Justin LeFebre inserts a package of insulin into his inhaler, cocks the triggerlike handle, and fires. The 13-year-old sucks the milky cloud deeply into his lungs just as he always does before meals. It may be...

Proprietary Substrates Licensed for Use in Drug Discovery and Gene Function Applications.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Odyssey Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Ramon, California, announced that it has entered into a license agreement with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (BDX) that grants Odyssey the sole right and license to certain...

Phase II/III Trial Initiated for Treatment of Emotional Lability.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Avanir Pharmaceuticals (AVN), San Diego, California, announced the initiation of a Phase II/III clinical trial of the AVP-923 drug candidate. This clinical trial is the first in a series of studies intended to...

FDA Approval for Starlix Received.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 -- (NewsRx.com) -- Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., East Hanover, New Jersey, received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Starlix (nateglinide) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Starlix,...

Obese People Achieve and Maintain Significant Weight Loss with Meridia Therapy.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Data published in the December 23, 2000, issue of The Lancet demonstrate Meridia (sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate) C-IV capsules can help obese people lose weight and maintain a clinically significant weight...

U.S. Patent Office Invalidates Patent for 3TC/Epivir.(Emory University)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- BioChem Pharma Inc. (BCHE; TSE: BCH), Laval, Quebec, Canada, announced that the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences has invalidated Emory University's (Atlanta, Georgia) patent for 3TC/Epivir...

Investigational New Drug Application Submission Announced.(Apan for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (PRCS), Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an Investigational New Drug application (IND) to initiate Phase I clinical...

Phase I Clinical Trial Initiated.(anticancer drug to inhibit angiogenesis)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OSIP), Uniondale, New York,. announced that Pfizer Inc. (PEE) has opened an IND for Phase I clinical trials in the United States to evaluate a small molecule anticancer drug designed to...

Spider Venom May Be Useful Drug Therapy.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- A spider bite could save your life, a Brief Communication in the January 4, 2001, issue of Nature suggests. Frederick Sachs of the State University of New York, Buffalo, and colleagues reported that a peptide...

Prophylactic Tamoxifen Has No Heart-Related Effects.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- The breast cancer prevention drug, tamoxifen, does not influence cardiovascular risk in healthy women or in women with coronary heart disease, according to a study published in the January 3, 2001, Journal of the...

Medical School to Test New IUD Contraceptive.(Mirena)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19- (NewsRx.com) -- Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) scientists are studying a new contraceptive that combines an intrauterine devices (IUD) with one of the chemicals found in birth control pills. Researchers don't expect...

FDA Reviews Application for Intranasal Vaccine.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Aviron (AVIR) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a Biologics License Application (BLA) for FluMist, an investigational intranasal influenza vaccine. On October 31,...

Study Finds Selegiline Does Not Increas Death Rate.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers have debated for years whether the drug selegiline increases the risk of death for Parkinson's patients even though others have suggested that the drug may slow the progression of the disease. A...

Non-Protease Inhibitor Scores High on Cost-Effectiveness Test.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy is the most cost-effective way to treat HIV patients with no prior treatment, and, therefore, should be chosen since there is no difference in its...

Phase Ila Clinical Trial of Monoclonal Antibody Initiated.(ABX-TLB, rheumatoid arthritis)
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Abgenix, Inc. (ABGX), Fremont, California, announced the start of a Phase IIa multi-center clinical trial of ABX-TLB in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The company is also conducting a Phase IIa clinical...

Long-Term Lamivudine Treatment Helps Patients with Advanced Liver Disease.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19 - (NewsRx.com) -- Lamivudine therapy is well known for its effectiveness in treating patients with chronic hepatitis B. However, its efficacy as a treatment for patients with more advanced hepatitis B related liver diseases has not...

Collaboration on Oral Antithrombotic Compound Announced.
January 19, 2001... 2001 JAN 19- (NewsRx.com) -- Eli Lilly and Company (LLY), Indianapolis, Indiana, and Sankyo Company, Ltd., announced they have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on CS-747, a potentially potent antiplatelet agent that blocks ADP...

New Guidelines Recommend Ramipril to Lower Stroke Risk.(Stroke Council of the American Heart Association)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26- (NewsRx.com) -- New guidelines issued by the Stroke Council of the American Heart Association (AHA) and published in the Association's journals Circulation and Stroke recommend use of ramipril - [Altace.sup.R] - in at risk people...

Pharmaceuticals from Microalgae Pursued.(Aquasearch Inc.)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Aquasearch, Inc. (AQSE) executed an agreement to develop pharmaceuticals from a collection of more than 2,000 strains of micro algae held by University of Hawaii (UH), Kailua-Kona. The collection has already...

Technology Could Help Produce New Antibiotics.(through use of "bacteria chips")
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Under the looming threat of antibiotic resistance, scientists are working to develop the next generation of bacteria-destroying drugs. In the January 2001 issue of Genome Research, researchers from Hoffman-La...

New Protein Thwarts HIV Attachment.(5-Helix)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers have synthesized a protein that jams the "grappling hook" that HIV uses to attach to target cells. The synthetic protein prevents a spring-loaded component of the grappling hook from snapping shut...

IND Filed to Begin Iduronate-2-Sulfatase Clinical Testing.(Investigational New Drug application filed by Transkaryotic Therapies Inc.)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (TKTX), Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced that it has submitted an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence a Phase I/II...

Zestril Studied in for Prevention.(of migraine)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- AstraZeneca's angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, Zestril (lisinopril) 20 mg once daily demonstrated a 21% reduction in the number of days with migraine attack and lowered the headache severity index by...

Grant Awarded for Drug Discovery to Treat Peripheral Nerve Dysfunction.(Cambridge NeuroScience Inc.)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc., Norwood, Massachusetts, announced that it has been awarded a two-year Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Diseases...

Technology Underlies Generation of Antibiotics Against Hospital Infections.(NewBiotics Inc. receives patent for Enzyme Catalyzed Therapeutic Activation technology)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- NewBiotics Inc., San Diego, California, announced the issuance of U.S. Patent 6,159,706, broadly covering its "Trojan Horse" technology for killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria using the pathogen's own resistance...

Clinical Trial of Indoflex Initiated in China.(for pain management)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- AlphaRx Inc., announced January 3, 2001, the commencement of a clinical trial of Indoflex [TM] - Indomethacin - for pain management. Based on AlphaRx's BCD drug delivery system, Indoflex is one of the...

Positive Results Announced in Patients Treated with INS-1.(for type 2 diabetes)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Insmed Incorporated announced January 4, 2001, positive results following a full analysis of its recently completed clinical trial of type 2 diabetes patients treated with INS-1 in combination with sulfonylureas....

Lantus Lowers Fasting Blood Glucose with Predictability.
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Type 1 diabetes patients who received once-daily Lantus (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection) (a long-acting basal insulin analogue) at bedtime reached a target fasting blood glucose of 119 mg/dL than patients...

Investigational New Drug Application Filed for Dolastatin Analog.(ILX-651)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- flex Products Inc., announced January 3, 2001, that it had submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test the investigational drug ILX-651, one of a...

U.S. Patent Obtained for Encapsulation Technology Using Super Critical Fluids.(Ethypharm Group Mainelab subsidiary granted patent)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Ethypharm group announced that its subsidiary Mainelab has been granted U.S. Patent 6,087,003 for its solvent-free encapsulation technology based on the use of super critical fluids (SCF). This drug delivery...

FDA Approves Remicade with Methotrexate as First Drug to Inhibit Progression of Joint Damage.(in rheumatoid arthritis patients)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a drug to inhibit the progression of joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 2.1 million Americans, mostly women. The FDA...

First Phase of Enbrel Enrollment Program Completed.(by Immunex Corp. and Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories Div.)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Immunex Corp. (IMNX), Seattle, Washington, and WyethAyerst Laboratories, announced successful completion of the first phase of the Enbrel (etanercept) Enrollment Program in the United States. In an...

Hydroxyurea Plus Necleoside Effective in Children.(with HIV infection)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hydroxyurea, when given in addition to didanosine (ddl) or stavudine (d4T), is efficacious in children infected with HIV. M.W. Kline, of the Baylor College of Medicine, and associates investigated the...

Immunotherapy Added to First Cycle of Antiviral Cocktails.(Hemispherx Biopharma Inc. implements Ampligen protcol)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hemispherx Biopharma, Inc., announced January 3, 2001, a newly reviewed U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical protocol designed to test the blunting of the emergence of drug-resistant HIV strains. ...

Viagra Increases Nerve Activity Associated with Cardiovascular Function.
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- The drug sildenafil citrate - better known as Viagra - causes a dramatic increase in the nerve activity associated with cardiovascular function, especially during physical and mental stress, bolstering...

CARISA Trial Enrollment Updated.(Combination Assessment of Ranolazine In Stable Angina)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- CV Therapeutics, Inc. (CVTX), Palo Alto, California, announced that it has completed enrollment of the originally planned 462 patients in the Phase III CARISA (Combination Assessment of Ranolazine In Stable Angina)...

Tamoxifen Analogue Toremifene Not as Toxic to Liver.(breast cancer therapy research)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewRx.com) -- The new drug toremifene, a drug with anti-estrogen activity similar to tamoxifen, does not cause as many liver-related disorders in breast cancer patients, according to new research. Fatty liver was observed in...

Patients Enrolled in Phase I Paclitaxel Formulation Study.
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SNUS) announced that patients are being enrolled in a Phase I clinical study with the company's first drug delivery product, S8184, an injectable paclitaxel emulsion formulation. ...

Protein Opens Door for Transfer from Bacteria to Plants.
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26- (NewsRx.com) -- In the only known example of the transfer of genetic material between the plant and animal kingdoms, a tumor-inducing, single-stranded segment of DNA from the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens integrates...

Chinese Herbal Medicine May Be Useful in Treatment.(bronchial inflammation)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- - by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- An herbal medicine traditionally used by the Chinese to treat asthma may still be effective to prevent the symptoms of an wide array of disorders characterized by...

Fluticasone Effective for Function, Symptoms, Quality of Life.(asthma )
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Fluticasone propionate provides for better pulmonary function, symptom improvement, and quality of life than does zafirlukast, a leukotriene-modifying ding, in asthma patients. K.T. Kim, of the Allergy, Asthma,...

Less Dry Powder Fluticasone for More Relief.(asthma )
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Once-a-day inhalation of dry powder fluticasone propionate (FP) relieves asthma symptoms in children receiving frequent doses of inhaled corticosteroids. FP is, itself, a corticosteroid. Available in a powder...

Single Ceftriaxone Dose Can Increase Amount of Penicillin-Resistant Bacteria.(otitis media)
January 26, 2001... 2001 JAN 26 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers writing in the journal Acta Paediatrica warn that even a single dose of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, though effective for treating pediatric otitis media, can also cause an substantial increase in the...