Drug Week articles from March 2001

Drug Week archives from March 2001

Beyond Viagra: Other Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors Are Candidates For Potential Therapies.(for treatment of wide range of conditions)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The same basic process used by the popular pharmaceutical Viagra may someday help people suffering from a variety of conditions, from allergies to diabetes. Viagra's success has raised interest in...

Medicine Made To Match Genetic Profile.(pharmacogenetic research)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- You say the antibiotic that cured your best friend's bladder infection made you break out in a full body rash? And the hormone therapy they used to shrink your father's prostate cancer made it grow...

Vinflunine Shows Promise As Anti-Vascular Agent In Tumors.
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer -Vinflunine, a new therapeutic agent that has drawn praise for its anti-vascular effects in animals, is now undergoing clinical trials in humans. If this drug...

Compound Identified In Grapefruit, Sour Oranges That Boosts Drug Effectiveness.(dihydroxybergamottin)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since the early 1990s, doctors have known that certain drugs - including commonly taken medications for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure - become much more effective when people who take them...

Once-Daily Didanosine Shown As Effective As Multi-Dose Drugs.(in HIV treatment)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Videx [EC.sup.r] (didanosine) capsules are safe and effective when included in a combination regimen, results of a large study indicate. As reported at the Eighth Conference on Retroviruses and...

Polymorphisms Are Unlikely Markers For Co-Trimoxazole Side Effects.
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Polymorphisms appear to have little association with the chances of adverse reactions to the drug co-trimoxazole, pharmacologists in England say. "The use...

Breast Cancer Drug May Improve Heart Disease Risk Factors.(tamoxifen)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study conducted at the University of Vermont College of Medicine (UVM) suggests that the drug tamoxifen - currently used in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer - may also help reduce the...

Finding In Bacteria Has Implications For Tumor Resistance To Chemotherapy.
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Minnesota scientists have found the mechanism by which certain bacteria develop resistance to a powerful antibiotic that doubles as an anti-cancer agent. Because cancer cells develop...

New Class Of Drugs Shows Potential For Treatment.(endothelin receptor antagonists for treatment of heart failure)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New drugs that relax blood vessels may improve blood flow in people with heart failure, according to two preliminary studies reported in the February 19, 2001, issue of Circulation. The...

GS4104 Is Efficacious Against Zoonotic Avian Viruses.(neuraminidase inhibitor)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michelle Marble, staff medical writer -- The neuraminidase inhibitor GS4104 showed promising results when tested against avian influenza viruses, researchers in the United States report. "In...

Antibiotic Combination Effective Against infection.(ethambutol and sparfloxacin effective against Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium tuberculosis)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michelle Marble, staff medical writer -- Researchers in India say combinations of ethambutol and sparfloxacin proved effective against Mycobacterium avium and M tuberculosis. "The MIC [minimal...

Experimental Antibiotic Tested Singly And In Combination With Ofloxacin.(benzoxazinorifamycin)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michelle Marble, staff medical writer -- Researchers in the United States say the the antimicrobial KRM-1648 is strongly effective against Mycobacterium ulcerans. "The antimicrobial effect of a...

Clot-Busting Drug Prourokinase Effective For All Patients In PROACT II Trial.(stroke risk research)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The clot-busting drug Prourokinase has been shown effective for all patients in the PROACT II trial, regardless of their level of risk. The data from PROACT II, a multi-center study that evaluated...

Recurrence Risk Lower With Anti-Clotting Drug Than Aspirin.(triflusal)
March 9, 2001... 2001 MAR 9- (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An anti-clotting drug is as effective as aspirin at preventing a second stroke, but without the bleeding complication sometimes associated with aspirin use, according to two new studies. The studies...

Breast Cancer Drug Improves Arteries In Men With Heart Disease.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the first study of its kind, a drug used to treat breast cancer was shown to improve blood flow in men with coronary artery disease, researchers reported in the March 20, 2001, issue of Circulation....

Study Finds Monoclonal Antibody Is Safe And Beneficial Treatment.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new drug for treating Crohn's disease (CD), is safe and beneficial for patients who have not gotten relief from other medications, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published in the March...

Dopaminergic Drugs Can Hasten Neurologic Damage In HIV Patients.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer - Dopaminergic drugs can aggravate brain and central nervous system (CNS) damage resulting from HIV infection, researchers in Germany report. S. Czub and...

New Chemotherapy Preparation Significantly Reduces Cardiotoxicity.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A chemotherapy drug coated in tiny oil droplets is as effective as the standard preparation, but is much less toxic when used to treat women with advanced breast cancer. The drug, doxorubicin, is...

Most Elderly People Cannot Use Flu Inhaler Effectively.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most elderly people cannot use the inhaler device that delivers the anti-influenza drug zanamivir (Relenza), a new study reports. Researchers suggest that improvements should be made to the...

Chloroquine Can Be Effective Option For Patients In Poor Countries.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, staff medical writer -- Chloroquine, commonly used as a treatment for malaria, may also help solve the problem of finding effective HIV drugs affordable for developing countries. ...

New Testing Method May Hasten Identification of Drugs For Treatment or Prevention.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study published in the March 13, 2001, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may hold the answer to a vexing problem facing medical scientists involved in Alzheimer's disease...

EntreMed Scientists Report Discovery of New Inhibitor.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- EntreMed, Inc. (ENMD) announced on February 21, 2001, the discovery and first publication of a new angiogenesis inhibitor known as [Metastatin.sup.R]. Metastatin is the third recent discovery from...

Patient Enrollment Complete For Pivotal Xcytrin Phase III Trial For Brain Metastases.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC), announced on March 14, 2001, that patient enrollment has been completed in its pivotal international, randomized, controlled Phase III clinical trial of Xcytrin [R]...

Existence Of Powerful Natural Anti-Cancer System Confirmed.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and at the University of Tsukuba in Japan have confirmed the existence of a long-suspected natural system the body uses to block the cancer-causing...

Introgen and Texas Heart Institute Collaborate On Drug Development.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. (INGN) and the Texas Heart Institute announced on March 14, 2001, that they have signed a sponsored research agreement to study the effects of gene therapy in cardiovascular...

Researchers Identify Barriers To Enrollment.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most patients do not participate in cancer clinical trials because they don't want to use investigational treatments, even though entry into such trials is frequently associated with a higher survival...

Anti-Arrhythmia Drug Also Helps Some Failing Hearts.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --- Individuals with heart failure may have another drug treatment option, according to a report in the March 13, 2001, issue of Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. The drug,...

Novel Therapy Enters Clinical Trials.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stanford University Medical Center researchers are testing a novel inhaled therapy to help cystic fibrosis patients avoid progressive lung damage that can lead to respiratory failure. Richard...

Viagra Passes Initial Safety Test, But More Research Is Needed.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study in the March 15, 2001, British Medical Journal finds no evidence for a higher incidence of fatal heart attack or ischemic heart disease among English men taking sildenafil (Viagra). ...

Drug Reduces Pain and Tenderness, Phase II Study Shows.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Symbollon Corporation (SYMBA) presented data on March 13, 2001, from a recently concluded Phase II clinical trial of its patented drug, IoGen[TM], which is being developed as a treatment for...

Lamivudine Beats Famciclovir For Long-Term Effectiveness in Liver Transplant Patients.
March 30, 2001... 2001 MAR 30 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, staff medical writer - A new study reports lamivudine is a superior therapy for treating hepatitis B virus infections in patients who have undergone liver transplantation. The...