Drug Formulary Review articles from March 2004

Drug Formulary Review archives from March 2004

New guidelines announced for preventing heart disease in women: recommendations should help reduce 'gender gap'.
March 1, 2004... The American Heart Association (AHA) in Dallas has released new guidelines for preventing heart disease and stroke in women that are tailored to each individual's cardiac event risk. In the guidelines, women age 20 and older are treated...

CVD risk for women explained.(cardiovascular disease )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The American Heart Association guidelines categorize women age 20 and older by their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The risk groups are defined by their absolute probability of having a coronary event in 10 years, according to a scoring...

Cost-effectiveness analysis gives global view of price: results expand direct cost analysis.
March 1, 2004... While on rotation as a drug information specialty resident, one pharmacist decided to take a more comprehensive look at how much one drug would cost the health center if it were added to the formulary. Enoxaparin was the first-line agent...

Pilot program offers one-on-one consultations: program to improve care and save money.
March 1, 2004... By calling an 800 number and paying a $5 fee, residents in four Wyoming cities can have face-to-face consultations with clinical pharmacists, who not only review the residents' health and medication history but make cost-saving suggestions as...

Memantine shows benefit for moderate-to-severe AD: new approach warrants further research.(Journal Review)(Alzheimer's disease)
March 1, 2004... Memantine (Namenda) helped lessen the symptoms of patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were already receiving treatment with donepezil (Aricept), according to a study published in the Jan. 21 issue of the Journal of the...

New hepatotoxicity warning added to nevirapine (Viramune).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals is informing health care professionals about new labeling information being added to the boxed warning for nevirapine (Viramune), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor indicated for the treatment...

FDA announces improved drug approval results in 2003.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced improved results over last year on overall drugs and biologics approvals for calendar year 2003, and decreases in the time it took the agency to review and approve most applications. The...

Savings noted with increased use of beta-blockers.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Using a decision model, researchers estimate that Medicare costs would decrease if the use of beta-blocker drugs were more widespread, according to a new study sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study,...

First TB vaccine trial in 60 years to begin.(tuberculosis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A new vaccine, made with several proteins from the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), will soon enter the first phase of human safety testing. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National...

Study: consumers don't understand drug formularies.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Many Americans do not understand one of managed care's most basic and universal tools to control prescription drug costs, according to a recent study. The study, published in the January issue of Managed Care Interface, explained that the...

Vantin antibiotic batch recalled.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Graham Development, a distributor in Oneonta, NY, has begun a voluntary recall of one lot of Vantin 200 mg tablets (Lot #K08210301), a prescription antibiotic. There is a possibility that product dispensed from this lot may contain the heart...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Myogen has begun patient enrollment in Phase III clinical trials of ambrisentan for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Rheumatoid arthritis.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Genome Sciences has begun dosing patients in a Phase II clinical trial of human monoclonal antibody to B-lymphocyte stimulator, BlyS (LymphoStat-B), for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Follicular B-cell lymphomas following cytoreductive theraphy with Rituxan.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Favrille has completed enrollment for its current Phase II clinical trial (FavId-04) with the company's lead investigational agent, FavId. This agent is under clinical development for the treatment of follicular B-cell lymphomas following...

Immune reconstitution of immunocompromised patients.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Cytheris has announced the entry of its first recombinant human Interleukin-7 protein in a Phase I clinical study. This cytokine targets the immune reconstitution of immunocompromised patients, including those undergoing cancer treatment,...

Chronic hepatitis C infection.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Coley Pharmaceutical Group has initiated a Phase I clinical study of CPG 10101 (Actilon), a novel synthetic TLR9 agonist, targeted for patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

Broad-spectrum carbapenem antibiotic.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Peninsula Pharmaceuticals has announced that patient enrollment has begun in a Phase I trial of an inhaled formulation of its lead product candidate, doripenem, a broad-spectrum carbapenem antibiotic.

HIV vaccine.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Epimmune has completed patient enrollment in the Phase I/II therapeutic HIV vaccine trial of its EP HIV-1090 vaccine candidate.

Anticancer compound.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Progen Industries Limited has begun a new Phase II clinical study of its lead anticancer compound, PI-88.

Relapsed malignant gliomas.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Pharmacyclics has initiated a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of its investigational drug motexafin gadolinium (Xcytrin) in combination with temozolomide (Temodar) for the treatment of patients with relapsed malignant...

Locally advanced, unresectable (StageIIIA/Stage IIIB) non-small cell lung cancer.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Allos Therapeutics has initiated a Phase I clinical trial of efaproxiral (RSR13) and supplemental oxygen with concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients with locally advanced, unresectable (Stage IIIA/Stage IIIB) non-small cell lung cancer.

Hepatitis B.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Genencor International is beginning Phase I safety and immunogenicity testing for its DNA-based therapeutic vaccine to treat hepatitis B.

Palonosetron (Aloxi) formulary evaluation: part 1 of 2: mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, indications, dosage and Adminsitration.
March 1, 2004... Palonosetron, developed by MGI Pharma and its partner Helsinn Healthcare SA, is a recently approved selective antagonist of serotonin subtype 3 receptors (5-HT3). Palonosetron's affinity for 5-HT3 receptors gives it utility as an...

New FDA approvals.
March 1, 2004... These drugs recently received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): * New administration of peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys) by Roche. The FDA has approved pre-filled syringes of peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys)...