Drug News
Europe gives final approval to Pfizer HIV drug
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Pfizer Inc said on Monday the European Commission had approved its AIDS drug called Celsentri, or Selzentry in the United States, the first in a new class of oral HIV medicines.
The drug—which is known generically as maraviroc—is the first designed to keep HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from entering healthy immune cells. Older AIDS medicines attack the virus itself.
Lilly gets FDA nod on new osteoporosis drug use
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Eli Lilly & Co said Friday that it had won approval to market its blockbuster osteoporosis drug to post-menopausal women who are at high risk for invasive breast cancer.
The company also said U.S. health regulators had extended the use of the drug, known as Evista, to help reduce the risk of the aggressive form of breast cancer in post-menopausal women who have the bone-thinning disease.
Americans spend most on Lipitor, drug survey finds
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U.S. consumers spent more money on the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor—more than $9 billion—than any other prescription drug in 2004, according to federal estimates released on Wednesday.
Cholesterol drugs in general raked in the most money for their makers, according to the survey by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Aspartame is safe, study says
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A sweeping review of research studies of aspartame says there is no evidence that the non-nutritive sweetener causes cancer, neurological damage or other health problems in humans
Looking at more than 500 reports, including toxicological, clinical and epidemiological studies dating from 1970’s preclinical work to the latest studies on the high-intensity sweetener, along with use levels and regulations data, an international expert panel from 10 universities and medical schools evaluated the safety of aspartame for people of all ages and with a variety of health conditions. Their study is published in the September issue of Critical Reviews in Toxicology.
Combo blood pressure pill cuts deaths in diabetics
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Giving people with type 2 diabetes a combination pill to lower blood pressure cuts their risk of heart attack or death, regardless of what their blood pressure was before treatment, scientists said on Sunday.
Those taking the combined angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and diuretic medicine were 18 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than patients on placebo, according to a four-year study involving 11,000 patients.
Viagra boosts feel-good “love” hormone: study
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Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex—they may also boost levels of a hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Viagra, known generically as sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats; the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported the Journal of Physiology. This hormone is involved in nursing and childbirth, and also in orgasm and feelings of sexual pleasure.
Steroid Medications Ineffective in Treating Common Infant Lower Respiratory Infection
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For infants with a common and potentially serious viral lower respiratory infection called bronchiolitis, a widely used steroid treatment is not effective. A new study co-authored by Dr. Joan Bregstein of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center found that steroid treatment did not prevent hospitalization or improve respiratory symptoms for bronchiolitis, the most common cause of infant hospitalization. Bronchiolitis symptoms frequently include fever, runny nose, coughing and wheezing.
The multicenter study, conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), is published in the July 26 New England Journal of Medicine.
Discovery about Obesity Drug Helping Scientists Develop New Cancer Treatments
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Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug’s effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.
Published online today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the study is the first to report how the drug orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®) binds and interacts with a protein found in tumor cells. The drug blocks the protein’s function and causes cell death.
FDA warns of new risks to babies with Roche drug
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U.S. regulators on Thursday warned doctors of new risks to newborn babies, including death, associated with combining an antibiotic made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG with certain other treatments.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that the injection, called Rocephin, should not be combined with calcium or calcium-containing products, following reports of an unspecified number of cases of fatal reactions in the lungs and kidneys of newborns.
Increase in Prescription Drug Cost Sharing Associated With Lower Rates of Drug Treatment, Adherence
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A review of previous studies indicates that an increase in prescription drug cost sharing is associated with a decrease in drug spending and use of pharmacies; and for some chronic conditions, higher cost sharing is associated with greater use of expensive medical services, according to an article in the July 4 issue of JAMA.
“… with recent increases in pharmacy spending, pharmacy benefit managers and health plans have adopted benefit changes designed to reduce pharmaceutical use or steer patients to less-expensive alternatives. The rapid proliferation of mail-order pharmacies, mandatory generic substitution, coinsurance plans, and multitiered formularies has transformed the benefit landscape,” the authors write.
Fewer kids on SSRI antidepressants
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Within 2 years after the October 2003 FDA public health advisory about the risk of suicide in children taking a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), significant reductions in rates of diagnosis and antidepressant treatment of childhood depression occurred, researchers report.
“Antidepressant use was expected to decline, consistent with effects on other drugs after warnings are issued,” Dr. Anne M. Libby of University of Colorado Health Science Center at Denver told Reuters Health.
FDA grants speedy review for new class of HIV drug
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U.S. regulators will review Isentress, an investigational drug for HIV infection, on a priority basis, and a decision is anticipated by mid-October, Merck & Co. said on Wednesday.
The oral drug is the first in an HIV drug class called integrase inhibitors. It is generically known as raltegravir, and formerly known as MK-0518. The drug blocks the insertion of HIV’s genetic material into human DNA and thereby prevents the virus from replicating. It should be taken twice daily, and can be taken with or without food.
Antipsychotic drugs may impair or aid cognition
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Antipsychotic medications used to relieve distress in people with chronic schizophrenia have variable effects on mental functioning and cognitive capability, according to a report sponsored by the National Institute of Medical Health.
“Some patients improve and some get worse, so their doctors need to attend to how an antipsychotic is affecting cognition,” Dr. Richard S. E. Keefe from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina told Reuters Health.
Does OTC Diet Pill Alli Live Up to Its Name?
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The first and only over-the-counter product for weight loss approved by the Food and Drug Administration will be available Friday, June 15.
Orlistat, known by the brand name Alli, works by decreasing the amount of fat absorbed by the body. It is the OTC version of Xenical, a prescription weight loss pill. The good news: Orlistat has been tested and the prescription version has been used since 1999.
Merck migraine drug shows promise in clinical trial
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An experimental migraine drug being developed by Merck & Co. significantly relieved pain two hours after dosing compared to a placebo in a mid-stage clinical trial, the company said on Thursday.
The drug, MK-0974, also demonstrated sustained pain relief through 24 hours, according to data presented at the American Headache Society annual meeting in Chicago.
