News archive
News archive 26/06/2008
Compugen announces discovery of biomarkers for early pre-clinical detection of drug-induced kidney toxicity
The Company plans to initiate commercialization during the first half of 2009.
News archive 26/06/2008
Brazilian AIDS Group opposes patent to Gilead's AIDS drug tenofovir in India
A patent in India would not only restrict generic competition in India, but would also have a direct impact on the ability of Brazil to produce and access affordable generic versions of the drug.
News archive 26/06/2008
Stavudine, other antiretrovirals tied to new onset diabetes in HIV
The strongest association was with stavudine. Exposure to zidovudine and didanosine was also associated with increased risk. Exposure to ritonavir and nevirapine were both associated with reduced risk.
News archive 26/06/2008
Progress on effort to repeal ban on HIV-positive visitors
Senate Dems push for vote before July 4 recess.
News archive 26/06/2008
Gene testing questioned by regulators
Regulators are cracking down on companies that sell genetic tests directly to consumers, threatening to crimp the growth of one of the hottest sectors of the biotechnology industry.
News archive 26/06/2008
IAS statement on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
Legislation continues to stand in the way of scaling up towards universal access to HIV treatment care and prevention.
News archive 26/06/2008
INTELENCE receives positive opinion from European Committee for Human Medicinal Products for treatment of HIV
INTELENCE is the first NNRTI to demonstrate antiviral activity in patients with NNRTI-resistant virus.
News archive 26/06/2008
HAART may slow proteinuria progression in HIV-infected children
Renal disease that affected a third of HIV-infected children in one study was slowed by control of viral load with highly active antiretroviral therapy.
News archive 25/06/2008
Acute kidney failure more common in people newly diagnosed with HIV
A study has found that acute renal failure is a common development in patients new to HIV care, within the first three months of diagnosis.
News archive 25/06/2008
Cheaper test for atherosclerosis works in HIV
A method for diagnosing clogged arteries in HIV-negative patients works well in HIV-positive patients too.
News archive 25/06/2008
Sen. Reid says he will try to bring PEPFAR legislation to Senate floor on Wednesday
Reid said he will now try to get unanimous consent to move the legislation, regardless of whether a deal is secure.
News archive 25/06/2008
U.S. should lift HIV/AIDS-related travel restrictions, opinion piece says
The U.S. is "just one of 12 countries" -- including Libya, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sudan -- that "prohibit, almost without exception, HIV-positive noncitizens from entering the country".
News archive 25/06/2008
Merck's Gardasil not cleared for older women
U.S. regulators have told Merck & Co they cannot yet approve Merck's application to expand marketing of its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to an older group of women.
News archive 25/06/2008
Gates-backed aid group to invest in HPV vaccines
A vaccine to immunize women against the human papilloma virus and one to prevent miscarriages or birth defects caused by rubella virus were among the seven priority investments approved by the board.
News archive 25/06/2008
NICE backs Bristol-Myers drug for hepatitis B
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence decides which medicines are worth using on the state-run health system. Its evaluations are also monitored by authorities in other countries.
News archive 25/06/2008
Ardea Biosciences reports additional positive Phase 2a results for lead HIV candidate, RDEA806
Once-daily dosing with enteric-coated tablet produced robust antiviral activity; RDEA806 was well tolerated during one week of dosing in HIV patients.
News archive 25/06/2008
NIAID creates HIV Vaccine Discovery Branch to promote synergy between basic HIV researchers and vaccine designers
There is broad scientific consensus that designing a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HIV infection will require enormous advances beyond present-day knowledge.
News archive 25/06/2008
Can malaria be eradicated in Africa?
Malaria no doubt, is one of the greatest threats to realizing the MDG 4 goal of reducing under -5 mortality by two-thirds by year 2015.
News archive 24/06/2008
Improvement in anaemia in majority of US patients after starting AZT reported in large review
HIV therapy that includes AZT is a safe and effective option for HIV-positive people with anaemia.
News archive 24/06/2008
Atazanavir approved for first-line treatment in Europe
Atazanavir is already approved in Europe for use after the failure of first-line treatment in combination with other antiretrovirals, and has been approved for first-line use in the United States since May 2003.
News archive 24/06/2008
Children, adolescents living with HIV have higher rates of risk factors for cardiovascular issues, study finds
HIV-positive children had triglyceride levels 50% higher than children not living with the virus. Among the HIV-positive children, cholesterol levels were 6% higher, and LDL was 10% higher.
News archive 24/06/2008
One-third of status-aware HIV-positive MSM in U.K. still practicing risky sexual behavior, study says
According to the study participants who knew that they were HIV-positive were statistically more likely to have unprotected sex than those who did not know or were HIV-negative.
News archive 24/06/2008
Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases and Global Alliance for TB Drug Development announce five-year collaboration targeted to accelerate TB treatment R&D
The NITD and the TB Alliance’s collaboration aims to move projects quickly from the research phase through the translational stage and into development.
News archive 24/06/2008
UK patients will be alerted to clinical trials
Patients are to be given the right to be told about clinical trials in a move aimed at making the UK’s National Health Service a more attractive place for drugmakers and biotechs to do research.
News archive 24/06/2008
Capitalism said key to finding new drugs
Government-backed, private sector researchers seen as 'highly complementary'.
News archive 24/06/2008
Vertex investors balk at new study plans
A speedier-than-expected regulatory filing for Vertex Pharmaceuticals' hepatitis C drug appears less likely after the company disclosed plans Monday for a new phase III study of the drug.
News archive 24/06/2008
New Aptivus® oral solution approved for treatment-experienced pediatric and adolescent HIV patients
Aptivus oral solution also approved for treatment-experienced adult patients.
News archive 24/06/2008
A record year for the pharmaceutical lobby in '07
Washington's largest lobby racks up another banner year on Capitol Hill.
News archive 23/06/2008
G8 countries to discuss health worker shortages, set targets during July summit
G8 members are considering including in a set of guidelines the World Health Organization goal of having at least 4.1 health service providers and support workers per 1,000 people by 2015.
News archive 23/06/2008
Hope and pride among reasons for HIV trial participation
HIV patients taking part in an international phase III randomized trial overwhelmingly hoped for a personal benefit, but a majority also saw themselves as helping society and science.
News archive 23/06/2008
Genelabs provides update on hepatitis C drug development with collaboration partners
Genelabs Technologies announced that based on progress to date, its hepatitis C drug development and commercialization collaboration with Novartis is continuing to the next phase.
News archive 23/06/2008
UN: Sex between men fuelling AIDS in East Africa
A new United Nations report cites injected drug use and sex between men as important factors in East Africa’s Aids epidemic.
News archive 23/06/2008
E.U. pressures U.S. on HIV travel ban
Barrots’s office has been under pressure from Ministers of the European Parliament regarding the ability of HIV positive individuals to travel into the U.S.
News archive 23/06/2008
European drug industry reconsiders its strategy
Executives at European drug companies are rethinking how they do business.
News archive 23/06/2008
Italian researchers focus on fatty liver
In the past several years, researchers have found cases of NAFLD in HIV positive people. However, these cases have largely occurred in the absence of obesity or HCV genotype 3 infection.
News archive 22/06/2008
Quick diagnoses of drug-resistant TB crucial: experts
Countries with huge caseloads of tuberculosis are finding it hard to cope because they do not have the laboratories to make speedy diagnoses that are essential to save lives.
News archive 22/06/2008
Pharma hits back in EU Commission antitrust probe
There is no clear evidence of a marked decline in innovation by the European pharmaceutical industry, sector leaders have told the European Commission.
News archive 21/06/2008
Predicting which HIV/HCV-coinfected patients will respond to HCV treatment: some expected and some surprising answers
Patients who have an undetectable hepatitis C viral load within four weeks of the initiation of hepatitis C therapy are likely to be successfully treated for hepatitis C infection.
News archive 21/06/2008
Prognosis of HIV/HCV-coinfected patients may be better than previously thought
Over 20 years after infection with HIV, the vast majority of patients with hepatitis C-coinfection were still alive and that the probability of progressing to end-stage liver disease was 9%.
News archive 21/06/2008
Key opinion leaders: independent experts or drug representatives in disguise?
Ray Moynihan examines the role of the influential experts paid by industry to help "educate" the profession and the public.
News archive 20/06/2008
Anti-HIV treatment may mean that progression of hepatitis C no worse in coinfected patients than in those with only hepatitis C
The investigators found that there was no difference in degree of liver damage between HIV/hepatitis C coinfected patients who received antiretroviral therapy and that seen in individuals who were only infected with hepatitis C.
News archive 20/06/2008
Around 10% of HIV-positive patients without hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus found to have signs of liver damage
Approximately 10% of HIV-positive patients who are not coinfected with hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus have liver stiffness – a reliable indicator of liver damage.
News archive 20/06/2008
HIV-positive gay men and sexual transmission of hepatitis C: it's no longer just northern Europe
The epidemic of sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus amongst HIV-positive gay men appears to be gaining a foothold in southern Europe.
News archive 20/06/2008
Ribavirin levels after four weeks of treatment predict which HIV/hepatitis C coinfected and re-treated patients will respond
But in a separate study, the same team of researchers found that increasing the daily dose of ribavirin to 2000mg did not increase the chances of patients achieving a sustained response to hepatitis C therapy.
News archive 20/06/2008
Crack is wack in women’s HIV study
HIV-positive women who regularly use crack cocaine are three times as likely as non-crack users to die of AIDS-related causes, even if they adhere to their prescribed antiretroviral regimen.
News archive 20/06/2008
Researchers must 'press ahead' with HIV/AIDS vaccine efforts, opinion piece says
With the HIV/AIDS death toll standing at 25 million lives lost prematurely, and 33 million people currently living with the disease, the unpleasant truth is that we have no choice other than to press ahead with trials.
News archive 20/06/2008
Despite progress, AIDS-related illnesses remain leading cause of death among people ages 25-44 in Caribbean, UNAIDS report says
AIDS-related illnesses remain the leading cause of death among people ages 25 to 44 in the Caribbean despite successful efforts to curb the spread of the disease, particularly in the reduction of mother-to-child HIV transmission and the increase in access to antiretroviral drugs.
News archive 20/06/2008
Sen. Reid sets Tuesday deadline for agreement on PEPFAR reauthorization legislation
In a statement released on Thursday, Reid said it is "confounding and indefensible" that seven Republican senators, led by Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.), are blocking a vote.
News archive 20/06/2008
‘Virtual man’ will revolutionise R&D, says PwC
By 2020, R&D times may be shortened by two-thirds, success rates could dramatically increase and clinical trial costs could be slashed with the help of computer-based technologies.
News archive 20/06/2008
Pharma makes up 19% of global R&D expenditure
As its meeting in Paris comes to a close, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations has released a report which shows that the industry counts for “no less than 19% of global business R&D expenditureâ€.
More...
