Drug News

Drug lobby wants clearer FDA rules for diet pills

The pharmaceutical industry may stop investing in medicines to treat diseases like diabetes or obesity without more explicit guidelines from U.S. regulators, the chairman…    

FDA sends user-fee recommendations to Congress

U.S. health regulators said on Friday they have submitted to Congress new recommendations for how manufacturers will help fund their review of new branded…    

New Drug Screening Identifies Chemical Agents with Potent Anti-Cancer Activity

Drugs already approved for clinical use across a variety of therapeutic categories can be screened to identify effective agents for thyroid cancer according to…    

FDA Warns of Changes in Infant Acetaminophen Dosage

In an effort to reduce accidental overdoses that occur in infants given acetaminophen products, manufacturers have reduced the concentration of pain and fever reducing…    

Experimental malaria vaccine shows early promise

British scientists have developed an experimental malaria vaccine that may have the potential to neutralize all strains of the most deadly species of malaria…    

Europe’s crisis spells more pain for drugmakers

Drugmakers are counting the cost of the deepening euro zone crisis, with further austerity-driven price cuts expected in important European markets, including Italy and…    

Computational Method Predicts New Uses for Existing Medicines

For the first time ever, scientists are using computers and genomic information to predict new uses for existing medicines.

A National Institutes…    

Bayer starts selling quick-release aspirin

German drugmaker Bayer has released a souped-up version of Bayer aspirin that the company says relieves pain twice as fast as its namesake brand,…    

New UTHealth Trial Aimed at Helping Pregnant Women Stop Smoking

A clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of a medication that could help pregnant women stop smoking has begun enrollment at The…    

Research opens door to vaccines that can circumvent maternal antibodies

New research that reveals how maternal antibodies block an immune response to the measles virus is a first step toward improving current childhood vaccination…    

GSK tests intravenous flu drug vs Roche’s Tamiflu

GlaxoSmithKline has started a pivotal study testing intravenous zanamivir against Roche’s best-selling pill Tamiflu as a treatment for patients hospitalised with influenza, it said…    

Advisers recommend Human Genome lupus drug

The first new lupus treatment in half a century moved closer to U.S. approval on Tuesday as an advisory panel endorsed a potential blockbuster…    

Risks of old, new diet drugs face U.S. scrutiny

The risks of a potential new diet pill and a 13-year-old weight-loss medicine face U.S. scrutiny next week as medical experts consider if the…    

‘Anti-ageing’ medicines on the way

Medicines that can help people live healthy lives to 100 and beyond may be available in as little as two years, an expert has…    

Drug resistant H1N1 no major change in virus: WHO

Tamiflu resistance in some H1N1 patients with badly weakened immune systems does not seem to reflect a major change in the virus’ susceptibility to…    

Consumer ads pump up prescription drug costs

Medicaid pharmacy costs for the blood-thinning drug Plavix jumped at around the same time the drug’s maker started advertising it to consumers—even though the…    

New Paper from Internists Calls for Increased Role for FDA

A new policy paper that calls for broader authority and increased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was released today by the…    

Diabetes drug shows promise in multiple sclerosis

Treatment with the diabetes drug Actos, known technically as pioglitazone, seems to reduce brain shrinkage and may have other beneficial effects in people with…    

Experts say new drugs needed to fight flu pandemic

Experts on Friday urged governments on Friday to diversify their stockpiles of drugs and called for more new medicines to fight what could be…    

Major Breakthrough May Lead to Better Drugs for Diabetes, Other Diseases

For decades, scientists have studied nuclear hormone receptors to gain a better understanding of how they turn genes on and off throughout the body…    

New reference material can improve testing of multivitamin tablets

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new certified reference material that can be an important quality assurance tool for…    

Long-term use of popular inhalers increases risk of pneumonia for COPD patients

Newly published research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine finds that a popular class of anti-inflammatory inhalers significantly increases the risk of…    

New Guidelines for Prescribing Opioid Pain Drugs Published

A prestigious panel of pain-management experts representing the American Pain Society (APS) www. ampainsoc.org and the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) has published…    

Decrease Drug Costs—Go Generic

Today, more than ever, consumers can opt for generic equivalents of brand-name medications at substantial cost savings. According to the December issue of Mayo…    

E-prescribing Systems Can Boost Drug Cost Savings

Electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems that allow doctors to select lower cost or generic medications can save $845,000 per 100,000 patients per year and possibly…