Cymbalta approved for Fibromyalgia – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Cymbalta® (duloxetine HCl) for the management of fibromyalgia, a chronic widespread pain disorder, Eli Lilly and Company announced today…more
Takeda’s Actos may help prevent diabetes – Actos, a pill to treat diabetes, can prevent development of the disease in people with early symptoms, U.S. researchers reported…more
Amylin’s once-weekly Byetta looks promising for lowering blood sugar – Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Monday that a once-weekly version of its Byetta type 2 diabetes medicine led to additional improvements in blood sugar levels over the currently available drug that must be injected twice a day…more However, their stock was pounded after many positive news reports of competitive drugs.
Ranbaxy up for grabs – Daiichi makes bid. Also, strikes deal with Pfizer over generic Lipitor.
Elan/Wyeth experimental Alzheimer’s drug continues to progress in clinical trials – A closely watched Phase II study of an experimental Alzheimier’s drug being developed by Elan and Wyeth shows the med appears to be effective in some patients. Known as bapineuzumab, the drug failed to achieve statistically significant results in the primary outcomes, but managed to do so in subgroups lacking a higher genetic risk to develop the disease…more
J&J, Red Cross, call it quits on legal fight – The lawsuits had an absurdist, has-it-really-come-to-this quality about them. Johnson & Johnson and the Red Cross — Band-Aids and baby powder, blood drives and disaster relief — were suing each other over the rights to the red cross emblem that both had long shared. Now, after getting most of its suit against the Red Cross tossed out by a judge, Johnson & Johnson has picked up its legal toys and gone home. The company said today that it is dismissing its remaining claims against the august nonprofit. And the Red Cross, for its part, threw out its counterclaims against J&J. The companies’ statement is online here more
FDA and Genentech in a staredown – Last year, Genentech caused a ruckus by restricting distribution of its Avastin med to compounding pharmacies, which were repackaging and selling the drug to opthalmologists for treating wet macular degeneration. Unlike Avastin, Genentech’s similar, but newer Lucentis was approved to treat the malady, but at $2,000 a dose will cost about 40 times as much…more
Cancer drug Gleevec may help with strokes? Very cool – A highly effective leukemia pill may reduce complications and boost the effectiveness of a treatment for the most common type of stroke, an international team of researchers said on Sunday. Studies in mice showed giving Gleevec or imatinib, a drug made by Novartis AG, significantly reduced bleeding in the brain associated with the clot-busting drug known as tissue plasminogen activator or tPA…more
Millennium/Takeda’s Velcade gets expanded approval – Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan’s largest drugmaker, won U.S. approval to promote its cancer drug Velcade for earlier treatment of multiple myeloma, the company said on Friday…more
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