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(Mesothelioma News) BOTHELL, WA and VANCOUVER — OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals announced today that OGX-011, also known as custirsen sodium, received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in combination with docetaxel for progressive metastatic prostate cancer. OGX-011 is currently completing five Phase 2 clinical studies in prostate, lung and breast cancer, and [...]

(Mesothelioma News) The biotech company that Justin Murdock, the son of Dole Food Co. owner David Murdock, leads has begun stage-III clinical trials for a lung cancer vaccine. NovaRx, based in San Diego, is testing its Lucanix vaccine in about 700 patients with lung cancer — a disease which the American Cancer Society says is [...]

VIOXX CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT UPDATE:
Partial settlement payments will soon be in the mail to those people who claim that taking Vioxx caused them to suffer heart attacks, the Associated Press is reporting. Vioxx is the pain reliever that was linked to heart failure and has since been removed from the market.  Payments are scheduled to [...]

CANCER NEWS: Background
The observation that angiotensin II is a potent angiogenic and growth factor raises the possibility that blocking its effects could reduce the incidence of cancer. We evaluated associations between use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and keratinocyte cancer incidence in a population at high risk of [...]

MEDICAL NEWS:
Abstract

Background  Preventive service use among older adults is suboptimal. Unhealthy drinking may constitute a risk factor for failure to receive
these services.

Objectives  To determine the relationship between unhealthy drinking and receipt of recommended preventive services among elderly Medicare
beneficiaries, applying the framework of current alcohol consumption guidelines.

Design/Methods  The data source is the nationally representative 2003 [...]

MEDICAL NEWS: One is often interested in the ratio of two variables, for example in genetics, assessing drug effectiveness, and in health economics. In this paper, we derive an explicit geometric solution to the general problem of identifying the two tangents from an arbitrary external point to an ellipse. This solution permits numerical integration [...]

DRUGS & RX: ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 18, 2008–Elderly patients who are prescribed a conventional, or first-generation, antipsychotic medication are at an increased risk of death from cardiovascular or respiratory diseases as compared to those who take an…

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Use of Conventional Antipsychotics Medications Linked to Increased Risk of Cardiovascular, Respiratory Disease Deaths [...]

DRUGS & RX: The Polish Ministry of Health’s goal of demonopolising the National Health Fund (NFZ) looks to have taken a step forward after the Ministry began an interdepartmental consultation on a draft law that would divide the single state fund into six smaller regional funds. The aim of decentralising the fund is to increase [...]

MEDICAL NEWS: There’s no need to feel guilty, ladies, if you don’t examine your breast (boob)s with rigor and regularity. The medical field is divided over the once-routine recommendation that women inspect their breast (boob)s monthly to detect possible cancer. Controversy flared again last week with the publication of a new review by the [...]

DRUGS & RX: Biotechnology firm Cytos is to link up with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in the development of vaccines for a number of human diseases, the Swiss firm announced on August 15 2008. In addition, the company has said it expects to sell the rights to an experimental vaccine for hypertension during the second [...]

DRUGS & RX: Poland’s leading domestic drugmaker, Polpharma, is to buy a 33.3% stake in Bioton for an initial PLN450mn (US8.9mn), the biotechnology company said on August 15 2008. The deal could increase in value by an additional PLN50mn (US.1mn) if a future interferon-based drug gains European Medicines Agency (EMEA) approval. Jerzy Starak, owner of [...]

DRUGS & RX: South Africa’s New Clicks has acquired a 60% stake in courier pharmacy chain Direct Medicines for ZAR13.2mn (US.7mn). As part of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, Direct Medicines will be rebranded as Clicks Direct Medicine. New Clicks will have the option to acquire the remaining 40% of the business [...]