Bayer in cancer collaboration
Finnish pharma company Orion and German healthcare giant Bayer have entered into an agreement for the development and commercialisation of a novel drug targeting prostate cancer.
Medication
Pictures help illiterate patients take medicines correctly
Using pictures and symbols, rather than handwritten words, on prescriptions helps illiterate patients take their medicines correctly when they leave hospital, say doctors today. The idea was first tested in a hospital in Pakistan using simple pictures of the sun, moon and stars to help patients understand when and how long to take their medication for.
Move to significantly strengthen position in consumer care
Bayer has agreed to acquire the consumer care business of U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, for a purchase price of USD 14.2 billion (EUR 10.4 billion).
Endovascular thrombolysis
Neurologists keenly debate the value of mechanical reopening of blocked blood vessels in the brain, as demonstrated during the 21st World Congress for Neurology (WCN) in Vienna this September. Theoretically, endovascular thrombolysis can only be considered for 20-30% of all incidents of stroke.
Despite population decrease, in 2020 cancer case will increase
In the country’s first scientific study to correlate the demographic changes and frequency of tumorous diseases, demographic changes have led scientists to forecast a significant increase in the number of cancerous diseases in coming years.
C.diff associated diarrhoea
Diarrhoea caused by Clostridium difficile, which remains an issue in hospital settings, has been the focus of Cochrane Collaboration scientists, who now suggest that taking probiotics at the same time as antibiotics could help to maintain a healthy balance of bacteria in the gut, particularly as antibiotics can disturb the ecosystem of organisms normally present in the digestive system.
Global financial crisis linked to higher death rate
The current financial crisis is having a major impact on European economies, especially that of Spain. Past evidence suggests that adverse macro- economic conditions exacerbate mental illness, but evidence from the current crisis is limited.
Samsung BioLogics Signs a Strategic Manufacturing Partnership with Roche
Samsung BioLogics today announced that Samsung BioLogics and F. Hoffmann-La Roche have entered into a long term strategic manufacturing agreement under which Samsung will manufacture Roche's proprietary commercial biologic medicines at its two manufacturing facilities in Incheon, South Korea, of which one is currently under construction.
German Cancer Research Center to broaden strategic alliance with Bayer HealthCare
The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bayer HealthCare (Bayer) will extend their successful strategic research alliance in search of novel cancer therapeutics by focusing their activities also on the field of immunotherapy.
Epigenetic drugs
‘All human body cells contain the same DNA, but every type of cell – for example a muscle cell compared to that of a nerve – has a different gene expression pattern’, said Dr Sonja Stadler, speaking at the 2012 congress of DGKL (German Society for Clinical Chemistry).
More sleep can reduce delirium in intensive care patients
A hospital is not the best place to get a good night’s sleep, especially in a noisy intensive care unit.
The German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK)
A dynamic new consortium was launched in October during the recent Innovation in Oncology event organised by the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) with Heidelberg University Hospital.
Hospital Pharmacists will meet in Paris
The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) announced that online registration for its annual congress to take place next year from 13-15 March 2013 in Palais des Congrès, Paris, France is open. This congress’ theme is “Improving patient outcomes – a shared responsibility”.
Knowing the Enemy
Modern wars will be fought in the cyber zone, targeting an enemy's communications technology to cause critical damage; a Tel Aviv University researcher suggests to employ similar tactics in the battle against cancer.
Gene Therapy in the EU
For the first time, a EU agency recommends a gene therapy drug for commercial release in Europe. The European Medicine's Agency announced in late July 2012 that its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommends Glybera for commercial release in the European Union
Diagnostic tests followed by personalized medicine
A new genre of medical tests - which determine whether a medicine is right for a patient's genes - are paving the way for increased use of personalized medicine, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
A new MRSA test
Alere introduced its new PBP2a test, a rapid, lateralflow assay that detects the PBP2a protein found in MRSA directly from Staphylococcus aureus isolates. It is a costeffective, targeted approach to identifying MRSA, the firm points out. Providing results in five minutes, the assay uses samples from cultures (wound, skin, urine, etc.) and has builtin quality controls on every test strip.
The UK pharma industry
In the lead up to further talks on medicine pricing, Stephen Whitehead, Chief Executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has accused the UK government of being too focused on encouraging breakthrough drugs at the expense of significant gains for patients from incremental innovation in medicines. ‘The government wants to target resources at big breakthroughs, but…
1920s drug shifts into today’s alcohol addiction arena
EH Paris correspondent Annick Chapoy, reports on a French study that confirms the relevance of a drug with a long history in the management of other diseases
Oral vaccination against pancreatic tumours
The world’s first gene cancer therapy study of an innovative oral vaccine is underway at the Surgical Clinic of Heidelberg University Hospital.
Risks and benefits of first line diabetes treatment
Although the drug metformin is considered the gold standard in the management of type 2 diabetes, a study by a group of French researchers published in this week's PLoS Medicine suggests that the long-term benefits of this drug compared with the risks are not clearly established - an important finding given that currently, thousands of people around the world are regularly taking metformin to…
Organisation and technology as factors of success in A&E
Point of care technologies (POCT) have an important, quality enhancing, risk-reducing and cost-impacting role within the extremely time-critical medical decision structures of a central Accident and Emergency department, says Professor Wilfried von Eiff, Centre for Hospital Management, University of Muenster, Germany.
GE Healthcare to Invest $1 Billion in New Oncology Solutions
GE Healthcare announced today its plans to dedicate $1 billion of its total R&D budget over the next five years to expand its advanced cancer diagnostic and molecular imaging capabilities, as well as its world-class technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and for cancer research.
Cardiac conundrum
France – Re-opening clogged arteries with metal stents has proved a life-saver for a majority of patients with coronary disease. Yet the high rates of complications and mortality for patients with diabetes following a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) continue to baffle cardiologists. Report: John Brosky
Germany to limit test strips prescriptions
Since the German Federal Ministry of Health did not oppose the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decision to eliminate reimbursement for urine and blood sugar test strips for Type 2 diabetics not dependent on insulin from the services provided by statutory medical insurers, from this October test strips will only be prescribed in exceptional cases.