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The recent calamity surrounding Vioxx is one example of what can go awry in the pharmaceutical industry. US drug company Merck (NUSE: MRK) was forced to withdraw this painkiller after in-house studies showed that patients could be at greater risk of suffering heart attacks.
The pharmaceutical industry has over the decades developed an almost unending crop of drugs that has helped to contain disease and improve global health. However, every now and again things can go wrong, and when it does, some investors obviously run for cover. The recent calamity surrounding Vioxx is one example of what can go awry in the pharmaceutical industry. US drug company Merck (NUSE: MRK) was forced to withdraw this painkiller after in-house studies showed that patients could be at greater risk of suffering hear…

Influenza is a global disease which imposes a huge medical and economic burden inevery country of the world. The UK is no exception with one caveat - the virus is probably monitored and tracked more in the UK than any other country around the globe. Over the years, GPs have played a leading role in estimating the quantitative impact of influenza. This started with the pioneering work of William Pickles in the Wensleydale villages and continued with Edgar Hope-Simpson in Cirencester.
Influenza is a global disease which imposes a huge medical and economic burden inevery country of the world. The UK is no exception with one caveat - the virus is probably monitored and tracked more in the UK than any other country around the globe. Over the years, GPs have played a leading role in estimating th…

School can be a difficult place at the best of times, however for the 20 million plus children in the seven major pharmaceutical markets that suffer from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it can be especially troubling. This exacerbated by the fact that many patients aren't receiving the best available treatment, according to new research from Datamonitor.
The report suggests that many patients ADHD patients are adversely affected because physicians are sticking with older immediate release, short duration drugs rather than a number of newer long-acting therapies that are on the market. Hugely undiagnosed Datamonitor estimates that 23 million children and adolescents across the seven major pharmaceutical markets suffer from ADHD, a physician perceived prevalence rate o…

As pharmaceutical companies attempt to increase productivity and remain financially viable, the prospect of a merger or acquisition is always on the horizon.
As pharmaceutical companies attempt to increase productivity and remain financially viable, the prospect of a merger or acquisition is always on the horizon. In particular, the problem for the major pharmaceutical companies is that investors have become accustomed to double-digit growth performance and thus there is pressure to develop an ever-greater number of new products with high sales potential. However, the rising costs and risks of drug development combined with the lengthy drug development timescales and increasing competition have made it difficult for companies to keep pace with such expectations. The pharmaceutical industr…

Over the past 30 years, numerous clinical trials evaluating a variety of different classes of drugs have conclusively shown the benefit of blood pressure reduction in reducing the risk of strokes and cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, such trials have clearly demonstrated that blood pressure is unlikely to be controlled with a single drug and often two or more therapies are required to achieve blood pressure targets.
Over the past 30 years, numerous clinical trials evaluating a variety of different classes of drugs have conclusively shown the benefit of blood pressure reduction in reducing the risk of strokes and cardiovascular mortality. Moreover, such trials have clearly demonstrated that blood pressure is unlikely to be controlled with a single drug and often two or more therapies are…

Altana has announced the delay of its US application for Daxas until late 2005 due to clinical trial enrolment taking longer than originally anticipated. The news will be of further concern to the company's investors, coming on the back of the recent announcement that another of its respiratory drugs, Alvesco, failed to win full FDA approval.
Daxas is Altana's selective phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE-IV) inhibitor that is being investigated as a treatment for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in partnership with Pfizer the and . Altana confirmed earlier this year that a US 12-month long-term efficacy study in COPD was still in the recruiting phase, which is likely to be the 1,100-patient OPUS study that will determine the effect of Daxas (roflumilast) in the treatment of…

Prostate cancer is the most common male malignancy in Western countries. Surgery and radiological procedures for localized prostate cancer offer the possibility for curative treatment. Prostate cancer also represents one of the most lucrative oncology indications for the pharmaceutical industry because drug-based treatment is often very effective at delaying disease progression, even in advanced disease, which encourages high-volume and long-term usage. The use of hormonal manipulation for advan
Prostate cancer is the most common male malignancy in Western countries. Surgery and radiological procedures for localized prostate cancer offer the possibility for curative treatment. Prostate cancer also represents one of the most lucrative oncology indications for the pharmaceutical industry beca…

The pharmaceutical and biotech industries are important contributors to the economies of European countries and are also major employers. If companies in these sectors are to continue to base themselves in Europe they must be seen as positive forces in the field of technology and healthcare rather than a negative drain on a country's finances.
A healthy environment for R&D is essential for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries to successfully bring new products to market. In recent years, the general R&D environment in Europe has become less attractive to companies than that in the US and a number of companies have preferentially shifted investment across the Atlantic (1). The European pharmaceutical industry's own figures demonstrate how dramatic this shift has been. In 1990,…

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth commonest cancer worldwide with about one million new cases diagnosed annually. It is estimated that the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the seven major pharma markets will continue to rise over the next decade. There is no gold standard therapy - the market is characterized by high levels of unmet need, large patient potential and high commercial potential. To mark the publication of its new feature "Hepatocellular Carcinoma" LeadDiscovery's analys
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth commonest cancer worldwide with about one million new cases diagnosed annually. It is estimated that the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in the seven major pharma markets will continue to rise over the next decade. There is no gold standard therapy - the m…

Learn about new methods and innovative tools to help you with your translational research.
As you know, translational research is a crucial bridge between pre-clinical and clinical trials for CNS diseases.  Its value is determined by how well it can map a drug’s physiological effects and predict the likelihood that it will be successful in clinical trials.  Consequently, the better and more precise the translational research, the more money will be saved during drug development and the quicker a drug can successfully reach market.             Since translational research is bi-directional in nature, working from the laboratory to the clinic, and from the clinic back to the laboratory, it is inherently collaborative.  To h…

Limitations in the ability to optimize dose modification within the clinical trial setting represents a serious bottleneck in the drug development process. This barrier increases development time, causes the unnecessary early termination of valuable candidates and adds up to $300 million/drug in costs. Petra Biotek are set to knock down these barriers through their computer-based Cycle Dose Modification system. The positive impact that this technology is expected to have on the clinical developm
  [] :  Limitations in the ability to optimize dose modification within the clinical trial setting represents a serious bottleneck in the drug development process. This barrier increases development time, causes the unnecessary early termination of valuable candidates and adds up to $30…

Treatment with combined estrogen/progestin doubles the risk of VTE in post-menopausal women and for obese women the risk is even higher, a recent study showed. However millions of women no longer taking HRT remain at risk of osteoporosis, which presents a huge market opportunity for non-hormonal classes in treating and preventing osteoporosis.
The final data on the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in the Womens Health Initiative Estrogen Plus Progestin clinical trial was published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The aim of the trial, part of a 15 year program to investigate morbidity and mortality in women that started in 1991, was to determine whether hormone replacement therapy with combined estrogen and progestin may offer some cardioprotection t…

Healthcare professionals in the UK are already experiencing the benefits of being able to view this extensive product and disease-based resource online at a time and place that is convinient to them
Built by PharmiWeb Solutions on behalf of AstraZeneca in the , The Nexium GP Resource is an exciting new audio visual resource intended as an aid to decision making in the management of reflux disease and appropriate prescribing of NEXIUM® (esomeprazole). To read more about NEXIUM, view the prescribing information by clicking here. This is an innovative way for AstraZeneca to provide educational resources and communicate product and disease information to busy healthcare professionals in a format and at a time that is convenient to them. Features of this resource include: ·   &n…

In 2001, Flame Health was launched in response to the increasing need for an efficient, dedicated recruitment service for the health sector.
In 2001, Flame Health was launched in response to the increasing need for an efficient, dedicated recruitment service for the health sector. Created as a remedy to the traditional agency approach, Flame Health Ltd prides itself on innovation and has become a pioneering business with a firm emphasis on consultancy.  Scott Liversidge, Managing Director comments on the growth of the company and how they have developed through the three years, “Since our inception, we have grown significantly and continue to deliver highly focused solutions for 2004 and beyond.  As a prospective client, we make it our business to understand your requirements by w…

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), caused by systemic atherosclerosis, is vastly underappreciated despite its abysmal mortality rates. With 5 and 10-year rates of 30% and 50% respectively mortality due to PAD is greater than that caused by coronary artery disease and stroke and is exceeded only by colorectal cancer. Better use of the pharmacological and interventional treatments available would dramatically improve the lives of the millions of PAD patients while at the same time ballooning the r
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), caused by systemic atherosclerosis, is vastly underappreciated despite its abysmal mortality rates. With 5 and 10-year rates of 30% and 50% respectively mortality due to PAD is greater than that caused by coronary artery disease and stroke and is exceeded only by c…

Recruitment is a very inexact science – the statistics in favour of making the right decision based on the traditional interview alone are horrifyingly low (the percentage is in single figures). This is a fact that has really only been acknowledged in recent years and, as a result, organisations have looked for ways to improve the success rate of their selection choices.
Assessment centres have their origins in the military where they were used in training and development.  The idea was then adopted by large commercial organisations, which used them as part of graduate recruitment programmes.   However, the emergence of competency based selection, over the last 20 years or so, has brought the assessment centre into more common usage amongst serious recruiters. What is an…

The recent government suspension of the manufacturing license for major flu vaccine maker Chiron in the UK has left many countries facing a severe shortage in flu vaccine supply for the 2004-05 season. In the light of previous vaccine provision difficulties, Datamonitor's Laura Harris argues that, in the longer term, cell culture vaccines could resolve the annual flu vaccine quandary...
On , the government announced it was to suspend the manufacturing license of California-based vaccines company Chiron, due to concerns about its manufacturing process. The news came soon after the company had announced a delay in shipment of four million doses since they did not meet sterility standards. Chiron, one of the world's largest vaccine companies with sales of $678 million in 2003, currently man…

As with other emerging industrial sectors, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has made no secret of its desire to globalise and eventually compete with its foreign rivals.
As with other emerging industrial sectors, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has made no secret of its desire to globalise and eventually compete with its counterparts in Europe, Japan and the USA. This is an ambitious aim because most of the Indian industry's current success has been achieved in the area of generics rather than innovative new drugs, and its multinational competitors have decades more experience in global drug development and much greater financial power (1, 2).   Incentives for R&D The Indian pharmaceutical industry has long campaigned for better incentives from the government to help them riv…

Last week, Merck & Co sent shockwaves through the pharmaceutical market with the announcement that it had voluntarily withdrawn its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx. Datamonitor's Adele Schulz examines the likely impact of this event, for the remainder of 2004 and beyond, on both Merck and its rivals...
In the days since Merck's action, speculation has been rife as to the implications for the remainder of the COX-2 market. What is certain is that existing pipeline products will be subjected to additional FDA scrutiny, most likely delaying the US launch of Novartis's Prexige (lumiracoxib) and Merck & Co.'s Arcoxia (etoricoxib), particularly as the emergence of Vioxx's (rofecoxib) cardiovascular side effects only occurred after 18 months means lengthy clinical trials are likely to be need…

The demographics of HIV patients are shifting, with the average age of those infected with HIV ever increasing due to longer life expectancy and higher survival rates. However, with increasingly complex infections and drug resistance developing in long term patients, novel medications and new combinations are now being launched to continue the fight...
Globally, the number of people living with HIV continues to grow from 35 million in 2001 to 38 million in 2003. An estimated 5 million people acquired HIV in 2003, the greatest number in any one year since the beginning of the epidemic, and in the same year almost three million died as a result of AIDS taking the total to 20 million since the first cases of AIDS were identified in 1981. The demographics of the HIV infected population is rapid…