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04 Nov 04
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
LeadDiscovery
29 Oct 04
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
LeadDiscovery
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22 Oct 04
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.
Datamonitor
22 Oct 04
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
LeadDiscovery
19 Oct 04
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
Colin Williams
15 Oct 04
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
LeadDiscovery
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15 Oct 04
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.
Lydia Holder
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14 Oct 04
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...
Datamonitor
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11 Oct 04
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...
Datamonitor
07 Oct 04
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...
LeadDiscovery
05 Oct 04
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a niche cancer that accounts for 2-3% of all solid tumors in the major pharmaceutical markets. Approximately 30,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease each year in the US and 12,000 patients die of the disease annually. The market is currently dominated by the cytokines, but there is significant interest among physicians in the potential of anti-angiogenics, particularly so since renal cell carcinomas are known to be well vascularized. Bayer's BAY 43-9006 is a
LeadDiscovery
01 Oct 04
As the dust settles on Merck's withdrawal of Vioxx's, LeadDiscovery investigates the impact that this will have on the treatment of pain, R&D activity directed towards the identification of new approaches, and on pharmaceutical sales relating to COX-2 inhibitors and related drug classes
LeadDiscovery
30 Sep 04
The market for Alzheimer's therapy is expected to grow from 16 million patients to 21 million by 2010 in the seven major pharmaceutical markets. Alzheimer's disease market in the seven major markets is worth $4.7 billion and will increase to $6.1 billion by the year 2005 and $ 7.8 billion by the year 2010. The major unmet need in this market is for disease modification and disease prevention. Recent findings by British researchers showing that targeting the neuronal adaptor protein X11beta can r
LeadDiscovery
29 Sep 04
The pharmaceutical market for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders will grow by an unprecedented amount over the next ten years. The aging of the baby-boom generation, combined with new and improved treatments for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease will lead to an expansion of the already $30 billion neurodegenerative market. Despite the growth of generic products, Parkinson's disease drug revenues grew an impressive 17% across the seven major markets
LeadDiscovery
22 Sep 04
Earlier this year data was reported that Sankyo's angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan medoxomil may offer improved anti-hypertensive activity when compared to other therapeutic agents within this highly competitive $31 billion market. More recently clinical data has appeared that shows olmesartan to have additional anti- inflammatory activity in hypertensive patients with vascular inflammation. This may confer additional therapeutic benefit since inflammation is an etiological compo
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
The recent success of monoclonal antibody therapies such as Genentech's Rituxan and Johnson & Johnson's Remicade are driving further development of this field. MAb therapies brought in revenues of over $5.1 billion in 2003, a figure which should nearly triple over the next five years as new MAbs are launched and following the approval of new indications for MAbs already on the market. By 2008, MAbs should account for 32 percent of all revenue in the biotech market. One therapeutic antibody indic
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
It has been estimated that 9% of the US population suffers from moderate to severe non-cancer-related pain. Acute pain resulting from conditions such as headache, muscle spasms, dental problems or following surgery, affects 90 million Americans every year and the development of analgesics represents a major pharmaceutical objective. A recent study has demonstrated the analgesic activity of corticotropin-releasing-hormone (CRH) and has shown that this activity is probably due to activity within t
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a niche cancer that accounts for 2-3% of all solid tumors in the major pharmaceutical markets. Approximately 30,000 patients are diagnosed with the disease each year in the US and 12,000 patients die of the disease annually. The market is currently dominated by the cytokines, but there is significant interest among physicians in the potential of anti-angiogenics, particularly so since renal cell carcinomas are known to be well vascularized. Researchers have now show
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
In 2002 nearly 1,285,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed in the United States, and due to the lack of options for the treatment of advanced disease more than 550,000 Americans died of the disease. Immunotherapy represents an emerging approach to the treatment of cancer that promises high specificity with negligible side effects. This approach to cancer treatment commonly involves the stimulation of T cells and antibody production and the use of cytokines has been extensively studied. IL-12 has b
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
Early ejaculation represents a major market, and indeed in 18-65 year olds it represents the predominant sexual dysfunction, affecting at least 20% of men. The global annual market for the treatment of early ejaculation has been estimated at $4 billion. However due to the absence of readily available therapeutics fewer than 10% of patients seek treatment for early ejaculation. Successful pharmaceutical development in this field may therefore reap immense rewards. Drug development has however bee
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
Treatments for inflammatory diseases comprise a $20 billion market spanning diseases such as psoriasis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease. Both the prostaglandins and the leukotrienes are involved in the initiation and maintenance of inflammatory responses however agents that center on these mediators have produced limited therapeutic efficacy in various inflammatory disease settings. Harnessing the properties of anti-inflammatory mediators such as l
LeadDiscovery
21 Sep 04
Emerging Drug Discovery Targets provides a regular summary of some of the most exciting breaking information recently featured by the pharmaceutical analysts, LeadDiscovery. Information includes editorials on recently published journal articles, selected press releases and "intelligence reports". This edition features an LXA4 mimic for the treatment of inflammation; IL-27 as a cancer immunotherapy; anti-CD154 for organ transplant; CRH agonists for the treatment of pain; and an effective therapy
LeadDiscovery
17 Sep 04
LeadDiscovery's intelligence service, DailyUpdates has evolved as a key tool to help all in the drug development sector keep track of breaking journal articles, press releases and pharmaceutical reports. Pharma NewsBytes features selected press releases recently featured on DailyUpdates and offers the reader a leisurely stroll through the past few weeks of activity from within the pharmaceutical industry.
LeadDiscovery
15 Sep 04
The TNF blockers Enbrel (etanercept) and Remicade (infliximab), have contributed to a revolution in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The drug development community is now expending considerable resources on developing next generation disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) with improved efficacy and safety as well as oral activity. GlaxoSmithKline's IkappaB kinase 2 (IKK-2) inhibitor, TCPA-1 has recently been developed and has shown considerable promise in early stage development.
LeadDiscovery
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13 Sep 04
We all forget to take medication from time to time, or maybe even don't bother to refill our prescriptions because we're feeling fine. However, the cumulative effect of all this is costing the pharmaceutical industry in excess of $30 billion a year. Datamonitor's Adele Schulz offers pharmaceutical companies some practical solutions to help stop the financial bleeding...
Datamonitor
10 Sep 04
Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, having received considerable R&D attention, are now being led through the clinic by SAHA which is currently in phase II development. A second HDAC inhibitor, Titan's Pivanex, has now been shown to be effective as a single agent therapeutic in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Due to toxicity observed when used in combination with docetaxel, development for this indication has been terminated. Studies have however recently been initiated to investiga
LeadDiscovery
07 Sep 04
The RENAAL study, published in 2001 demonstrated that Merck's Losartan slows diabetic nephropathy and reduces the risk of heart failure. In a more recent analysis of the RENAAL database, researchers have shown that albuminuria predicts heart failure as well as other cardiovascular events and that the degree of success with which Losartan can reduce albumin levels is related to the extent of cardiovascular protection.
LeadDiscovery
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03 Sep 04
Isotechnika's Q2 loss shows a sharp reversal in fortunes. Profit in 2003 was largely attributable to a research payment for ISA247 from Roche, which has since pulled out of part of the deal. Isotechnika will be hoping that Roche continues to support ISA247 in the field of transplantation, but, says Datamonitor's Timothy Pang, it would be boosted by the cash that a new partner would bring...
Datamonitor
03 Sep 04
Researchers at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center report that optimizing the use of anticoagulants in cancer patients with deep vein thrombosis could improve outcomes, reduce hospital stay and lower the cost of treatment. The study which gathered data from 529 cancer patients with deep vein thrombosis, and which represents the most comprehensive study of it kind, suggests that bleeding in treated patients and the reoccurrence of thrombosis is higher than previously reported. Fur
LeadDiscovery
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01 Sep 04
Due to more and better screening practices leading to earlier diagnosis, survival rates for breast cancer have risen to as high as 87% in some developed countries. But globally, 380,000 people (mainly women) will still die from breast cancer in 2004. Datamonitor's Fleur Pijpers explains that in the future, new targeted therapies could lead to successful treatment for each individual patient...
Datamonitor
