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NEWS ABOUT: drug trials

Boosting 'Good' Cholesterol Doesn't Help, May Hurt

Test of drug niacin halted when results became clear

(Newser) - Raising your “good” HDL cholesterol might not be such a good idea. A federally funded study into the effectiveness of the HDL booster niacin has been abruptly cut off, after it became clear that the drug did nothing to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke—and in... More »

Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Early test on small number of women yields improved survival rate

(Newser) - A new drug being developed in Britain could someday prolong the lives of thousands of women suffering ovarian cancer, the Guardian reports. Eight of the 18 women involved in the trial, all of whom had been given less than a year to live, saw their tumors stabilize or shrink under... More »

Obama's Drugs Czar: More Treatment For, Less War On

Kerlikowske says key is to reduce demand

(Newser) - President Obama’s choice for drug czar signals a 180-degree pivot from the Bush administration’s policies, the Washington Post reports. The White House says it’s pushing to use alternative drug courts that would mandate treatment, rather than jail, for offenders. That’s a big break from President Bush’... More »

Tanning Drug Approved for Trials

Long available online, injection gets nod from regulators

(Newser) - A self-tanning drug long available in various incarnations over the Internet has been approved for human trials in the US, Wired reports. “It's a bioabsorbable implant that you just inject into the skin,” says a pharma rep of afamelanotide. “It stimulates melanin production.” The drug made... More »

New Drug Promises Better Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

Substance works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements

(Newser) - A new drug promises to put an end to jet lag and enable better sleep for travelers, swing-shift crews, and insomniacs, the Economist reports. Tasimelteon works a lot like today's popular but unregulated melatonin supplements, bonding with brain receptors to stimulate melatonin production and REM sleep. The distinction is significant... More »

Drug May Cut Heart Attack Risk in Half

'Blockbuster' study could transform preventative care

(Newser) - A simple test and drug prescription can prevent hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes, researchers say. Announced today at an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans, the study of almost 18,000 volunteers in 26 nations confirmed that inflammation leads to heart disease—and can be counteracted... More »

Combo Heart Pills Enter Trials in London

The cheap drugs could halve deaths from heart attack, stroke

(Newser) - Trials begin this week in London on a cheap "polypill" that could cut heart attack and stroke deaths in half worldwide, the Guardian reports. The pill combines four drugs—aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, an ACE inhibitor, and thiazine to battle high blood pressure. The aim is to sell it—... More »

A Pill a Day Could Keep HIV Away

Massive 15,000-person trial will test drug's effectiveness

(Newser) - With 2.7 million people contracting HIV every year, the race is on to test the efficacy of a daily pill meant to prevent the virus, the New York Times reports. After recent unimpressive results in tests of vaccines and microbicides, the PrEP drugs are now some scientists’ leading hope... More »

Alzheimer's Drug Shows Some Promise

Bapineuzumab could be a blockbuster if it passes final trials

(Newser) - A drug currently in experimental trials seems to be effective in battling Alzheimer's disease, the pharmaceutical companies developing it tell the Wall Street Journal. Bapineuzumab—developed by Elan and Wyeth—seems to be helpful in improving cognitive ability in those stricken by the disease, though much more so in patients... More »

8 Worrying Drug Side Effects

FDA-approved medications pass clinical trials, but the real world uncovers more

(Newser) - Despite rigorous testing, some drugs have side effects that only rear their ugly heads when introduced to the general population. Forbes catalogs some of the weirdest:
  1. Anti-smoking drug Chantix can cause insomnia and nightmares.
  2. Diet drug Alli can have unforeseen gastrointestinal side-effects; these can be counteracted by eating a low-fat
... More »

Big Pharma Goes East to Test Drugs

Low costs lure R&D, but critics doubt product safety

(Newser) - Big Pharma is testing more drugs in China, where studies cost less and a big, aging population has more chronic ailments, Time reports. But critics question the country's product safety and ponder the fate of tested patients. Even Big Pharma is concerned—about intellectual property rights—but the lure of... More »

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