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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: drug trials

drug trials stories: 10 news summaries

Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Early test on small number of women yields improved survival rate

Apr 7, 09 6:01 AM CDT
(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 »

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ovarian cancer • cancer research • drug trials • clinical trials

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

Kerlikowske says key is to reduce demand

Mar 12, 09 10:25 AM CDT
(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 »

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War on Drugs • Seattle • drug trials • Office of National Drug Control Policy • Obama administration • Gil Kerlikowske

 Tanning Drug 
 Approved for Trials 

Long available online, injection gets nod from regulators

Jan 30, 09 1:15 PM CST
(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 »

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tanning • cosmetics • drug trials • skin care • medication • suntan

New Drug Promises Better
Sleep for the Jet-Lagged

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

Dec 7, 08 2:32 PM CST
(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 »

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medicine • Harvard Medical School • jet lag • insomnia • drug trials • sleep disorder • melatonin • Tasimelteon

Drug May Cut Heart Attack Risk in Half

'Blockbuster' study could transform preventative care

Nov 9, 08 8:06 PM CST
(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 »

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heart disease • cholesterol • heart attack • statins • stroke • American Heart Association • drug trials • American College of Cardiology

 Combo Heart Pills 
 Enter Trials in London 

The cheap drugs could halve deaths from
heart attack, stroke

Sep 29, 08 8:16 AM CDT
(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 »

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medicine • drug companies • blood pressure • heart attack • statins • stroke • drug trials • aspirin

A Pill a Day Could Keep
HIV Away

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

Aug 4, 08 7:24 AM CDT
(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 »

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AIDS • HIV • infection • drug trials • AIDS prevention

Alzheimer's Drug Shows Some Promise

Bapineuzumab could be a blockbuster if it passes final trials

Jun 17, 08 6:10 PM CDT
(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 »

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aging • mental illness • Wyeth • drug trials • Elan • Alzheimer's Disease

8 Worrying Drug Side Effects

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

Mar 7, 08 7:14 PM CST
(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
... More »

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FDA • drug safety • list • blood pressure • drug trials • side effects • Ambien • Zolcor • Vasotec • Allegra • Lariam • Chantix • Alli • Mirapex

Big Pharma Goes East to Test Drugs

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

Nov 19, 07 8:09 PM CST
(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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China • drugs • pharmaceutical companies • prescription • drug trials

10 Stories


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