Research in HIV therapies -A review- The global community has made significant strides forward in its mission to eradicate the HIV epidemic

 

Over the last 30 years, the face of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has changed from one largely associated with homosexuality, drug addicts, prejudice, fear and rejection without much hope of a future, to one involving innocent children born of mothers living with HIV for whom it is hoped the disease will be curable and even eradicated. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS, 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2011. Sub-Saharan Africa was, and still is, the most severely affected area. Approximately 5 per cent of adults in this region live with HIV, representing almost 70 per cent of the global HIV-infected population. On a positive note, the number of newly infected people has declined by approximately 25 per cent over the past ten years and, importantly, over the past two years, half of the reductions in HIV infections has been in children.

Treatment and prevention
The approach to, and success of, HIV treatment and prevention has.....................cont

read all at

 http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/research_in_hiv_therapies_488697
THE NAMES OF DRUGS USED ARE LISTED HERE, PLEASE READ IT

 

 article by
Wendy McNeely

Adis International (Springer Healthcare), using data derived from Adis R&D Insight and Clinical Trials Insight. For further information on Adis services, please contact Daniela Ranzani on +39 02 423 4562 or email her Daniela.Ranzani@springer.com

Role of computers in drug design1

allow slideshare to load...........

Role of computers in drug design1 from Educationcareer,authorstream




 

Cancer Fighting Fish: Source of New Drugs?

 During the process known as metastasis, cancer cells detach from the bulk of the tumor and colonize distant organs. In order to do so, they enter the blood circulation by attaching to the cells that constitute tumor vessels. This event is driven by interactions occurring between Galβ1–3GalNAcα1-Ser/Thr, a disaccharide present on the surface of tumor cells, and galectin-3, a protein situated on vascular cells.

 http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/news/4540321/Cancer_Fighting_Fish_Source_of_New_Drugs.html

• Cod glycopeptide with picomolar affinity to galectin-3 suppresses T-cell apoptosis and prostatecancer metastasis,
  P. Guha, E. Kaptan, G. Bandyopadhyaya, S. Kaczanowska, E. Davila, K. Thompson, S. S. Martin, D. V. Kalvakolanu, G. R. Vasta, H. Ahmed,
  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013.
  DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.1202653110

Chocolate as medicine: a quest over the centuries

The rehabilitation of chocolate has occurred only in recent times. The pages of scientific magazines have been positively recaptured and chocolate’s reputation is being restored to the value that Carl Linnaeus credited to this food, when he named the generous plant Theobroma cacao, the food of the gods
read all at
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/07/chocolate-medicine-wilson-hurst

WORLD DRUG TRACKER | join LinkedIn Group

WORLD DRUG TRACKER | LinkedIn

in.linkedin.com/groups/WORLD-DRUG-TRACKER-5055643‎

Jun 7, 2013 – To track information on drugs on worldwide basis, all aspects covered, A group by DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO Ph.D.

WORLD DRUG TRACKER | LinkedIn

WORLD DRUG TRACKER | LinkedIn

WORLD DRUG TRACKER | LinkedIn click here

.Artificial sweetener a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Mannitol, a sugar alcohol produced by fungi, bacteria, and algae, is a common component of sugar-free gum and candy. The sweetener is also used in the medical field — it’s approved by the FDA as a diuretic to flush out excess fluids and used during surgery as a substance that opens the blood/brain barrier to ease the passage of other drugs.

Now Profs. Ehud Gazit and Daniel Segal of Tel Aviv University‘s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, along with their colleague Dr. Ronit Shaltiel-Karyo and PhD candidate Moran Frenkel-Pinter, have found that mannitol also prevents clumps of the protein α-synuclein from forming in the brain — a process that is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease.

Read more at

http://scienceblog.com/63913/artificial-sweetener-a-potential-treatment-for-parkinsons-disease/

Chemical Nanoengineering: Designing Drugs Controlled by Light

Researchers at IRB Barcelona and IBEC design the first peptides regulated by light to modulate biological processes. (Credit: Copyright Laura Nevola)





The scientific cooperation between chemists, biotechnologists and physicists from various Catalan institutes, headed by Pau Gorostiza, from the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), and Ernest Giralt, from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), has led to a breakthrough that will favor the development of light-regulated therapeutic molecules.

read all at
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130618101516.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Forganic_
chemistry+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Matter+%26+Energy+News+--+Organic+Chemistry%29

HANDBOOK OF MEDICINAL HERBS-by DOCSTOC

Handbook of Medicinal Herbs (PDF)

ABILIFY® Granted Additional Approval as Adjunctive Therapy for the Treatment of Depression in Japan

ABILIFY® Granted Additional Approval as Adjunctive Therapy for the Treatment of Depression in Japan

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. today obtained regulatory approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for ABILIFY as the first antsipsychotic drug in Japan to treat...

http://japan.pharmaintellect.com/2013/06/abilify-granted-additional-approval-as.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Pharmainvest+%28PharmaInvest%29

Ibrutinib Phase 2 Data: Analyses Show Efficacy with Ibrutinib Monotherapy in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Mantle Cell or Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma

ibrutinib

June 16, 2013 

Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen), today announced the results of two separate Phase 2 studies suggesting that ibrutinib, an investigational oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, shows efficacy when used as a monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The studies were presented today at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 18^th Annual Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. Ibrutinib is being jointly developed by Janssen and Pharmacyclics, Inc.

Ibrutinib (USAN), also known as PCI-32765, is an experimental drug candidate for the treatment of various types of cancer. It is an orally-administered, selective and covalent inhibitor of the enzyme Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk).

Ibrutinib is currently under development by Pharmacyclics, Inc and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical division for B-cell malignancies including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.

Ibrutinib was first designed and synthesized at Celera Genomics by Zhengying Pan, who along with a team of chemists and biologists reported in 2007 a structure-based approach for creating a series of small molecules that inactivate BTK through covalent binding to cysteine-481 near the ATP binding domain of BTK[2]. 

These small molecules irreversibly inhibited BTK by using a Michael acceptor for binding to the target cysteine. 

In April 2006, Pharmacyclics acquired Celera’s small molecule BTK inhibitor discovery program, which included a compound, PCI-32765 (known as compound 13 in the Pan et al paper) that was subsequently chosen for further preclinical development based on the discovery of anti-lymphoma properties in vivo . 

Since 2006, Pharmacyclics’ scientists have advanced the molecule into clinical trials and identified specific clinical indications for the drug.  It also has potential effects against autoimmune arthritis.

Pharma-Execs-2012-Pipeline-Report

 
Just days before this article went to press, FDA approved the first of a new kind of oral enzyme treatment that mediates cellular response, Incyte/Novartis' Jakafi, for a rare bone marrow disease called myelofibrosis. The next JAK inhibitor, Pfizer's toficitinib, could hit the market late next year, meaning a lot of rheumatoid arthritis patients will never again have to sit in a hospital for a couple of hours to get an anti-TNF infusion. Many innovative drugs, long out of the gate, are closing in on the finish line; science is back, and a better understanding of the way genomics shapes disease is bringing about better outcomes, and sometimes faster approvals.

read all at

http://www.pharmexec.com/pharmexec/Deals/Pharm-Execs-2012-Pipeline-Report/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/752361?contextCategoryId=48159

Amgen, Cytokinetics expand collaboration

Omecamtiv mecarbil

Omecamtiv mecarbil

Omecamtiv mecarbil

Omecamtiv mecarbil

Omecamtiv mecarbil
Amgen, Cytokinetics expand collaboration

Thursday, June 13, 2013 01:30 PM

Amgen and Cytokinetics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, have expanded their strategic collaboration to include Japan. In 2006, Cytokinetics and Amgen entered into a collaboration to discover, develop and commercialize novel small-molecule therapeutics that activate cardiac muscle contractility for potential applications in the treatment of heart failure. Omecamtiv mecarbil is the most advanced drug candidate in this collaboration.

- See more at:
 http://www.centerwatch.com//news-online/article/4852/amgen-cytokinetics-expand-collaboration

 Omecamtiv mecarbil , previously codenamed CK-1827452, is a cardiac specific myosin activator. It is clinically tested for its role in the treatment of left ventricular systolic heart failure. Systolic heart failure is characterised as a decreased cardiac output (<40% ejection fraction), due to decreased stroke volume, resulting in the inability to meet the metabolic demands of the body. The loss of contraction is caused by a reduced number of effective actin-myosin cross bridges in the left ventricular myocytes. One possible underlying mechanism is altered signal transduction that interferes with excitation-contraction coupling. A decreased cardiac output causes peripheral hypotension and activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This in turn stimulates the cardiac myocytes excessively, eventually leading to left ventricular hypertrophy, characteristic of chronic heart failure. Some symptoms of systolic heart failure are fatigue, peripheral oedema, dyspnoea, exercise intolerance and breathlessness. Current inotropic drug therapies such as dobutamine, are palliative and not a cure. They also cause many adverse effects including arrhythmias related to increased myocardical oxygen consumption, desensitization of adrenergic receptors and altering intracellular calcium levels. Thus systolic heart failure is considered malignant, however the novel mechanism of Omecamtiv Mecarbil is a hopeful long-term resolution.

DRUG SCALEUP AND MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL BY DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO, WORLD DRUG TRACKER

http://drug-scaleup-and-manufacturing.webnode.com/news/my-website-on-scaleup-of-organic-compounds/

AstraZeneca buys Pearl Therapeutics in $1.15bn deal

AstraZeneca buys Pearl Therapeutics in $1.15bn deal


The UK's second largest drug company, AstraZeneca, has announced that it will buy US based lung disease drug specialist, Pearl Therapeutics, in a deal worth up to $1.15bn (£742m).

 http://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/newsastrazeneca-buys-pearl-therapeutics-in-115bn-deal?WT.mc_id=DN_News














 

PFIZER, MERCK, SANOFI --Does This Pipeline Promise Tomorrow's Blockbuster Sales?

Does This Pipeline Promise Tomorrow's Blockbuster Sales?

Motley Fool
Pfizer's future looks strong with its robust pipeline that boasts 74 total drugs in development, and at least in late-stage candidates, Merck looks strong as well, with another 23 therapies in phase 2 development. However, it's the quality, not the ...


read all at
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/06/12/does-this-pipeline-promise-tomorrows-blockbuster-s.aspx

Roche's RoActemra gets EU OK for rare child arthritis

The European Medicines Agency has expanded approval for Roche's RoActemra to cover the treatment of children with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The regulator has decreed that RoActemra (tocilizumab) can be used to treat patients two years of age and older who have not responded adequately to treatment with methotrexate. The drug can be given alone or in combination with MTX.

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/13-06-10/Roche_s_RoActemra_gets_EU_OK_for_rare_child_arthritis.aspx

Tocilizumab(INN, or atlizumab, developed by Hoffmann–La Roche and Chugai and sold under the trade names Actemra and RoActemra) is an immunosuppressive drug, mainly for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a severe form of RA in children. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R). Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that plays an important role in immune response and is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such asautoimmune diseases, multiple myeloma and prostate cancer.

 

New Fluzone Quadrivalent Four-Strain Influenza Vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur Now Licensed By FDA for Broad Age Range of Children and Adults

 

A 5cc vial of Fluzone

June 10, 2013 – Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for licensure of its four-strain influenza vaccine, Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine. Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine is the newest addition to the Fluzone family of influenza vaccines. Like Sanofi Pasteur’s Fluzone vaccine, which is administered to more than 50 million people in the U.S. each year, Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine is licensed for use in children six months of age and older, adolescents, and adults.
http://www.drugs.com/newdrugs/new-fluzone-quadrivalent-four-strain-influenza-vaccine-sanofi-pasteur-now-licensed-fda-broad-age-3810.html





Influenza (Flu)

90Y-Epratuzumab Study Shows Improvement of Therapy Results Following R-CHOP

 


June 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today reported that adding two doses of epratuzumab labeled with the radioisotope, yttrium-90 (90Y), to a combination of rituximab and CHOP chemotherapy (R-CHOP), the standard of care for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), appeared to improve elderly patients' responses to treatment.

read all at
http://www.drugs.com/clinical_trials/90y-epratuzumab-study-shows-improvement-therapy-results-following-r-chop-15714.html 




by
WORLD DRUG TRACKER
DR ANTHONY

Infinity Pharmaceuticals And IPI-145: ASCO 2013 Highlights

Infinity Pharmaceuticals And IPI-145: ASCO 2013 Highlights
Seeking Alpha

In June 2012, Infinity suffered a significant writedown when its cancer drug, saridegib proved ineffective in a Phase II clinical trial. The company restructured financing deals with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, Purdue Pharmaceutical Products, and ...


http://seekingalpha.com/article/1491062-infinity-pharmaceuticals-and-ipi-145-asco-2013-highlights?source=google_news

BY WORLD DRUG TRACKER

Blocking Biosimilars

Blocking Biosimilars 

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to finalize regulations to establish a pathway for approving biopharmaceutical or biosimilar drugs, leading branded drug manufacturers are looking ahead and lobbying state legislatures to enact laws that would limit the substitution of biogenerics for brand-name drugs. Currently, pharmacists in most states can substitute lower-cost generics for branded chemical or small-molecule drugs without such approval.

http://www.dddmag.com/articles/2013/06/blocking-biosimilars

BY WORLD DRUG TRACKER