AUTHOR OF THIS BLOG

DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO, WORLDDRUGTRACKER

Indian U-turn on diabetes drug ban

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Indian U-turn on diabetes drug ban
Aug 212013
 

pioglitazone

Pioglitazone increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin

Suspension of cheap and popular medicine reversed but will now come with new safety warnings

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/08/india-u-turn-diabetes-pioglitazone-drug-ban

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Roche’s new skin cancer drug now available in UK

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Roche’s new skin cancer drug now available in UK
Aug 212013
 

AUGUST 20, 2013

Roche's new skin cancer drug now available in UK

UK patients with a certain type of skin cancer can now get access to Roche’s once-daily pill Erivedge following its launch in the country.

Erivedge(vismodegib)胶囊

Erivedge (vismodegib) is the first medicine available in the UK for the treatment of patients with symptomatic metastatic basal cell carcinoma (BCC) or locally advanced BCC that is unsuitable for surgery or radiotherapy.

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/13-08-20/Roche_s_new_skin_cancer_drug_now_available_in_UK.aspx

 

Erivedge(vismodegib)胶囊

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Brain Cancer Survival Improved Following FDA Approval of Bevacizumab, Mayo Study Finds

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Brain Cancer Survival Improved Following FDA Approval of Bevacizumab, Mayo Study Finds
Aug 202013
 

 

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A new population-based study has found that patients with glioblastoma who died in 2010, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of bevacizumab, had lived significantly longer than patients who died of the disease in 2008, prior to the conditional approval of the drug for the treatment of the deadly brain cancer. Bevacizumab is used to treat patients with certain cancers whose cancer has spread. The study appears in the journal Cancer

http://www.pharmalive.com/study-brain-cancer-survival-improved-following-fda-approval-of-avastin

STR REF –http://www.kidneycancerinstitute.com/Bevacizumab.html

IN CASE U NEED TO CONTACT ME THEN MAIL ME. amcrasto@gmail.com

Bevacizumab (trade name AvastinGenentech/Roche) is an angiogenesis inhibitor, a drug that slows the growth of new blood vessels. It is licensed to treat various cancers, including colorectal, lung, breast (outside the USA), glioblastoma (USA only), kidney and ovarian.

Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). VEGF-A is a chemical signal that stimulates angiogenesis in a variety of diseases, especially in cancer. Bevacizumab was the first clinically availableangiogenesis inhibitor in the United States.


Bevacizumab was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for certainmetastatic cancers. It received its first approval in 2004, for combination use with standardchemotherapy for metastatic colon cancer.It has since been approved for use in certain lung cancers, renal cancers, and glioblastoma multiforme of the brain.

At one point bevacizumab was approved for breast cancer by the FDA, but the approval was revoked on 18 November 2011. The approval for breast cancer was revoked because, although there was evidence that it slowed progression of metastatic breast cancer, there was no evidence that it extended life or improved quality of life, and it caused adverse effects including severe high blood pressure and hemorrhaging. In 2008, the FDA gave bevacizumab provisional approval for metastatic breast cancer, subject to further studies. The FDA’s advisory panel had recommended against approval. In July 2010, after new studies failed to show a significant benefit, the FDA’s advisory panel recommended against the indication for advanced breast cancer. Genentech requested a hearing, which was granted in June 2011. The FDA ruled to withdraw the breast cancer indication in November 2011. FDA approval is required for Genentech to market a drug for that indication. Doctors may sometimes prescribe it for that indication, although insurance companies are less likely to pay for it. The drug remains approved for breast cancer use in other countries including Australia.

Clinical trials are underway for many other indications including ovarian cancer, pediatric osteosarcoma, and certain non-malignant eye diseases. In the curative setting (adjuvant therapy), clinical studies are underway in breast cancer and lung cancer.

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Upsher-Smith Receives Tentative NDA Approval for Vogelxo™ (testosterone) Gel CIII

 GENERIC  Comments Off on Upsher-Smith Receives Tentative NDA Approval for Vogelxo™ (testosterone) Gel CIII
Aug 202013
 

MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Aug. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc., today announced that it has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its New Drug Application (NDA) for Vogelxo™ (testosterone) gel for topical use CIII

http://www.pharmalive.com/upsher-smith-gets-tentative-nda-approval-for-vogelxo-gel

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Vibativ Back on the Market

 companies  Comments Off on Vibativ Back on the Market
Aug 162013
 

 

 

Theravance Inc. said Wednesday it is antibiotic Vibativ is now back on the market. Vibativ was approved as a treatment for complex skin infections in 2010, and it was approved for use against hospital-acquired pneumonia in June 2013. It is Theravance’s only approved drug.

 

read all at

http://www.dddmag.com/news/2013/08/vibativ-back-market?et_cid=3425506&et_rid=523035093&type=cta

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Actavis Receives Approval from French Competition Authority for Pending Warner Chilcott Acquisition

 Uncategorized  Comments Off on Actavis Receives Approval from French Competition Authority for Pending Warner Chilcott Acquisition
Aug 102013
 

 

PARSIPPANY, N.J. and DUBLIN, IRELAND – August 9, 2013 – Actavis, Inc. (NYSE: ACT) and Warner Chilcott plc (NASDAQ: WCRX) today announced that they have received approval from the French Competition Authority for Actavis’ pending acquisition of Warner Chilcott. The companies previously received approval from the German Federal Cartel Office and have now received all ex-U.S. antitrust clearances required to complete the transaction.

read all at

http://www.pharmalive.com/french-authorities-approve-actavis-acquisition-of-warner-chilcott

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Bethlehem

 

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Aug 072013
 

AZATHIOPRINE

generic licensing news

http://newsletter.lead-doctors.com/ef1/preview_campaign.php?lf1=932543337a665012625317e9856877

 

Azathioprine is a chemotherapy drug, now rarely used for chemotherapy but more for immunosuppression in organ transplantation and autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn’s disease. It is a pro-drug, converted in the body to the active metabolite 6-mercaptopurine. Azathioprine acts to inhibit purine synthesis necessary for the proliferation of cells, especially leukocytes and lymphocytes. It is a safe and effective drug used alone in certain autoimmune diseases, or in combination with other immunosuppressants in organ transplantation.
Click here to contact Douglas Pharmaceuticals about this product.

Azathioprine was synthesized by George Herbert Hitchings and Gertrude Elion in 1957 (named BW 57-322) to produce 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) in a metabolically active but masked form, and at first used as a chemotherapy drug.

Robert Schwartz investigated the effect of 6-MP on the immune response in 1958 and discovered that it profoundly suppresses the formation of antibodies when given to rabbits together with antigens. Following the work done by Sir Peter Medawar and Gertrude Elion in discovering the immunological basis of rejection of transplanted tissues and organs, and Schwartz’s researches on 6-MP, Sir Roy Calne, the British pioneer in transplantation, introduced 6-MP as an experimental immunosuppressant for kidney and heart transplants. When Calne asked Elion for related compounds to investigate, she suggested azathioprine, which was subsequently found out to be superior (as effective and less toxic to the bone marrow) by Calne. On 5 April 1962, with regimens consisting of azathioprine and prednisone, the transplantation of kidneys to unrelated recipients (allotransplantation) was successful for the first time.For many years, this kind of dual therapy with azathioprine and glucocorticoids was the standard antirejection regimen, until ciclosporin was introduced into clinical practice (by Calne as well) in 1978.Ciclosporin has now replaced some of the azathioprine use due to a longer survival time, especially in heart-related transplantations.Moreover, despite being considerably more expensive, mycophenolate mofetil is also increasingly being used in place of azathioprine in organ transplantation, as it is associated with less bone marrow suppression, fewer opportunistic infections, and a lower incidence of acute rejection

Azathioprine is a thiopurine linked to a second heterocycle (an imidazole derivative) via a thioether. It is a pale yellow solid with a slightly bitter taste and a melting point of 238–245 °C. It is practically insoluble in water and only slightly soluble in lipophilic solvents such as chloroform, ethanol and diethylether. It dissolves in alkaline aqueous solutions, where it hydrolyzes to 6-mercaptopurine.

Azathioprine is synthesized from 5-chloro-1-methyl-4-nitro-1H-imidazole and 6-mercaptopurine in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The synthesis of the former starts with an amide from methylamine and diethyl oxalate, which is then cyclizised and chlorinated with phosphorus pentachloride; the nitro group is introduced with nitric and sulfuric acid.

The whole process of azathioprine synthesis

Azathioprine (INN, /ˌæzəˈθɵprn/, abbreviated AZA) is an immunosuppressive drug used in organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases and belongs to the chemical class of purine analogues.[1] Synthesized originally as a cancer drug and a prodrug for mercaptopurine in 1957, it has been widely used as an immunosuppressant for more than 50 years.[2]

Azathioprine acts as a prodrug for mercaptopurine, inhibiting an enzyme that is required for the synthesis of DNA. Thus it most strongly affects proliferating cells, such as the T cells and B cells of the immune system.[3][4]

The main adverse effect of azathioprine is bone marrow suppression, which can be life-threatening, especially in people with a genetic deficiency of the enzyme thiopurine S-methyltransferase.[5] It is also listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans).[6]

Azathioprine is produced by a number of manufacturers under different brand names (Azasan by Salix in the U.S., Imuran by GlaxoSmithKline in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Ireland and Great Britain, Azamun in Finland and Imurel in Scandinavia and France, among others).

Azathioprine is used alone or in combination with other immunosuppressive therapy to prevent rejection following organ transplantation, and to treat an array of autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, pemphigus, systemic lupus erythematosus, Behçet’s disease and other forms of vasculitis, autoimmune hepatitis, atopic dermatitis, myasthenia gravis, neuromyelitis optica (Devic’s disease), restrictive lung disease, and others. It is also an important therapy and steroid-sparing agent for inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) and for multiple sclerosis, which are immune-mediated as well.

In the United States it is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in kidney transplantation from human donors, and for rheumatoid arthritis. Other uses are off-label.

 

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Aug 072013
 
valganciclovir

A five-year agreement between Roche and Unitaid’s Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) will make more antiviral drugs available at knock-down prices in developing countries.

Roche has agreed to supply Valcyte (valganciclovir) at a discount of up to 90% in 138 designated countries, to treat patients with cytomegalovirus as a complication of HIV. The agreement also allows for third parties to license Roche’s valganciclovir patent and develop generic versions of the drug after one year of exclusive sales.

Firm will supply cheap drugs and allow generics in developing countries
Valganciclovir hydrochloride (Valcyte, manufactured by Hoffmann–La Roche (Roche), and also known as Cymeval, Valcyt, Valixa, Darilin, Rovalcyte, Patheon, and Syntex) is an antiviral medication used to treat cytomegalovirus infections. As the L-valyl ester of ganciclovir, it is actually a prodrug for ganciclovir. After oral administration, it is rapidly converted to ganciclovir by intestinal and hepatic esterases.
credit-chemdrug
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Aug 052013
 

 the above is only a snap shot, see original animation at the link below

http://www.medindia.net/animation/patent-ductus-arteriosus.asp

You require a Flash plug-in version 8.0 or higher to view the animations. – Download Flash Player 

Read more: 

Health Animation – Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) | Medindia http://www.medindia.net/animation/patent-ductus-arteriosus.asp#ixzz2b42Wqmvy

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Total synthesis outshines biotech route to anticancer drug

 drugs, new drugs, Uncategorized  Comments Off on Total synthesis outshines biotech route to anticancer drug
Aug 052013
 

euphorbia_peplus

This unassuming weed is currently the source for of the anticancer drug ingenol © Floral Images/Alamy

US scientists have developed the first efficient and scalable route for the total synthesis of ingenol – a plant-derived diterpenoid used to treat precancerous skin legions. The work offers cheaper and faster production of the drug than the current, inefficient plant extraction route, and could pave the way for the chemical synthesis of many other complex natural compounds.

read all at

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/08/total-synthesis-outshines-biotech-anticancer-drug-ingenol

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