Healthcare News by GLG Council Members
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
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John AnsellDirectorJohn Ansell Consultancy
A triple combination for H1N1: good in principle
October 30, 2009
Triple-combo Drug Shows Promise Against Antiviral Resistant H1N1 | www.medicalnewstoday.com
The principle behind Adamas’s triple combination development for influenza is a good one. There is clearly a need for improved treatments, as the latest wave of swine flu is now showing. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and ribavirin are reasonable drugs to select but the third component, amantadine, may prove the weak link.
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Shares That Go Bump In The Night
October 30, 2009
Transcept Pharma sleep drug denied approval, shrs sink | www.reuters.com
Transcept is developing Intermezzo for Middle of Night Insomnia. Intermezzo is low dose zolpidem (same chemical as Ambien). FDA's questions delay access to the $7 billion US sleep disorder market. Transcept's shares dropped dramatically on the news
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Express Scripts feeling Growing Pains
October 29, 2009
Express Scripts to Close NextRx Deal in 4Q | quicktake.morningstar.com
On 11/04/09 TriCare, the health insurance plan for the US Military and its families are being moved to a new pharmacy benefit administered by Express Scripts. Despite assurances of transparency and no change in pharmacies, thousands of beneficiaries are being directed by Express Scripts to a single option for the most expensive drugs or specialty pharmacy products. This distributor is Curascript, wholly owned by Express Scripts.
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Ken PowellPresidentGenesis Business Development, LLC
Cepheid Reports Lower 3Q Revenues but Beat Estimates
October 29, 2009
Cepheid's Q3 Revenues Fall 7 Percent on Lower Systems Sales; Beat Estimates | www.genomeweb.com
Cepheid reported a 3Q 09 revenue drop of 7% compared to 3Q 08. While system sales and other revues dropped, clinical reagent sales posted strong results of $24.1MM, a 40% growth from the same period a year ago and 15% over prior quarter.
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Kelly ClosePresidentClose Concerns
Novo Nordisk's Liraglutide Wins in Obesity Too
October 29, 2009
Effects of liraglutide in the treatment of obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study | www.thelancet.com
Results from a 20-week study of the GLP-1 analog liraglutide in obese and overweight patients were recently published in The Lancet. In the trial, 564 patients were randomized to one of six groups: orlistat (120 mg, 3 times daily), placebo, and liraglutide 1.2 mg, 1.8 mg, 2.4 mg, or 3.0 mg. The trial involved a three-week screening period,a two-week run-in period, a 20-week double blind study period, and a 84-week open label follow up.
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Which Combination of Drugs for Influenza?
October 29, 2009
Triple-combo Drug Shows Promise Against Antiviral Resistant H1N1 | www.medicalnewstoday.com
All 3 of these drugs are approved for use. Rimantadine is usually interchangeable with amantadine and is less toxic. Ribavirin can have very nasty side effects. Not clear from the report is whether the company is marketing a use of all 3 drugs or whether they are packaging the 3 in one pill. It is a long way off to prove utility in human disease.
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Will Varian's EMR restrain company growth?
October 28, 2009
ASTRO begins 10/30/09 | astro.org
ASTRO starts this weekend. The electronic medical record may be an important driver of hardware sales, and may benefit some manufacturers more than others.
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Peter BornsteinPartner and Consultant in Infectious DiseasesSt. Paul Infectious Disease Associates, Ltd
The good news is that these drugs are already approved
October 28, 2009
Triple-combo Drug Shows Promise Against Antiviral Resistant H1N1 | www.medicalnewstoday.com
Adamas has a proprietary mixture of three drugs: amantadine, oseltamivir and ribavirin to treat antiviral resistant strains of novel H1N1 Influenza A.
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Donny WongDirector, Metabolic DisordersDECISION RESOURCES, INC.
Improvements to CV risk factors, but magnitude very low
October 27, 2009
Arena: 2nd weight loss trial shows cardiac benefit | www.reuters.com
Arena presented data on lorcaserin at a series of presentations this week at the 2009 meeting of The Obesity Society in Washington DC. Data from both the BLOOM and BLOSSOM Phase III studies were presented, although BLOOM data had been released for some time already.
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Flu Emergency Calls for all Alternatives to be Considered
October 27, 2009
Sinovac Biotech gets approval to distribute swine flu vaccine Panflu in Mexico | www.pharmabiz.com
H1N1 is a deadly strain of flu that has caused the White House to declare an emergency. The CDC says that instead of having 40 million doses of vaccines available there are only 28 - 30 million. On Friday an anti-viral was given emergency use authorization which allows it to be used even though it is not yet approved. This raises hope for Sinovac which has an H1N1 vaccine ready.
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