GLG News by Physicians who Treat Malignant Melanoma (US)

This article describes a new partnership between two European based companies for the development of a novel agent, Siramesine, in the treatment of cancer. What makes this interesting is that this is yet another "targeted therapy" for cancer, involving the induction of apoptosis or programmed cell death....

Abbotts ABT-874 monoclonal antibody for psoriasis shows impressive results in the phase 2 trial. The results were up to 90% of patients achieving at least 75% reduction in their psoriasis. These results are as good or better than those with Remicade the most effective biologic for psoriasis currently....

The recent results for a trial of Relieva in atopic dermatitis or eczema, a cream containing a homeopathic compound, were positive by a report from the company. The study sample was small, and the trial was open label. Generally these trials have a larger number of patients, and are blinded. Also it...

Fentora is a great, but potentially dangerous product. With it's significant narcotic effect, it should only be prescirbed to appropriate patients by those with experience. The recent deaths were likely due to poor patient selection and lack of experience by the providers.  

Physician house calls may represent an emerging major trend in fee-for-service health care delivery. The urgent care center emerged in the 80's and 90's as a novel way for patients to avoid emergency rooms. Of course, this is based on the patient's willingness to pay a fee that is not covered by insurance....

The STAR trial was a follow-up to the P1 trial, evaluating whether raloxifene (Evista) could be used as a preventive agent. The results were supportive of this agent in this role, and hence the FDA has approved it. There is a black box warning on stroke risk, though the results did not show a significantly...

Given the recent data on erythropoietin, this study further demonstrates the significant potential adverse events seen. Expect sales to continue to decrease, as erythropoietin drugs in the future will be used in renal failure and oncology patients to keep hematocrits in a reasonable range.

Previous data on Iressa has shown no survival benefit.   This phase III trial comparing Iressa to Taxotere in locally advanced phase III NSCLC seems to show equivalence.   And, clearly the Iressa was more favorable than taxotere. If the data is true, this will reignite the question...

I've previously posted on the early news of this data.     We now have more information, including the response rate and median survival in this trial - and the good news is that it parallels the prior phase II data. This is promising information, but we'll still need to see the...

 The FDA warning to Melanocorp regarding their product Melanotan was justified. These warnings are far too few and infrequent, and numerous companies make claims without studies or substantiation. The agency is overwhelmed with NDA's, and has difficulty handling the work that currently exists....