All GLG News Analyses Filed Under: Cardiology

Drug eluting stens have been produced to reduce rates of stent restenosis and late lumen loss compared with bare metal stents. Mauri et al. showed there is that there is relationship between late lumen loss and stent restenosis. Head to head comparisions between Endeavor and Cypher stent have ...

ExForge is a product that we in the hypertension business are very anxious to have available. Combination tablets have been increasing in sales very dramatically in the past few years and will soon overtake, in my opinion, single agents. Lotrel led the way toward combinations that do not include a diuretic...

Newly introduced guidelines for treatment targets in hypertensive patients target lower blood pressures than  those previously suggested by JNC.  Since it has already been demonstrated that control of BP to current targets in many hypertensives requires three or more drugs, even lower targets...

- Chantix has already been on the market for a year so safety   is fairly well established - rat studies showing significantly reduced binge drinking offer   great potential if the effects translate to humans

Chantix has been demonstrated effective in smoking cessation.  A laboratory study using a rat model suggests it might also be affective in treatment of alcohol dependence.  Most alcoholics also smoke, so this is potentially a "natural" application.

This article published in the National Acadamy of Sciences is quite interesting. It proposes a "pleasure" center with can be effected by Chantix. It therefore would work on both smoking and alcohol as well as other substances of abuse. As Chantix does not work for everyone there is clearly more to the...

LEXG designs drugs for targets they have helped to find so they have a situation with more unknowns than others that go after well studied targets. The literature on this target is quite limited- perhaps 50-60 papers- but it suggests a number of questionable effects. Often, effects attributed...

ANGPTL4 knockout mice were shown to have lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels than their counterparts, but an important question to ask is how this correlates to human subjects.  If ANGPTL4 has a human correlate then this may be a novel therapeutic avenue which is still untapped.  The...

An antiplatelet drug without siginficant blleding. If studies hold true, this is clearly an advance. Comparison with the combination of ASA and plavix will be key.

   Valsartan (an ARB) and amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker) are both useful drugs in treating hypertension and heart failure.  Most patients require more than 1 medication to reach goal in controlling their blood pressure.  Exforge (a combination of valsartan/amlodipine) will...