Drug News
Genes affect weight loss drug effectiveness
A study conducted by researchers at Mayo Clinic shows that obese patients with specific genetic makeup had enhanced response to the weight loss drug sibutramine, while others who lack these genetic factors lost little or no weight.
The findings are published in the October issue of Gastroenterology (http://www.gastrojournal.org).
In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, Mayo researchers measured the impact of two different dosage levels of sibutramine (10 or 15 mg daily) combined with behavioral therapy for 12 weeks in 181 overweight or obese participants. Participants received structured behavioral therapy for weight management at four, eight and 12 weeks.
No mental effects seen with Arimidex
Women taking Arimidex to prevent breast cancer can be fairly reassured that it won’t affect their mental capacities, British researchers report.
Arimidex, a. k. a. anastrazole, belongs to a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which block the production of estrogen. There have been concerns that estrogen depletion might impair cognitive abilities in women, but the results of a new study suggest that anastrazole does not have this effect in women past menopause.
“These findings should be reassuring in the short term for postmenopausal women being treated with anastrozole, their clinicians, and carers,” lead author Dr. Valerie A. Jenkins concludes.
Guide helps doctors manage vaccine allergies
With careful monitoring, even children who have had allergic reactions to a vaccine can still be vaccinated, a U.S. team of experts said on Tuesday.
The team developed a step-by-step guide to help pediatricians quickly identify children with allergic reactions to vaccines and safely immunize them.
“We cannot reiterate enough that the vaccines used today are extremely safe, but in a handful of children certain vaccine ingredients can trigger serious allergic reactions,” said Dr. Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, whose research appears in the journal Pediatrics.
Class of Diabetes Drugs Carries Significant Cardiovascular Risks
A class of oral drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes may make heart failure worse, according to an editorial published online in Heart Wednesday by two Wake Forest University School of Medicine faculty members.
“We strongly recommend restrictions in the use of thiazolidinediones (the class of drugs) and question the rationale for leaving rosiglitazone on the market,” write Sonal Singh, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of internal medicine, and Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., professor of public health sciences. Rosiglitazone and pioglitazone are the two major thiazolidinediones.
In the editorial Singh and Furberg say, “At this time, justification for use of thiazolidinediones is very weak to non-existent.”
Medication improves alcoholics’ quality of life
The medication topiramate may not only improve drinking problems in people with alcohol dependence, but boost their quality of life as well, according to a new study.
Topiramate (Topamax) is an anti-seizure drug that has also been shown to reduce drinking in alcoholics—possibly due to it effects on certain brain chemicals thought to be involved in alcohol dependence.
Whether treatment with the drug can also improve alcoholics’ physical and mental well-being, however, has been unclear.
Experimental drug lowers blood sugar in diabetics
A mid-stage clinical trial of the experimental drug Qnexa showed that it lowered blood sugar and led to weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes, drug developer Vivus Inc said Tuesday.
In the 28-week trial involving 206 subjects, the patients on Qnexa achieved a 1.2 percent reduction in hemoglobin A1c—a key measure of blood sugar—compared with a drop of just 0.6 percent for those treated with placebo.
Participants treated with Qnexa, which is also being developed for obesity, lost 8 percent of their starting body weight, compared with weight loss of 1.2 percent for the placebo group, Vivus said.
Higher co-payments reduce use of antidepressants
As they struggle to contain skyrocketing medication costs, health plans across the U.S. have responded by implementing multi-tiered formularies requiring higher copayments for ‘non-preferred’ medications. New research from Brandeis University published in the Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics suggests that the prevalent multi-tiered formulary system does impact how patients fill anti-depressant prescriptions, even though antidepressants have certain characteristics that can make it difficult for patients to switch medications.
The study evaluated claims and eligibility files for a large nonprofit managed care organization that started introducing its three-tier formulary in 2000. The sample included 109,686 individuals. The study included a comparison group in the same health plan, consisting of members who did not yet have a three-tier formulary. Under the new formulary, certain brand drugs were classified as ‘non-preferred’ and started costing the patient $25 per prescription instead of $10.
Synthetic molecules hold promise for new family of anti-cancer drugs
Jerusalem, June 4, 2008—Synthetic molecules designed by two Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers have succeeded in reducing and even eliminating the growth of human malignant tissues in mice, while having no toxic effects on normal tissue.
For their work in developing these harbingers of a possible new generation of anti-cancer drugs, Dr. Arie Dagan and Prof. Shimon Gatt of the Department of Biochemistry of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School were among those receiving the Kaye Award for Innovation today during the 71st meeting of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Board of Governors.
The molecules developed by Dagan and Gatt affected the metabolism of various sphingolipids and consequently those of cancer cells. Sphingolipids are a family of complex lipid molecules that are involved in signaling pathways that mediate cell growth, differentiation and death.
Search for an HIV Vaccine Must Go On Says Expert in Light of Recent High-profile Merck Failure
According to a recent article published in The Independent (UK), most scientists involved in AIDS research believe that a vaccine against HIV is further away than ever with some admitting that effective immunization against the virus may never occur, according to an unprecedented poll conducted by the paper.
The article describes a mood of deep pessimism that has spread among the international community of AIDS scientists after the trial failure of a promising Merck vaccine last year. This was only the latest in a series of setbacks in the twenty-five-year struggle to develop an HIV vaccine. The article authors, Steve Connor and Chris Green, cite one of the major conclusions to emerge from the failed clinical trial of Merck’s promising prototype vaccine, is that an important animal model used for more than a decade in preclinical HIV testing on monkeys does not in fact work.
“The passion for an HIV vaccine resonates strongly among small pharma, whose often-overlooked approaches may now take center stage as the search for a viable HIV vaccine continues,” says Sylvain Fleury, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Director at Mymetics, a vaccine company focused on malaria and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS).
When one antidepressant doesn’t work, another may
For people suffering from depression that doesn’t respond to treatment with one type of antidepressant, switching to a different type may be the best treatment, according to a new report.
Relatively new antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft, for example, are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. In recent clinical trials, only about a third of depressed patients achieved remission with SSRI treatment, the authors explain, but there is little consensus among psychiatrists about the best treatment for patients when an SSRI doesn’t work.
To look into this, Dr. George I. Papakostas from Harvard Medical School, Boston, and his associates conducted an analysis of four clinical trials that compared a switch to a second SSRI versus a non-SSRI antidepressant for SSRI-resistant major depression.
Micardis cuts heart risks in large study
A six-year study pitting the newer blood pressure drug Micardis with the ACE inhibitor ramipril found Micardis was just as effective in preventing serious heart problems as the older drug, but with fewer side effects, international researchers said on Monday.
The Boehringer Ingelheim drug Micardis, or telmisartan, is typically used in patients with heart failure, but the study found it worked as well as the ACE inhibitor ramipril, marketed in the United States as Altace by King Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Few options for stroke victims; research continues
More than a decade after the launch of clot-buster Activase, the Genentech Inc drug remains the only option for stroke victims despite high-profile research aimed at improving the odds of recovery from the No. 3 cause of death in the United States.
Since most stroke patients are unable to quickly recognize their symptoms, just a small percentage end up being treated with Activase, an intravenous drug approved for use only within three hours of the onset of a stroke.
Drug companies have sought to widen that treatment window and develop medicines that would protect the brain from damage caused by a stroke, but the field is littered with failures.
Promising cancer drug may endanger child’s bones
A compound that looked promising for treating a brain tumor found mostly in children may damage growing bone—possibly making it too dangerous to use in young patients, researchers reported on Monday.
The drug fully eradicated medulloblastoma tumors in mice in 2004. But further testing showed it caused permanent bone damage in immature mice, Tom Curran of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues found.
Writing in the journal Cancer Cell, they said the drug, known by its experimental name HhAntag, will need to be developed with caution.
Women are Treated Less Frequently than Men with Statins, Aspirin and Beta- Blockers
Women and men experience a similar prevalence of adverse drug reactions in the treatment of coronary artery disease; however, women are significantly less likely than their male counterparts to be treated with statins, aspirin, and beta-blockers according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study is published in the March issue of the journal Gender Medicine.
“Developments in disease recognition and novel treatment strategies have led to a significant decline in overall cardiovascular death rate among men, but these dramatic improvements have not been observed in women,” said Dr. Jonathan R. Enriquez, lead author of the study and resident internal medicine physician at Rush. “This may be related to underutilization of medical therapies such as aspirin, ß-blockers, ACE inhibitors or statins.”
Daily asthma meds keep lungs in play during exercise
Taking asthma medication daily can help prevent the tightening of the airways or “bronchoconstriction” with physical exertion that affects many children with asthma, a new study from Poland confirms.
Dr. Iwona Stelmach of N. Copernicus Hospital in Lodz and colleagues found that of the four treatments they evaluated, the two including the anti-asthma drug montelukast (Singulair) were the most effective, but all were better than placebo.
“Control of childhood asthma with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction can be obtained by using regular controller treatment,” Stelmach and colleagues write in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
