Pharmaceutical

Bush Administration says it opposes Democrats' plan to allow Government to negotiate Medicare drug prices

The Bush administration will oppose any attempts by congressional Democrats to pass legislation that would authorize the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, according to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, the ...Monday, 13-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

FDA should return to 'science-based' agency

Congress this month likely will consider a bill to reform FDA, "but the legislation lacks the vision and depth needed for a real return to a science-based FDA," Susan Wood, a research professor for the Project ...Monday, 13-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Drug industry concerned about California Law allowing State to seek drug discounts

A new California law set to take effect in January 2007 "provides a glimpse of the type of government price controls the drug industry fears," the ...Monday, 13-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Millions of bottles of a common pain killer recalled

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. has alerted consumers that a drug company in Michigan has recalled millions of bottles of a commonly used painkiller because the pills may contain pieces of metal.Drug Company Perrigo voluntarily recalled 383 lots of 500 mg acetaminophen caplets after discovering that some of the bottles have been contaminated and contain metal pieces as large as 8 millimeters in length.Acetaminophen belongs ...Monday, 13-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Recall of Strength Store-brand Acetaminophen caplets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting the public to a voluntary recall being conducted by Perrigo Company (Perrigo) of Allegan, Michigan for 383 lots of acetaminophen 500mg caplets manufactured and distributed under various store-brands as a result of small metal fragments found in a small number of these caplets. Approximately 11 million bottles containing varying quantities of acetaminophen 500mg caplets are affected by this reca...Monday, 13-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Majority of Medicare beneficiaries satisfied with prescription drug plans

Three-fourths of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit are satisfied with their plans, according to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll, Wall Street Journal Online reports. The poll, conducted between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31, included responses from 2,766 U.S. adults, 177 of whom were Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in the prescription drug benefit. A...Wednesday, 8-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Bionomics delivers on milestones for cancer, anxiety and multiple sclerosis programs

Australian drug discovery company Bionomics Limited today updated shareholders at its Annual General Meeting on the recent progress of its anti-cancer drug BNC105 and drug discovery programs in anxiety and Multiple Sclerosis. "It is a pleasure to be able to report that we are meeting milestones in our drug discovery programs. We are preparing our lead drug, BNC105, for clinical trials and the new preclinical data is highly encouraging. In a...Wednesday, 8-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Problems with billing for Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums persist

About 50,000 of the 4.7 million Medicare beneficiaries who opted to have their Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums automatically withdrawn from their Social Security checks still are having incorrect amounts deducted, CMS officials said, ...Wednesday, 8-Nov-2006 / [ Details... ]

Bayer forgot to tell risks of heart surgery drug

According to the German drug giant Bayer AG, the reason the company failed to inform U.S. regulators about a study on the risks of the heart-surgery drug Trasylol was a mistake.Bayer apparently knew the controversial heart surgery drug was linked to dangerous side effects and death but say queries about the study methodology and the findings were preliminary.This was, according to the company, six days before an FDA advisory panel met and ruled that Trasylol provided acceptable safety and...Monday, 2-Oct-2006 / [ Details... ]

FDA issues guidance for development of cell-based viral vaccines

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued new guidance to aid manufacturers in developing safe and effective cell-based viral vaccines. FDA's goal is to facilitate the development and availability of safe and effective vaccines, including those to address emerging and pandemic threats."The guidance document released today is a vital part of our overall efforts to help manufacturers develop new vaccines that are critical to meetin...Thursday, 28-Sep-2006 / [ Details... ]