The persistence of H5N1 avian influenza viruses in many Asian countries and their ability to cause fatal infections in humans have raised serious concerns about a global flu pandemic1. Here we report the isolation of an H5N1 virus from a Vietnamese girl that is resistant to the drug oseltamivir2, which is an inhibitor of the viral enzyme neuraminidase and is currently used for protection against and treatment of influenza. Further investigation is necessary to determine the prevalence of oseltamivir-resistant H5N1 viruses among patients treated with this drug.
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nature.com
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Wednesday, October 19
Avian flu: Isolation of drug-resistant H5N1 virus
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:32 PM EDT
An unhealthy practice
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:30 PM EDT
Prescription guidelines should not be written by people with financial conflicts of interest.
Link to Article nature.com
Biotech: Biotech Investors Rotate Into Pharma
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:28 PM EDT
Rett gene regulates alternative splicing
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:27 PM EDT
Healthorbit.ca
Underlying quick fixes, a lack of how-to
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:26 PM EDT
International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2005 As countries spend billions of dollars to buy medicines and vaccines to prepare for a possible human bird flu pandemic, too little planning has gone into how to use the accumulating arsenal of medical weapons, experts have warned. Link to Article IHT.com
Decision Is Delayed on Diabetes Drug That Lowers Cholesterol
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:25 PM EDT
By STEPHANIE SAUL
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck had a setback in their plans to market a diabetes medication that aims to control blood sugar while also lowering cholesterol. Link to Article NYTimes.com
Sleeping Pill Use by Youths Soars, Study Says
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:24 PM EDT
Swiss Firm May Cede Bird Flu Drug Rights
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:23 PM EDT
By Marc Kaufman
The manufacturer of the leading drug against avian flu said yesterday it was willing to discuss arrangements for other companies to produce it despite having an exclusive patent. A spokeswoman for Roche Holding AG, a Swiss multinational company, said it might agree to allowing both governments and companies to produce the antiviral drug Tamiflu under sub-licensing agreements. The statement came on the same day that Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Roche to reach an agreement within the next month to permit five American companies to manufacture Tamiflu, or face legislation that would strip the company of the patent. Schumer and others have criticized the pace of Roche's efforts to meet fast-growing world demand for its product. "Roche is putting their own interests ahead of world health," Schumer said. "If they don't begin to actually license the patent for Tamiflu to dramatically increase worldwide production, I am going to pursue a legislative remedy a month from today." Officials at the World Health Organization have also indicated concern over the lagging supply of Tamiflu and have referred to the right of nations under international trade treaties to break patents during health emergencies. Also yesterday, European foreign ministers declared avian flu a global threat; it has been discovered in migrating water fowl in Greece, Romania and Turkey. The especially dangerous flu has been spreading through the bird population in Asia since 2003 and has infected 117 people, killing at least 60. Health experts fear the virus, which until now has mostly passed directly from birds to humans, could evolve in ways that would allow it to pass easily from human to human, setting the stage for a pandemic that could put millions of people at risk. E.U. health and safety commissioner Markos Kyprianou said most European countries did not have sufficient stockpiles of antiviral drugs. "We have not yet reached the level of preparedness that we should have," he said after an emergency meeting in Luxembourg. "This is a global threat, and there is need for international action." Roche officials said the company planned to sharply increase production of the drug worldwide and had received approval to build a new Tamiflu manufacturing plant in the United States. They also said Roche was willing to discuss granting sub-licenses to any government or private company interested in manufacturing Tamiflu or collaborating in its production. Roche had said previously that making Tamiflu was a complex process that would take generic drug makers at least two or three years to master. So far, only Taiwan has sent a letter to Roche asking permission to manufacture Tamiflu. But the Indian drug maker Cipla Ltd. announced yesterday that it was seeking a license from Roche to produce a generic version. A Cipla spokesman said the company believed it could begin to produce inexpensive versions of the drug by early next year. Tamiflu currently costs $60 for a course of treatment. The government of Thailand, which is near the center of the flu epidemic in birds, has also said it was considering manufacturing its own supply of Tamiflu. The issue of international drug patent infringement is a contentious one -- with public health advocates still angry over the slow pace at which AIDS drugs were made available to poor people in underdeveloped parts of the world, and drug makers adamant that effective patent protection is essential to the development of new drugs. Until this year, Indian drug companies did not abide by many international patents and produced unapproved versions of many medications for distribution to poorer nations. India's entry into the World Trade Organization has largely ended that practice, leaving many nations without the resources to pay for drugs like Tamiflu. The Bush administration has secured delivery of about 4.3 million doses of Tamiflu and has about 8 million more doses on order. The government has also signed a $100 million contract with the French company Sanofi Pasteur to develop a bird flu vaccine. Correspondent Doug Struck in Toronto contributed to this report. washingtonpost.com
Better Planning Is Needed for Flu Drugs, Experts Say
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:21 PM EDT
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Experts are warning that too little planning has gone into how to use the accumulating arsenal of medicines against a possible avian flu pandemic. Link to Article NYTimes.com
Psychosis Drug Risks Are Noted
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:21 PM EDT
By Shankar Vedantam
Frail, elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease who are given widely used antipsychotic drugs such as Zyprexa and Risperdal have a higher risk of dying than patients who are given sugar pills, and doctors should be cautious in prescribing the drugs, according to a new analysis of earlier studies. The report is likely to complicate the limited choices that families face while caring for elderly patients with Alzheimer's. And it lends support to a decision by the Food and Drug Administration earlier this year to require warning labels on the drugs. "These medications are only modestly effective and have significant side effects associated with them," said Peter V. Rabins, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who reviewed the new analysis. "The drugs should not be used for trivial problems like difficulty sleeping at night and anxiety," he added. "Clinicians first need to really weigh the potential risks and benefits in deciding whether the potential harm from the symptoms is worth the risk." An editorial by Rabins was published yesterday, along with the new study, in the Journal of the American Medical Association. About a third of the 4 million to 5 million Americans with the degenerative brain disorder are given antipsychotic drugs, estimated Samuel E. Gandy, chairman of the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer's Association, a nonprofit research and advocacy group. The drugs are approved for the treatment of psychoses in adults but have not been specifically approved for use among elderly patients with dementia, so physicians prescribing them for this group are relying on their clinical judgment. Experts said the new study should help doctors better weigh the risks and benefits. "It should make physicians cautious when putting patients with dementia or any frail patient on medicines of this sort that are basically major tranquilizers," Gandy said. At the same time, he and others noted, the choices are limited when patients fall into the acute grip of agitation and delusions. The lead investigator, Lon S. Schneider of the University of Southern California, said his meta-analysis of 15 trials involving about 5,000 patients found that the risk of death rose from 2 percent to 3 percent for patients taking the drugs in studies that lasted about 12 weeks. Most of the deaths came from cardiac problems or respiratory disorders. Schneider said the drugs might increase the risk because they sedate patients and confine them to bed for longer periods, making them more likely to develop infections. Although Schneider, Gandy and Rabins all agreed that the difference in risk was small and that the patients were vulnerable to begin with, Gandy said that, "because these drugs are so widely used, it could translate into a substantial number of individuals" at risk. washingtonpost.com
Bayer Offers New Antibiotic With Promise in Fight on TB
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:20 PM EDT
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
If the antibiotic substantially shortens tuberculosis treatment, the company will make millions of doses and sell them at low prices to poor countries. Link to Article NYTimes.com
Roche Promises New Plant for Bird Flu Drug
by
Alex Hsieh on behalf of Professor Henry Wang
on Wed 19 Oct 2005 10:17 PM EDT
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Roche AG says it will build a U.S. plant to make more of its anti-bird flu drug Tamiflu, but that promise failed to tamp growing international pressure on the Swiss drug giant to ease its monopoly grip on the drug. Link to Article NYTimes.com |
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