New HIV finding could prevent drug resistance, toxic side-effects

From CBC News:
Researchers have discovered a new method of attacking the HIV virus which may offer a solution to drug resistance.

Their method involves targeting the proteins of human cells, which bind with the virus. Many of the antiretroviral drugs that are used to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, attack the proteins that exist on the surface of the virus, rendering it incapable of infecting healthy cells.

But as the virus can mutate, these targets can change and render these medications useless, even when physicians prescribe multi-drug "cocktails" that attack the virus on different fronts. ...more

New Psoriasis Pill Appears Effective

From the Washington Post:
A new drug for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis appears to be safe and effective, a Canadian trial shows.

The results indicate higher doses of ISA247, which is a calcineurin inhibitor, significantly improve symptoms of psoriasis. Calcineurin is a protein that helps regulate inflammation.

"This is the first oral medication in 20 years to show promise for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis," said lead researcher Dr. Kim Papp, from Probity Medical Research in Waterloo, Ontario.

The new drug is safer and easier to use than current treatments for psoriasis, the researchers said. ...more

MDs marvel at blood pressure drug combo

From the Toronto Star:
An international drug trial that could change the way high blood pressure is controlled has shown a combination of two common hypertension medications can bring the often-lethal condition under control, even in the most dangerous cases.

In the trial, which was stopped early because the results were so positive, researchers found patients who took a so-called ACE-inhibitor and CCB combination pill suffered 20 per cent fewer major cardiac events, including death from heart attack and stroke.

The drug combination also effectively controlled blood pressure levels for 80 per cent of patients with the most serious hypertensions.

The interim results, which doctors say should "shake the foundations" of current treatment, were presented yesterday at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

Study leader Dr. Kenneth Jamerson, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, said an independent monitoring board recommended ending the trial after only 60 per cent of the data had been collected because the results were so conclusive and could potentially benefit millions of patients. ...more

Reverse treatment aids Crohn's sufferers

From the Globe and Mail:
Conventional wisdom about the treatment of Crohn's disease is being turned on its head by a new study.

Traditionally, patients diagnosed with the devastating inflammatory bowel disease are treated with a "step-up" approach, a series of drugs given sequentially as their health deteriorates.

First, they get corticosteroids to control symptoms like abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. They are then prescribed a powerful immune-suppressing drug, which prepares them for a third medication, an antibody that curbs the inflammation at the root of the disease.

But a group of European and Canadian researchers decided to see what would happen if they treated newly diagnosed Crohn's patients immediately with a combination of an immune-suppressing drug, azathioprine, and an antibody, infliximab, simultaneously. Patients were only treated with steroids if they had symptoms.

In the study, published in today's edition of The Lancet, this "step-down" approach proved to be markedly more effective. ...more

Discovery could lead to 'tighter tummy' drug

From the Saskatoon Star Phoenix:
British scientists have discovered proteins that allow the gut to expand to make way for food, a finding that could lead to a drug for "tighter tummies" and a chemical alternative to stomach-shrinking surgery.

The human stomach can relax and expand to 25-times its normal "resting" volume, which explains why "we can pack in our Christmas dinner or our Thanksgiving dinner, or whatever festival we choose to think of," says Brian King, a senior lecturer in physiology at University College London.

King has identified receptors for proteins that relax the muscles of the gut. His team is testing different chemicals that would block these receptors and prevent the stomach from expanding, so that people would eat less and feel fuller, faster. ...more

Canadian researchers find gene that may block HIV

From CTV News:
Researchers at the University of Alberta have made a breakthrough with the discovery of a gene that might block the spread of HIV and the onset of AIDS.

The hope is that the discovery could lead to a vaccine that would combat the deadly virus.

Lead researcher Steven Barr said the gene, known as TRIM22, has a natural anti-viral defence function and has the ability to block HIV.

Though the research is admittedly in its infancy, Barr said the goal now is to study how the gene works in hopes to mimic its ability to combat the virus.

"It's exciting because it's a natural defence against HIV. So if we can harness this without the toxic effect of drugs it's going to be beneficial for HIV patients in the future," Barr told CTV's Canada AM on Friday. ...more

Anti-depressant work puts Windsor prof in spotlight

From the Windsor (Ont.) Star:
Being suddenly in the spotlight, for co-authoring a report that shockingly asserts that anti-depressants don't help people much more than placebos, has admittedly been exciting for University of Windsor psychologist Alan Scoboria.

"I woke up, saw it in the newspapers and thought this is going to be interesting," the assistant psychology professor said in an interview on Saturday. "It's been a flattering first time where I've had this type of interest."

Scoboria co-authored a report with University of Connecticut professor Irving Kirsch, which shook up the mental health field last Tuesday by asserting "happy pills" swallowed by millions every day, are virtually no better than placebos at treating depression. ...more

Drug research unaffected by controversial controls on B.C. drug costs

From the Canadian Press:
B.C.'s cost controls on prescription drugs haven't affected the health of medical research investment in this province.

A University of British Columbia study finds the BC PharmaCare policy of refusing to pay for name-brand drugs when generic drugs offer equal results has had no effect on research investment.

The study, by the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, reveals pharmaceutical research and development has increased from $16 million in 1994 to $50 million in 2005. ...more

Antidepressants don't work as well as reported, study says

From the Globe and Mail:
Antidepressants are far less effective than doctors have been led to believe, a new study has found.

That's because 88 per cent of clinical trials that showed the drugs didn't work either weren't published in medical journals or were presented as positive findings, says the study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It provides the first hard data on a practice known as selective reporting, in which the good news about a drug is made public but the bad news isn't. Ethicists say it gives doctors and patients too rosy a picture. Clinicians rely on the medical literature to learn about new drugs and to help them assess whether it is worth prescribing a medication, given the risk of side effects.

The researchers examined the studies that drug companies submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States when they were seeking regulatory approval for 12 antidepressants. The drugs were all approved between 1981 and 2004, and are now widely prescribed. (Canada has its own drug approvals process, which relies on essentially the same information drug companies give the FDA.) ...more

Ontario gives pharmaceutical companies $150 million for jobs, research

From the Canadian Press:
Ontario must invest taxpayer dollars in the research and development efforts of big drug companies if it hopes to keep good-paying jobs in the province, Research and Innovation Minister John Wilkinson said Wednesday as he announced a $150-million fund for pharmaceutical firms.

The New Democrats criticized the Liberal government for giving $150 million to one of the most profitable industries in the world, but Wilkinson said Ontario wants to make sure research that leads to a new drug also results in new manufacturing jobs for the province.

"There's a race for global jobs, and our intention is to make sure that we win that race," Wilkinson said after announcing the fund at a Toronto research centre.

"It's very important for us that we partner with industry to make sure that global mandate is secured right here in Ontario, whether it's making cars or it's investments in the bio-pharmaceutical industry."

The fund for pharmaceutical companies is modelled after the province's auto sector fund, a $500-million program that the Liberals say leveraged $7 billion in new investments in Ontario by the big automakers. ...more

Bayer plans largest-ever study for blood-clot drug

From Reuters:
Bayer is planning a late-stage study for its promising blood-clot drug rivaroxaban for hospitalised patients with internal diseases, the German drugs and chemicals group said on Tuesday.

"It is planned for a total of about 50,000 patients to take part in these studies, making it the largest clinical study programme Bayer has ever undertaken," Chief Executive Werner Wenning told reporters. Wenning said rivaroxaban, which the company wants to market under the trade name Xarelto, is the most promising product in its pipeline.

Rivaroxaban's current indications are prevention of venous thromboembolism, treatment of deep-vein thrombosis, stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation and acute coronary syndrome. ...more

Bayer Stops Sales of Trasylol Globally

I think this article would be a good one to file in the memory banks. The next time American experts say there is no drug research being done in Canada, here's an example that contradicts that statement.

From the Associated Press:
Bayer AG halted worldwide sales Monday of its anti-bleeding drug Trasylol at the request of U.S. and foreign health officials pending further analysis of a Canadian study that suggests it's linked to a 50 percent higher risk of death than the other drugs in the clinical trial.

The Food and Drug Administration asked the company to stop selling the drug, used to prevent excessive bleeding during heart bypass surgery, until it could receive and review further results from the study. The study comparing the safety and efficacy of the drug with two others was recently halted.

"FDA cannot identify a specific patient population where we believe the benefits of using Trasylol outweighs the risk," said Dr. John Jenkins, director of the agency's Office of New Drugs, during a briefing Monday. ...more

FDA says safety board recommends halt to Canadian-led drug trial

From the Globe and Mail:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has revealed that the safety board overseeing a large Canadian-led trial has recommended the trial be stopped because of concerns the drug being tested increases the risk of death.

The FDA statement says that the Data Safety Monitoring Board has recommended no new patients be enrolled in the trial.

The study, which goes by the acronym BART, is led by Ottawa researcher Dr. Paul Hebert.

It was designed to test the drug aprotinin — marketed as Trasylol by Bayer Inc. — against other drugs used to reduce blood loss during heart bypass surgery. ...more

Pharmacists can have impact after surgery, say researchers

From News @UofT:
A new study by researchers from the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), University Health Network (UHN) and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy has shown that including pharmacists as part of multidisciplinary teams in surgical pre-admission clinics can result in a 50 per cent decrease in medication discrepancies for patients after surgery.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine May 28, is the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist intervention in a pre-admission clinic. Previous studies have shown that from the moment a patient is admitted to hospital to when they are discharged, there are several vulnerable moments for medication information discrepancies, which can escalate into medication errors and adverse drug events. ...more

Study probes genetic link to drug reactions

From the Vancouver Sun:
A B.C.-led study into tailoring drug therapy for individual patients based on their genetic makeup is the only research of its kind in the world.

The study will identify the genetic makeup and variations in children who suffer adverse reactions to medications.

Researchers will then turn their attention to developing tests, called predictive biomarkers, that would be given to pediatric and adult patients before they take drugs so that those susceptible to such reactions would either be given different agents or the indicated drugs, in smaller or larger doses. ...more