National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Executive Vice President and CEO, Bruce T. Roberts, RPh testified today before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, offering four different recommendations to strengthen a health care reform proposal currently working its way through Congress.
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A new three-dimensional computer protein map is helping researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) unravel the biological pathways that control brain-cell death after a stroke. The new map will help identify new drug targets and test compounds to slow brain-cell death, halt brain cancer and improve pain control, the study authors said. The findings are published online in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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A protein called STAT3 has been found to play a fundamental role in converting normal cells to cancerous cells, according to a new study led by David E. Levy, Ph.D., professor of pathology and microbiology at NYU Langone Medical Center.
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An important resource consolidating understanding of the roles played by Ion channels in drug action is now available for scientists and students. The International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) announce the publication of a new ion channels database, covering both the voltage-gated (VGIC) and ligand-gated (LGIC) ion channels.
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Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells. Underneath their smooth surface they harbor an elaborately folded inner membrane. It holds a multitude of bottleneck like invaginations, which expand into elongated cavities (cristae). The narrow shape of the entrance or pore to the cristae (’crista junction’) allows separation of the intracristal space and storage of molecules.
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Several thousand test fields are tightly packed together on the tiny surface of a biochip. They permit the rapid analysis of substances, e.g. for diagnosing allergens in the blood. These biochips are already in widespread use for DNA testing. When it comes to proteins, such chips are difficult to produce. This is because the proteins have a defined three-dimensional structure by which they can interact specifically with other molecules and control biological processes.
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Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood issued the following statement regarding the letter sent yesterday from the Obama Administration to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman regarding biosimilars: “The Biotechnology Industry Organization continues to support strongly the development of a pathway for the review and approval of biosimilars.
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FDA on Wednesday approved Watson Pharmaceuticals’ generic version of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, the Wall Street Journal reports. The generic drug will be available without a prescription to women ages 18 and older on Aug. 24, when Duramed Pharmaceuticals’ market exclusivity for Plan B expires (Kalish, Wall Street Journal, 6/25).
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U.S. Marshals, at the request of the Food and Drug Administration, today seized drug products manufactured by Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. (Caraco), at the company’s Michigan facilities in Detroit, Farmington Hills, and Wixom. The seizure also includes ingredients held at these same facilities. “The FDA is committed to taking enforcement action against firms that do not manufacture drugs in accordance with our good manufacturing practice requirements,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D.
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The European Medicines Agency’s (EMEA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that patients who are in greatest need of treatment are given priority access to Cerezyme (imiglucerase) and Fabrazyme (agalsidase beta) during the expected supply shortage of these two medicines over the next few months. Cerezyme and Fabrazyme are both used to treat rare, inherited enzyme-deficiency disorders.
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