News Archive

According to the article, “TRANSCRIPT: October 29 CDC Press Briefing on H1N1 Flu; Additional Briefing Friday” posted at Huntington News Network,

I want to mention a few things about antivirals. There are concerns about people having trouble finding antivirals. A few weeks ago the secretary ordered 300,000 courses of the liquid Tamiflu for children to be shipped out to the states. And that’s all going out to the state through the strategic national stockpile. We know there are also capsules of the anti-viral medicine. There are many different size capsules. Many of those are fine for children.

(Read More at Huntington News Network.)

According to the article, “Wilce offers prescription refills online” posted at The Lantern,

Ohio State students, faculty and staff can now refill prescriptions online through the Wilce Student Health Center.
The prescription refill system was posted online in September. This service is expected to make life easier for students who currently travel to off-campus pharmacies for prescription refills.
To begin using this service with the Student Health Services’ pharmacy, all eligible OSU students, faculty and staff must bring in their original prescription. All subsequent prescriptions can be refilled online.
Prescriptions will be filled in a timely manner, said John Ford, associate director of the Wilce Student Health Center.
“Generally, online refill requests made during business hours will be
ready for pickup within an hour,” Ford said. “Refill requests made after hours will be available the next business day.”

(Read More at The Lantern.)

According to the article, “Health care groups lobby at record pace” posted at USATODAY.com,

WASHINGTON — The drug and insurance industries have dramatically amped up their efforts to lobby Congress, spending millions over a three-month period to influence legislation aimed at reshaping the nation’s health care system, new reports show.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America reported nearly $7 million in lobbying expenses from July through September. Overall, the group has spent nearly as much during the first nine months of 2009 as it did during the entire previous year.

Individual drug companies also have sharply increased lobbying. Pfizer, for instance, has spent more than $17 million in lobbying during the first nine months of this year, nearly twice its lobbying budget during the same period in 2008. Pfizer spokeswoman Kristen Neese said the spending reflects a commitment to “making our voice heard.”

(Read More at USATODAY.com.)

According to the article, “Pharmacist: Anna Nicole Smith’s drug list ‘pharmaceutical suicide’” posted at CNN.com,

pharmacist testified that he warned Anna Nicole Smith’s doctors and boyfriend that a list of medications intended for Smith a week after her son’s death could be “pharmaceutical suicide.”

Anna Nicole Smith, with Howard K. Stern, was found dead in her hotel room in February 2007.

The former Playboy model and reality TV star died five months later of what a Florida medical examiner ruled was from “acute combined drug intoxication.”

Ira Freeman, the chief pharmacist at Key Pharmacy in Los Angeles, testified on the seventh day of a preliminary hearing for Howard K. Stern — Smith’s lawyer and companion — and co-defendants Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.

(Read More at CNN.com.)

According to the article, “Pharmaceutical ads are deceiving” posted at MyDesert.com | The Desert Sun,

Have you noticed the ironic, pretentious and mind-blowing fact that the pharmaceutical and medical insurance ganefs have increased their commercials on TV recently? Do you think it might have something to do with the ugly health-care debate in Washington?

Both pharmaceutical and insurance industries are making record-breaking profits while seemingly cutting benefits for the average citizen. They probably think they can confuse us by constantly running these dishonest commercials.

Insurance companies are shameless in their messages. They show happy families enjoying their lives and seemingly take credit for it. The truth is, they increase their premiums without any oversight while cutting back on their coverage for their customers. The politicians who happily take their million-dollar contributions for their re-elections should be thrown out of office or indicted for bribery.

(Read More at MyDesert.com | The Desert Sun.)

According to the article, “Quest for swine flu vaccine giving some firms a boost” posted at The Boston Globe,

For a handful of drug makers, including the Novartis AG vaccine division in Cambridge, the global effort to combat the swine flu is turning out to be good business, bringing them a $7 billion windfall.

The race to produce the H1N1 vaccine, at the urging of the World Health Organization and governments here and abroad, has strained supply chains and forced manufacturers to untangle production snags. That has led to supply shortages and delays in shipping the medicine to clinics and other health care providers.

But the urgency also has taught the companies valuable lessons about handling pandemics; helped them hone emergency response programs; and fueled new research, acquisitions, and investments in vaccines for viruses and infections ranging from hepatitis to meningitis.

(Read More at The Boston Globe.)

Myriad Pharmaceuticals’ Azixa™ is Efficacious in a Model of Human Brain Cancer and Its Activity is Additive With Avastin®

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 23, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Myriad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:MYRX) today announced the presentation of non-clinical data demonstrating the potent anti-cancer activity of Azixa™ (MPC-6827), its small molecule microtubule destabilizing agent, in a model of brain cancer. Azixa is currently in two phase 2 studies for the treatment of primary brain tumors and one phase 2 trial for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

The data, presented today at the 2009 Joint Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors, demonstrated that Azixa reduced the growth of glioma tumor cells implanted into the brains of mice by 98% (p<0.01). This reduction in tumor growth significantly improved the survival of Azixa-treated mice when compared with control animals. Data from two additional cancer models demonstrated that the combination of Azixa and Avastin® (bevacizumab) was more efficacious than treatment with Avastin alone (p=0.006 for glioma).

"The ability of Azixa to cross the blood brain barrier together with demonstrated efficacy in this model of brain cancer are strong evidence supporting our clinical strategy to target brain tumors," said Dr. Adrian Hobden, President and CEO of Myriad Pharmaceuticals. "The additive efficacy of the combination of Azixa and Avastin, further encourages us that Azixa may be an important addition to the treatment regimes of this underserved patient population."

As previously announced, the oral presentation is available as PDFs on the Myriad Pharmaceuticals' website at www.myriadpharma.com

Azixa™ (MPC-6827)

Azixa is Myriad Pharmaceuticals’ most advanced cancer drug candidate. Azixa is currently in three Phase 2 studies for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and metastatic melanoma. Azixa has two unique distinguishing activities. In non-clinical studies, Azixa has demonstrated the ability to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in the brain at levels as much as 3000% of that in plasma. Also, Azixa does not appear to be subject to multiple drug resistance (MDR) mechanisms. Frequently, primary and secondary tumors develop multiple drug resistance and stop responding to the chemotherapeutic agents used today, thus significantly limiting their effectiveness and leaving patients few additional therapeutic options. Glioblastoma multiforme is diagnosed in about 20,000 Americans each year. Metastases in the brain are a very common problem in late stage cancers with an annual US incidence of approximately 170,000 patients.

The Company expects to report interim results from the ongoing Phase 2 trial of Azixa in metastatic melanoma at the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics meeting in Boston in November 2009.

About Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel small molecule drugs that address severe medical conditions, including cancer and HIV infection. Our pipeline includes clinical and pre-clinical product candidates with distinct mechanisms of action and novel chemical structures that have the potential to be first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutics. For more information visit www.myriadpharma.com.

Azixa and the Myriad Pharmaceuticals logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the United States and foreign countries.

Avastin is a trademark of Genentech, Inc.

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to the potential efficacy and timing of development of Azixa; the Company’s expectation to report interim results from the ongoing Phase 2 trial of Azixa in metastatic melanoma at the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics meeting in Boston in November 2009; and the potential that Azixa may be an important addition to the treatment regimes for primary and secondary brain tumors. These “forward-looking statements” are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that we may be unable to further identify, develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the risk that we may be unable to discover drugs that are safer and more efficacious than our competitors; the risk that we may be unable to develop and maintain manufacturing capabilities for our products; the possibility of delays in the research and development necessary to select drug development candidates and delays in clinical trials; the risk that clinical trials may not result in marketable products; the risk that we may be unable to successfully finance and secure regulatory approval of and market our drug candidates, or that clinical trials will not be completed on the timelines we have estimated; uncertainties about our ability to obtain new corporate collaborations and acquire new technologies on satisfactory terms, if at all; the development of competing products and services; the risk that we may be unable to protect our proprietary technologies; the risk of patent-infringement claims; risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the United States and internationally; and other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in “Item 1A. – Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q or Current Reports on Form 8-K. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Myriad Pharmaceuticals undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

CONTACT: Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Patrick M. Burke, Ph.D., VP Corporate and Business Development 801-214-7822 Investor.relations@myriadpharma.com

(Read More at .)

According to the article, “Doctors aren’t prescribing Tamiflu to healthy people” posted at dailypress.com,

It highly unlikely that your doctor would be willing to write a prescription for Tamiflu for a healthy person. That’s because public health authorities are discouraging widespread use except for people at high risk of complications. That would be young children, pregnant women, people with chronic conditions and the elderly. People who need hospitalization or those who develop pneumonia from the flu should also get antiviral medicine.

(Read More at dailypress.com.)

In a very lighthearted look at our society’s past openness to self-medication and narcotic “health aids”, the article, “Weed, Booze, Cocaine and Other Old School “Medicine” Ads” posted at Pharmacy Technician Schools, has a litany of old-fashioned advertisements for things we’d not consider appropriate (or legal) today:

Granted, hindsight is 20/20, but some awfully strange substances have been used for pharmaceutical purposes in the past — and some might argue, continue to be used today. Here are some vintage advertisements touting items that we might balk at taking today.

(Read More at Pharmacy Technician Schools.)

According to the article, “Arena, Orexigen and Vivus Are Chasing an Effective Diet Drug” posted at ,

“This is the biggest field, bigger than statins potentially,” said Jack Lief, chief executive of Arena Pharmaceuticals, referring to cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor, which by itself had $12.4 billion in global sales last year.

The companies say they have tried especially to avoid side effects that have tripped up diet drugs in the past. And the products from Orexigen and Vivus are combinations of two drugs, which some experts say might be more effective than a single medicine.

Patients in clinical trials of the three drugs lost an average of 3 to 10 percent of their weight after a year in addition to what was accomplished by efforts to improve diet and exercise.

Vivus’s drug, Qnexa, provided the greatest weight loss, which is why that company’s stock is up 90 percent this year, more than that of the other two companies. But Qnexa’s ingredients may raise the biggest safety questions, although the clinical trials did not detect major problems.

(Read More at NYTimes.com.)