Experimental Drug Shows Promise Against Type 2 Diabetes

In continuation of my update on TAK 875

Experimental Drug Shows Promise Against Type 2 Diabetes: An experimental drug improves patients' blood sugar control without increasing the risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a phase 2 clinical trial.

Type 2 diabetes is...

Rigosertib drug shows promise against advanced pancreatic cancer

Researchers from University of Colorado, lead by Antonio Jimeno, have found that, a new drug, Rigosertib,  allows pancreatic cancer cells to rush through replication - and then stops them cold, killing them in in the middle of a step called M phase. Healthy cells that don't rush are unharmed.

Data from a phase I clinical trial of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and additional solid tumors recently published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research shows the strategy has promise. While the goal of any phase I trial is to establish the dosage that best balances effectiveness against side effects, 11 of the 19 patients treated achieved stable disease, which lasted for a median of 113 days.

"Really, the drug takes one of cancer's greatest strengths and turns it into a weakness," says Wells Messersmith, MD, co-leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and the clinical trial's national principal investigator.

Instead of going with the flow of the natural cell cycle, cancer cells amplify two signals - PLK1 and PI3K - which allows them to blast through the cell cycle and divide much more quickly. In the process, they break this step of the natural cell cycle, known as the G1 regulatory mechanism, and thus depend on the kick of PLK1 and P13K to push at a frenzied pace through replication...

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New Drug, Ruxolitinib May Help Fight Rare Bone Marrow Disorder

In continuation of my update on ruxolitinib

New Drug May Help Fight Rare Bone Marrow Disorder: WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 -- Two new studies confirm that the new drug ruxolitinib can help people with the rare bone marrow disorder called myelofibrosis.

While the drug, marketed in the United States under the brand name Jakafi, won't cure...

New drug improves glycaemic control with minimum risk of hypoglycemia in type 2 diabetics..

TAK-875, a new treatment for type 2 diabetes, improves blood sugar control and is equally effective as glimepiride, but has a significantly lower risk of creating a dangerous drop in blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, according to a new study. TAK-875 is a novel oral medication designed to enhance insulin secretion in a glucose-dependant manner, which means that it has no effect on insulin secretion when glucose levels are normal, and as such has the potential to improve the control of blood sugar levels without the risk of hypoglycemia.

In the study, Charles Burant, M.D., Ph.D., professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, and colleagues randomly assigned 426 patients with type 2 diabetes who were not achieving adequate glucose control through diet, exercise or metformin treatment to one of five doses of TAK-875, a placebo, or glimepiride, a conventional diabetes treatment. The primary outcome was change in hemogloblin A1c from the start of the study.

At 12 weeks, all doses of TAK-875 resulted in significant drops in HbA1c compared with placebo, a similar reduction occurred in patients given glimepiride.

At a TAK-875 dose of 25 mg or higher, about twice as many patients (33 to 48 percent) reached the American Diabetics Association target of HbA1c less than 7 percent within 12 weeks, compared with placebo (19 percent) and was similar to glimepiride (40 percent).

Ref : http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61879-5/fulltext

Skin cancer drug, vemurafenib may prolong survival in advanced cases: Study

In continuation of my update on vemurafenib...

According to an international study a new treatment for advanced skin cancer almost doubles survival times. Researchers say 132 patients in the U.S. and Australia who were given the drug vemurafenib gained several extra months of life. The treatment is one of two drugs for late-stage melanoma, approved on fast-track in the US last year, which offer hope for patients with advanced melanoma. Vemurafenib is suitable for about half of patients with advanced melanoma as it targets tumors that express a certain gene mutation. Before that, there had been no new drugs for the cancer for more than a decade...

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FDA panel votes in favor of earlier rejected anti-obesity drug Qnexa

In continuation of my up date on Qnexa

FDA panel votes in favor of earlier rejected anti-obesity drug Qnexa: Qnexa took a step closer to approval on Wednesday, when outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 20-to-2 in favor of approval. The panel also recommended the company conduct a study to scrutinize even more closely any risk of heart problems. That study may be required after the drug is approved. Should the FDA ask for further data on heart risks before any approval, it would delay Qnexa's launch further.

Melanoma Drug Nearly Doubles Survival « VICC News & Publications

In continuation of my update on Zelboraf (vemurafenib)

Melanoma Drug Nearly Doubles Survival « VICC News & Publications

FDA Approves Korlym for Patients with Endogenous Cushing's Syndrome..

Korlym (mifepristone) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to control high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) in adults with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome. This drug was approved for use in patients with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome who have type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance and are not candidates for surgery or who have not responded to prior surgery. Korlym should never be used (contraindicated) by pregnant women....

Ref : http://www.corcept.com/medicationguide.pdf

FDA Approves Zioptan (tafluprost ophthalmic solution), Merck's Once-Daily, Preservative-Free Ophthalmic Medication

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Zioptan  (tafluprost ophthalmic solution) 0.0015%, the first preservative-free prostaglandin analog ophthalmic solution. Zioptan (pronounced zye-OP-tan) is approved for reducing elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension. Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma, while ocular hypertension is a condition characterized by an increase in pressure inside the eye.

Ref : http://www.merck.com/newsroom/news-release-archive/prescription-medicine-news/2012_0213.html  

Compound makes imipenem 16 times more effective against antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae

North Carolina State University chemists have created a compound (see structure above - when used in conjunction with the antibiotic imipenem (below structure), increased the antibiotic's effectiveness against the antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae 16-fold. The researchers believe that these early results are very promising for future treatments.)  that makes existing antibiotics 16 times more effective against recently discovered antibiotic-resistant "superbugs." 

These so-called superbugs are actually bacterial strains that produce an enzyme known as New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1). Bacteria that produce this enzyme are practically impervious to antibiotics because NDM-1renders certain antibiotics unable to bind with their bacterial targets. Since NDM-1 is found in Gram-negative bacteria like K. pneumoniae, which causes pneumonia, urinary tract, and other common hospital-acquired infections, it is of particular concern. NC State chemist Dr. Christian Melander had found that a compound derived from a class of molecules known as 2-aminoimidazoles "recharged" existing antibiotics, making them effective against Gram-positive antibiotic-resistant bacteria like the Staphylococcus strain MRSA. So Melander, Worthington and graduate students Cynthia Bunders and Catherine Reed set to work on a variety of the compound that might prove similarly effective against their Gram-negative brethren.

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