Trade Group Study: Hundreds of Rare Disease Drugs in Development

February 21, 2013 | by

According to a new report released last month by the trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the biopharmaceutical pipeline is innovative and robust, with a high percentage of potential first-in-class medicines (meaning a new treatment where nothing currently exists) targeting diseases with limited treatment options. In addition to identifying medicines in development for conditions and diseases such as septic shock, ovarian cancer, sickle cell disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), which haven’t had any new product approvals in the last ten years, the report offers positive news for the rare disease community: one third of the products currently in clinical development have a rare disease designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

PhRMA

2012: Banner Year for New Drugs

February 12, 2013 | by

Fueled by new cancer therapeutics, last year the annual new molecular and biological entity approval count from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) saw its highest year since 1997. One-third of the novel products approved by the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) are used to treat cancers of the blood, breast, colon, prostate, skin and thyroid.

FDA approved

Study Reveals How Green Tea Improves Memory

October 5, 2012 | by

Green tea has been enjoyed for centuries, and its benefits have been widely touted. It is reputed to help treat many of modernity’s worst ills, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV infection, and neurodegenerative diseases. New work done in China furthers the observations that green tea can help prevent neurodegeneration. The report, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, starts to elucidate the mechanism by which it does so [1].

Green tea

PatientsLikeMe: Top Innovative Company in Biomedicine

September 11, 2012 | by

PatientsLikeMe is one of 10 biomedicine companies included in Technology Review’s 50 Most Innovative Companies (TR50) for 2012 [1].

PatientsLikeMe

NIH Launches Collaborative Program, Matches Researchers with Compounds to Explore New Treatments

May 11, 2012 | by

The National Institutes of Health recently unveiled a collaborative program that will match researchers with a selection of pharmaceutical industry compounds to help scientists explore new treatments for patients. NIH’s new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) has partnered initially with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Eli Lilly and Company which have agreed to make dozens of their compounds available for this initiative’s pilot phase.

NIH collaborative program