Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Roche's RoActemra gets EU OK for rare child arthritis



The European Medicines Agency has expanded approval for Roche's RoActemra to cover the treatment of children with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The regulator has decreed that RoActemra (tocilizumab) can be used to treat patients two years of age and older who have not responded adequately to treatment with methotrexate. The drug can be given alone or in combination with MTX.
volleyball

Tocilizumab(INN, or atlizumab, developed by Hoffmann–La Roche and Chugai and sold under the trade names Actemra and RoActemra) is an immunosuppressive drug, mainly for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a severe form of RA in children. It is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R). Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is a cytokine that plays an important role in immune response and is implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases, such asautoimmune diseasesmultiple myeloma and prostate cancer.









 

Will nanorods be the next big male contraceptive idea?

News item thumbnail


Successful experiments on mice bode well for a future human contraceptive - if men can stomach the injections
Researchers in China have discovered a new method of male contraception: a quick injection of gold nanorods into the testes, followed by a 10 minute dose of infrared light. The procedure has only been demonstrated in mice, but the researchers believe it could be used for dogs and cats – and even humans.
Pet contraception is considered an important topic, given the four million unwanted dogs and cats that are thought to be put down every year in the US alone. Many vets routinely sterilise pets, but since surgery requires time and expertise scientists have been looking for cheaper, simpler alternatives.
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/06/gold-nanorods-male-contraceptive


nanorods
Functionalising the nanorods with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) enables them to be used for contraception or even sterilisation © ACS

New Fluzone Quadrivalent Four-Strain Influenza Vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur Now Licensed By FDA for Broad Age Range of Children and Adults


 
A 5cc vial of Fluzone
June 10, 2013 – Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for licensure of its four-strain influenza vaccine, Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine. Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine is the newest addition to the Fluzone family of influenza vaccines. Like Sanofi Pasteur’s Fluzone vaccine, which is administered to more than 50 million people in the U.S. each year, Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine is licensed for use in children six months of age and older, adolescents, and adults.
http://www.drugs.com/newdrugs/new-fluzone-quadrivalent-four-strain-influenza-vaccine-sanofi-pasteur-now-licensed-fda-broad-age-3810.html




H1N1 virus
Influenza (Flu)

90Y-Epratuzumab Study Shows Improvement of Therapy Results Following R-CHOP

 


June 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on the development of monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases, today reported that adding two doses of epratuzumab labeled with the radioisotope, yttrium-90 (90Y), to a combination of rituximab and CHOP chemotherapy (R-CHOP), the standard of care for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), appeared to improve elderly patients' responses to treatment.

read all at
http://www.drugs.com/clinical_trials/90y-epratuzumab-study-shows-improvement-therapy-results-following-r-chop-15714.html 




by
WORLD DRUG TRACKER
DR ANTHONY