http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC says it is to acquire Pearl Therapeutics Inc., a Redwood-City, California-based company involved in therapies for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for at least $560 million. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-astrazeneca-respiratory-firm.html Other Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:48:15 EST news290076490 The American College of Cardiology is developing a program with support from founding sponsor AstraZeneca to provide personalized services to heart disease patients and help avoid a quick return to the hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-heart-patients-readmissions.html Cardiology Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:29:07 EST news289664941 British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC plans to spend about $260 million on Omthera Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty drug developer with only 14 employees but has a potential treatment for patients who have high levels of fats called triglycerides in their blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-astrazeneca-260m-omthera-pharma.html Other Tue, 28 May 2013 09:35:10 EST news288952504 (AP)—Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has settled a patent dispute with Watson Laboratories, Inc., removing a threat against its top-selling cholesterol-control drug, Crestor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-astrazeneca-legal-dispute-watson.html Medications Mon, 25 Mar 2013 07:31:14 EST news283415468 (AP)—Struggling drug company AstraZeneca outlined a major restructuring of its business on Thursday, including some 2,300 job cuts worldwide as it overhauls its research operations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-astrazeneca-jobs-business-overhaul.html Medications Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:28:53 EST news283076926 (AP)—Struggling Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC said Monday that it will eliminate 1,600 jobs, mostly in the U.S. and United Kingdom, as its new CEO starts a major research and development reorganization. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-astrazeneca-reorg-jobs-uk.html Medications Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:59:41 EST news282833972 All human clinical trials of new treatments begin with phase I, where drugs are tested in isolation to confirm their safety. Yet most effective cancer treatments use a combination of drugs, so-called 'multi-agent' treatments. After phase I trials are completed, it can sometimes take up to two years before multi-agent trials are approved, never mind conducting the lengthy phase II and III trials necessary before a new drug finally reaches the market. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-drug.html Medications Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:30:01 EST news281954079 (HealthDay)—Increasing the threshold for defining a positive result in computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer could reduce the need for further work-up but must be weighed against the potential for delayed diagnosis, according to a study published in the Feb. 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-redefinition-positive-ct-result-lung.html Cancer Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:40:01 EST news280606274 (HealthDay)—Pooled results from five cohorts confirm that high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) correlate with increased future risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to research published online Feb. 7 in JAMA Ophthalmology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-link-hscrp-macular-degeneration.html Ophthalmology Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:10:01 EST news279539588 (AP)—Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC warned over expiring patents on its medicines as the company announced a 37 percent fall in full-year net profit on Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-astazeneca-patent-net-profit-falls.html Other Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:46:55 EST news278837210 (HealthDay)—For women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive early breast cancer, continuing tamoxifen to 10 years correlates with reduced risk of recurrence and lower breast cancer-specific and overall mortality, according to a study published online Dec. 5 in The Lancet to coincide with presentation at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Dec. 4 to 8. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-sabcs-tamoxifen-years-beneficial-breast.html Cancer Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:00:01 EST news273944542 (AP)—Drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and AstraZeneca PLC say their experimental diabetes pill has gotten its first major approval, in the European Union. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-eu-oks-bristol-myers-astrazeneca-diabetes.html Medications Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:00:01 EST news272127015 Indian drugs giant Cipla said Friday it has slashed by up to 76 percent prices of generic medicines used to treat brain, lung and kidney cancer in what the company called a "humanitarian move". http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-indian-drug-giant-cipla-slashes.html Medications Fri, 04 May 2012 11:20:01 EST news255347298 (HealthDay) -- The high blood pressure drug Toprol XL has been combined with a low-dose diuretic to form Dutoprol (metoprolol succinate extended release/hyrdrochlorothiazide), which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat high blood pressure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-high-blood-pressure.html Medications Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:14:48 EST news253552480 (HealthDay) -- For patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, treatment with dapagliflozin is associated with improved glycemic control, stabilized insulin dosing, and weight reductions, according to research published in the March 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-dapagliflozin-aids-glycemic-diabetes.html Diabetes Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:30:01 EST news251465867 Federal health officials have approved the first vaccine that protects against four strains of the common flu, offering one additional layer of protection against the influenza virus that affects millions each year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-fda-in-flu-vaccine.html Medications Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:28:37 EST news249762509 Pharmaceutical giants and the UN intellectual property agency launched Wednesday a collaboration to share certain patented drug information with public organisations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-pharma-giants-drug-patents-collaboration.html Medications Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:12:40 EST news238846347 Since the start of 2011, the active ingredient ticagrelor can be prescribed in Germany in addition to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to avoid blood clots in patients with acute ischaemia of the cardiac muscle. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined whether ticagrelor offers advantages to patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in comparison with conventional drugs. This is the first co-called "early benefit assessment" that IQWiG has performed on the basis of a dossier provided by the manufacturer, in accordance with the new legal regulations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ticagrelor-considerable-added-benefit-specific.html Medical research Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:41:32 EST news237552078 In a new study published in Nature Genetics researchers say that women who possess a fault in a gene named RAD51D have a greater risk of developing ovarian cancer than women who do not have this fault and tests are expected to be available within the next few years for those at highest risk, according to Cancer Research UK. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-faulty-gene-ovarian-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:00:01 EST news232073760