http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck Wednesday posted a higher than expected quarterly net profit, helped by the expansion of an alliance with Japan's Otsuka and the divestment of a US portfolio of non-core products. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-lundbeck-profit-pressure.html Medications Wed, 01 May 2013 08:13:30 EST news286614799 A US-led Pacific free trade pact faces further delays as a row between Big Pharma and activists supporting access to generic drugs erupts ahead of an October deadline, officials say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-big-pharma-threatens-pacific-pact.html Medications Sun, 10 Mar 2013 06:40:02 EST news282115829 (HealthDay)—Seeking to ease potentially dangerous shortages of a key cancer drug, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced it had fast-tracked the approval of the first generic form of one such medication, Doxil (doxorubicin). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-ease-shortage-fda-fast-tracks-cancer.html Medications Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:30:01 EST news279218312 (HealthDay)—The first generic version of the cancer drug Doxil (doxorubicin hydrochloride liposome injection) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which says the action should help relieve shortages of the brand-name medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-version-cancer-drug-doxil.html Medications Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:00:05 EST news279217910 Pfizer Inc.'s fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled, despite competition from generic drugs hurting sales of Lipitor and other medicines, because of a $4.8 billion gain from selling its nutrition business. The drugmaker's profit and sales both beat Wall Street expectations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-pfizer-q4-net-sale-nutrition.html Other Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:51:59 EST news278668310 Generic medications currently account for over 70 percent of prescriptions dispensed. However, while generic drugs are clinically bioequivalent to the brand-name version, they often differ in their physical characteristics, such as color and shape. Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have found that some patients who receive generic drugs that vary in their color are over 50 percent more likely to stop taking the drug, leading to potentially important and potentially adverse clinical effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-differences-pill-characteristics-essential-medication.html Medications Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:00:01 EST news276174392 Despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations requiring generic medications to carry identical warnings to those on corresponding brand-name products, a study by Regenstrief Institute researchers has found that more than two-thirds of generic drugs have safety-warning labels that differ from the equivalent brand-name drug. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-regenstrief-drugs-incorrect-safety.html Medications Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:44:24 EST news274628656 (HealthDay)—Savings on prescription drugs related to the Affordable Care Act have reached $5.1 billion, according to a Dec. 3 news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-health-law-boosts-meds-medicare.html Health Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:50:02 EST news274113429 Negative perceptions about generic drugs are more widespread among ethnic minorities than among whites, finds a new study in Ethnicity & Disease. Greater use of generic drugs, say the authors, could significantly reduce two major problems: patients' failing to take medications properly because they cannot afford brand name drugs and the amount spent overall on prescription medications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-minorities-view-drugs-inferior.html Medications Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:30:01 EST news270296737 (AP)—Teva Pharmaceuticals has stopped shipping its generic version of a popular antidepressant off the market after a U.S. government analysis showed the pill does not work properly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-teva-antidepressant-ineffective.html Medications Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:52:40 EST news268501948 (HealthDay) -- The first generic versions of Singulair (montelukast sodium) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-versions-singulair.html Medications Sat, 04 Aug 2012 05:47:52 EST news263278064 The leaders of Canada's 13 provinces and territories unveiled a plan Thursday to pool their purchases of generic drugs to gain a bulk discount amid concern over soaring healthcare costs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-canada-provinces-pool-drug.html Medications Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:50:01 EST news262579078 The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPfAR) began in 2003 with good intentions, but it was not until the U.S. government's massive overseas public health campaign adopted generic drugs that it became a success, according to a new article by Brown University researchers in the July issue of the journal Health Affairs. Nearly a decade later, expanding the availability of generics remains urgent, especially as doctors in the field encounter resistance to first-line treatment regimens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-drugs-key-overseas-hiv-relief.html Medications Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:00:12 EST news261066195 Indian pharmaceutical tycoon Yusuf Hamied revolutionised AIDS treatment more than a decade ago by supplying cut-price drugs to the world's poor -- and now he wants to do the same for cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-india-firm-cancer-drug-price.html Medications Sun, 17 Jun 2012 06:16:44 EST news259132397 (HealthDay) -- The first generic versions of the once-monthly osteoporosis drug Boniva (ibandronate) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-boniva-osteoporosis.html Medications Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:40:01 EST news251396444 (HealthDay) -- The Israeli drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals has gained the first U.S. approval to market generic Lexapro (escitalopram) to treat depression and general anxiety disorder, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-lexapro.html Medications Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:50:01 EST news250968149 Several NGOs protested Thursday at the annual meeting of Novartis against the attempt by the Swiss pharmaceutical group's India company to obtain a patent for its anti-cancer drug Glivec. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-ngos-protest-novartis-glivec-patent.html Medications Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:40:02 EST news249210630 Is health-care relief finally in sight? Health spending stabilized as a share of the nation's economy in 2010 after two back-to-back years of historically low growth, the government reported Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-america-health.html Health Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:05:34 EST news245354727 Pssst. Wanna buy some chemo drugs? A new trend in pharmaceutical sales has raised concerns over ethics and patient safety, as companies buy up critical cancer drugs in short supply and attempt to resell them at huge markups. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-cancer-drug-scalpers-corner.html Medications Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:50:01 EST news241766891 Supply of cheap, copycat drugs for the developing world could be badly threatened if Swiss firm Novartis wins a challenge to India's patent law, medical charity MSF said on Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-india-patent-case-threatens-cheap.html Medications Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:33:56 EST news234430374 Shortages of vital drugs, particularly cancer-fighting medication, have raised concerns in the United States, where regulators often have to race to try to find replacements. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-drug-shortages-mount.html Medications Sun, 04 Sep 2011 04:15:26 EST news234328500 (AP) -- Gilead Sciences Inc. will allow some of its AIDS drugs to be made by generic manufacturers, potentially increasing their availability in poor countries, particularly in Africa, officials said Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-aids-patients-cheaper-drugs.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:24:31 EST news229677419 (AP) -- The world's top emerging countries banded together Monday to help fight diseases in the poorest countries, pledging to explore the transfer of technologies to the developing world to enable poor nations to produce cheap and effective lifesaving medicines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-brics-countries-vow-poor-nations.html Health Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:42:02 EST news229614109 When Samantha Lowe's 12-year-old Labrador retriever needed anti-inflammatories to ease her arthritis, she found herself facing the same question humans face when it comes to prescriptions: Name-brand drug, or generic? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-advancing-lucrative-pet-drug.html Medications Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:20:54 EST news229004371 Generic anti-epilepsy drugs, pharmaceutical products similar to brand-name versions, save consumers billions of dollars each year, but some are different enough from branded formulations that they may not be effective, particularly if patients switch between two generic drugs, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. A report on the study, published online and in an upcoming issue of Annals of Neurology, raises questions about whether some generic products are safe and effective when a narrow dose range separates patients from help and harm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-variation-make-up-epilepsy-drugs-dosing.html Neuroscience Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:29:27 EST news228659354