Archive for the 'Drug Delivery' Category
March 2nd, 2011 by admin
Adding to its store of technology weapons, Catalent Pharma can now offer fast-dissolve tablet technology to clients. It obtained the development rights to Lyopan from Pantec. The lyophilized tablets are used for such OTC products as allergy treatments and travel medications, says Catalent. The technology uses less water than other oral dose technologies, reducing not just energy consumption but also sublimation and drying time.
Continue reading ‘Catalent Adds Fast-Dissolve Tech to Oral Dose Arsenal’
February 23rd, 2011 by admin
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have shown that they can deliver the cancer drug cisplatin much more effectively and safely in a form that has been encapsulated in a nanoparticle targeted to prostate tumor cells and is activated once it reaches its target. Using the new particles, the researchers were able to successfully shrink tumors in mice, using only one-third the amount of conventional cisplatin needed to achieve the same effect. That could help reduce cisplatin’s potentially severe side effects, which include kidney damage and nerve damage.
Continue reading ‘Delivering a Potent Cancer Drug with Nanoparticles can Lessen Side Effects’
January 27th, 2011 by admin
There are many reasons cancer patients can dread chemotherapy. It might kill their cancer, but those who go through it often wonder if the cure is just as bad as the disease. Among the uncomfortable symptoms is chemotherapy-induced vomiting. Ahmedabad, India-based Lincoln Pharmaceuticals has been granted a patent for its nasal drug delivery system (NDDS) of ondansetron hydrochloride, which prevents or arrests vomiting.
Continue reading ‘Nasal Delivery of Anti-vomiting Drug Patent Won’
January 20th, 2011 by admin
A Holy Grail in the drug-delivery business is the quest for a needle-free way for diabetics to take their insulin. Galway, Ireland-based Aerogen and San Francisco-based Dance Pharmaceuticals believe they have found the secret passageway–through the nose. And they’ve announced a drug-delivery partnership to develop an inhaled-insulin device.
Continue reading ‘Inhaled Insulin Closer to Reality’
January 17th, 2011 by admin
A new cigarette tax and a stop-smoking drug were a match made in Japan, and it might have been heaven if Pfizer ($PFE) hadn’t fumbled. The drugmaker, which sells its Chantix remedy as Champix in Japan, knew the higher tax was coming, advertised its drug heavily, and then failed to make enough to satisfy demand.
Continue reading ‘Pfizer Bungles Tax-Fueled Champix Surge’
January 14th, 2011 by admin
A unit of Footstar Corp., a holding company, has agreed to acquire CPEX Pharmaceuticals for $76.6 million in cash. The bid is worth $27.25 a share–more than twice what it was a year ago as back-to-back quarterly profits helped fuel investor interest. CPEX focuses on what it calls a “drug delivery platform technology.” Platform, of course, is a key word that implies it’s not just a one-shot deal, but a model for a whole family of drug-delivery applications. This likely made CPEX more attractive.
Continue reading ‘Footstar to acquire CPEX’s Drug-Delivery Technology’
December 30th, 2010 by admin
No, gold-plated liposomes are not a luxury gift that you’d find in your Christmas stocking, but they could someday give cancer patients the gift of life by selectively knocking out cancer cells while leaving healthy ones alone. This holiday gift comes courtesy of Marek Romanowski, an associate professor of biomedical engineering in the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering, along with the grad students in his lab, Xenia Kachur and Sarah Leung.
Continue reading ‘Gold-plated Liposomes an Anti-Cancer Stocking Stuffer’
December 15th, 2010 by admin
Electronic cigarettes are nicotine-delivery devices that include a heating element that vaporizes chemicals in replaceable plastic cartridges. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside recently evaluated five e-cigarette brands and, finding design flaws, lack of adequate labeling, and several concerns about quality control and health issues, concluded that e-cigarettes are potentially harmful and urged regulators to consider removing e-cigarettes from the market until their safety is adequately evaluated.
Continue reading ‘FDA Loses Battle in War Against e-cigarettes’
October 13th, 2010 by admin
Yes, Star Trek geeks can rejoice. There is now a “cloaking device” for drug delivery. At least, that’s how researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst describe what they’re doing. In the current issue of Nature Chemistry, Vincent Rotello says he and his team can deliver a dormant toxin into a specific site such as a tumor for anti-cancer therapy, then chemically trigger the toxin to “de-cloak” and attack the Romul … I mean, tumor, from within.
Continue reading ‘Cloaking Device Boldly Delivers Toxins to Tumor’
October 1st, 2010 by admin
GlaxoSmithKline and partner Theravance (THRX) say that their planned successor for the blockbuster Advair turned in a positive performance in a mid-stage study involving 60 people with COPD. Significantly, the new drug–dubbed Relovair–outperformed Advair on a key measure that gauges lung function. And that bodes well for the therapy, which is now in late-stage trials for both COPD as well as asthma.
Continue reading ‘GSK, Theravance report promising PhII data for Advair successor’
