Latest Oncology News Headlines

Amgen Alters Anemia Drug Discounts

(New York Times) Aug 27, 2008 - Amgen is halting some pricing practices that critics say were contributing to overuse of its flagship anemia drug Aranesp at a time of mounting concerns about the product’s safety.
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Takeda's Velcade Found Better Than Standard Drug

(Bloomberg) Aug 27, 2008 - Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s Velcade helped keep the blood cancer multiple myeloma at bay in newly diagnosed patients longer than standard therapy alone did, a study in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine found.
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Cell Genesys' Saving Grace

(Forbes.com) Aug 27, 2008 - Recent news of high fatalies during one of its drug trials has weighed on Cell Genesys' stock price, but the company may be able to overcome the blow if data from a different study helps it gain FDA approval.
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BDSI Gets Good News on Drug, Though Approval Is Delayed

(Triangle Business Journal) Aug 28, 2008 - U.S. regulators have laid the groundwork for approval of BioDelivery Sciences International’s first drug, the company said Thursday, though approval will take longer than the company would have liked.
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ImClone: BMS Offer for Company Seen Reaching USD 67-70

(Financial Times) Aug 28 2008 - ImClone Systems and its advisor JPMorgan are still running numbers around the Nasdaq-listed biotechnology company’s marketed drug, Erbitux (cetuximab), and its pipeline products as part of the proposed separation, it is understood.
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Drug Developed with Curis Help Reaches Milestone

(Boston Business Journal) Aug 28, 2008 - A drug Curis Inc. is helping develop as a potential cancer treatment will begin a midstage human clinical trial.
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Pro-Pharmaceuticals Gets an FDA OK

(Boston Globe) Aug 28, 2008 - Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Newton said today that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted it an approval to use Davanat in a potential treatment for breast cancer patients.
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FDA Grants IND for DAVANAT(R) to Treat Breast Cancer Patient

(Trading Markets) Aug 28, 2008 - Pro-Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the FDA has granted an Investigational New Drug application for use of DAVANAT(R) in combination with 5-FU to treat a breast cancer patient at the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville, Kentucky. DAVANAT(R) also is being administered in Phase II clinical trials for first-line treatment of colorectal and biliary cancer patients.
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Study Outcome Won't Sway Company on Eye Drug

(San Francisco Chronicle) Aug 27, 2008 - What does a company do when there's anecdotal evidence that two of its drugs are equally effective in treating a leading cause of blindness in the elderly, one costing patients $60 per treatment and the other $2,000? In the case of Genentech Inc., nothing.
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BSD Medical to Collaborate With General Electric On New MRI-Monitored Cancer Treatment System

(CNNMoney.com) Aug 28, 2008 - BSD Medical Corporation today announced that the company has agreed to collaborate with GE Medical Systems in the integration of BSD Medical's premier cancer treatment system with a GE magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system.
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Roche's xCELLigence System Offers Dynamic and Label-Free Assessing of Kinase Activity in Living Cells

(CNBC.com) Aug 28, 2008 - The central role of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in cellular processes, especially in cancer, has made them an important target for several antibody- and small molecule-based inhibitors specific for various RTKs for the treatment of different tumour entities.
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Rich Countries Underestimate Alcohol's Link to Cancer

(Bloomberg) Aug 27, 2008 - People in higher-income countries underestimate the link between increased alcohol consumption and cancer more than those in less affluent parts of the world, a survey found.
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Cervical Cancer Rate May Fall in Poor Nations With Tests, Shots

(Bloomberg) Aug 28, 2008 - New screening methods and immunization shots are making it possible to control the number of cervical cancer cases in developing countries for the first time, researchers said in a Vaccine medical journal report.
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West Coast Cancer Center Breaks Ground on New Building to House CyberKnife System

(CNBC.com) Aug 28, 2008 - Accuray Incorporated, a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center -- one of the nation's largest freestanding, physician owned and operated comprehensive cancer centers -- has purchased a CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System for its seven-acre campus in Bakersfield, Calif.
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Latest Pharma/Biotech News Headlines

Nonprofit Hospitals Flex Pricing Power

(Wall Street Journal) Aug 28, 2008 - In 1989, the U.S. Department of Justice tried but failed to prevent a merger between nonprofit Carilion Health System and this former railroad town's other hospital. The merger, it warned in an unsuccessful antitrust lawsuit, would create a monopoly over medical care in the area.
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Glaxo Signs Deal Worth Up to $820 Mln with Valeant

(Reuters) Aug 28, 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has signed a deal potentially worth up to $820 million with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International to access the U.S. company's experimental epilepsy and pain treatments.
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Diabetes Researchers Convert Pancreas Cells to Produce Insulin

(Los Angeles Times) Aug 28, 2008 - The Harvard study may ultimately shift treatment options away from stem cells for a variety of diseases.
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Genomes 'R' Us

(Fortune) Aug 28, 2008 - Pacific Biosciences says it will soon be able to decipher the genetic code faster and cheaper than ever.
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Ranks of Uninsured Fell in '07, Census Says

(Wall Street Journal) Aug 27, 2008 - The number of Americans without health insurance fell in 2007, thanks largely to government insurance programs offsetting declines in private-sector coverage, the Census Bureau said.
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Medicare Providers Remain Satisfied with Fee-for-Service Contractors

(CMS) Aug 27, 2008 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported today that Medicare health care providers continue to be satisfied with services provided by Medicare fee-for-service contractors showing a relatively smooth transition to the new Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs).
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