The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has held its ground on prostate cancer screening. They are against screening, for men of any age. And yes, the howls of outrage are echoing through the hospital and clinic halls, notably from the American Urological Association. Now I wonder why the AUA is “outraged?”Ah. I have a thought. [...]

In his latest project, Dr. John Talley, the lead scientist behind Pfizer’s Celebrex and seven other drugs that have been marketed in the U.S., is trying his hand at developing a cancer medication with improved efficacy and safety.He’s the chief scientific officer at Euclises Pharmaceuticals, a St. Louis, Missouri startup currently looking to raise a [...]

The breakthrough cancer pain treatment developed by BioDelivery Sciences (NASDAQ:BDSI) International is making progress toward entering the European market, triggering a $2.5 milestone payment from BDSI’s drug partner Meda Pharmaceuticals.The milestone was triggered by registration and pricing approval of the drug Breakyl in Europe. Raleigh, North Carolina-based BDSI is due another $2.5 million upon commercial [...]

The rare bone cancer chordoma can’t be treated with drugs right now, but the National Institutes of Health has identified 40 already-approved drugs that show promise as potential treatments. Now, a Johns Hopkins University scientists has funding to start screening the 10 most promising drugs from that list.The Chordoma Foundation has awarded a $200,000 grant [...]

GlaxoSmithKline‘s (NYSE:GSK) phase 3 clinical trial on a combination melanoma treatment is just starting, but the pharma giant already has reason to be excited. Midstage results showed that in some patients, the drug works better than Roche‘s (OTC:RHHBY) Zelboraf — a drug that set the cancer care community abuzz even before it was approved last [...]

The hepatitis C virus is believed to have links to the growth of liver cancer, but those connections have been hard to study. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research aimed at learning more about those connections has secured a $2.35 million federal grant.The five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute will enable two [...]

A medical imaging system being developed to precisely view liver tumors for removal in minimally invasive surgery has secured a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.InnerOptic Technology will share the phase II Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, grant with Kitware, a software company. InnerOptic is developing a system that will provide [...]

Leukemia treatment Arzerra, developed by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and drug partner Genmab (CSE:GEN), has been submitted for approval in Japan.Arzerra has currently received regulatory approval in the United States and Europe to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a type of leukemia that progresses more slowly as it targets lymphocytes in the body’s immune system. CLL is [...]

GlaxoSmithKline‘s (NYSE:GSK) kidney cancer drug Votrient now has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat another indication — advanced soft tissue sarcoma.Drug approval means that patients who have this rare cancer will now have access to the first new treatment for soft tissue sarcoma in decades. The rare cancer begins in the muscle, fat [...]

Amgen‘s (NASDAQ:AMGN) biosimilar drug portfolio will be studied in clinical trials in alliance with clinical research organization PRA.PRA has entered into a strategic partnership with Amgen to do work on a series of phase 3 studies to develop biosimilar drugs. Biosimilars are follow-on biologic drugs that are cheaper than very expensive biologic drugs. No financial [...]