Pharmaceutical companies will struggle to profit from the cardiovascular disease (CVD) market over the next decade despite growing drug usage, according to Datamonitor, which predicted that the CVD pharmaceutical market will grow from $99 billion in 2008 to $107 billion in 2018.
Cardiologists ranked Merck's sales representatives second, a noteworthy increase from sixth place in 2008, while Pfizer was ranked first by cardiologists, according to the 2009 Ranking Tables Study from healthcare market research firm SDI.
Antiplatelet agent ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) reduces death rates without increasing bleeding compared with the current standard treatment of clopidogrel for heart attack patients, based on the PLATO-Invasive trial published online Jan. 13 in the Lancet. An accompanying commentary describes the introduction of ticagrelor as “a landmark event that should redefine the care of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS).”
AstraZeneca has partnered with the University of Virginia (UVa) to develop new treatments to fend off coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease.
AstraZeneca has submitted its antiplatelet drug, ticagrelor (Brilinta) to the FDA for approval via a new drug application.
Orlando, Fla.—STEMI patients who received both aspirin and the new reversible oral antiplatelet drug ticagrelor (Brilinta; AstraZeneca) had few cardiac events and less mortality than patients on aspirin and the popular irreversible antiplatelet medication clopidogrel (Plavix; Bristol-Myers Squibb), based on the results of the PLATO STEMI trial, presented during Sunday’s late-breaking clinical trial session at the American Heart Association conference.
The FDA has approved AstraZeneca’s Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) for use in pediatric patients ages 10-17 with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, when diet therapy fails to reduce elevated cholesterol.
SAN FRANCISCO—Despite highly publicized observational studies that prematurely lead to societal warnings and regulatory changes regarding proton pump inhibitors, the first randomized, placebo-controlled trial, COGENT, found that the combination of proton pump inhibitors and clopidogrel did not lead to adverse events. The results were presented during the late breaking clinical trials session at the 2009 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium.
In atrial fibrillation patients, dabigatran (Pradaxa) administered at 110 mg was associated with similar rates of stroke and systemic embolism as with warfarin, as well as lower rates of major hemorrhage, based on the RE-LY trial presented Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Yet, dabigatran administered at 150 mg, compared with warfarin, was associated with lower rates of stroke and systemic embolism but similar rates of major hemorrhage.
The FDA has approved Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and AstraZeneca's Onglyza (saxagliptin), a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor, indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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The FDA has approved a new indication for the cholesterol lowering medication Crestor (rosuvastatin, AstraZeneca) to be used preventatively in people with particular heart disease risk factors.
The FDA approved the third thienopyridine agent, prasugrel (Effient, Eli Lilly/Daiichi Sankyo), in July 2009, challenging the U.S. market dominance of clopidogrel (Plavix, Bristol Myers Squibb/Sanofi Aventis). Yet, some cardiologists are being cautious about rapid, widespread adoption, and uptake has been slower than expected. Meanwhile, other options—such as reversible agents—loom on the horizon.
A survey conducted by market research company Decision Resources found that 70 percent of physicians believe that additional diabetes drugs with novel mechanisms of action are needed, while 15 percent urged that additional DPP-IV inhibitors need to be developed.
The FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee Wednesday voted (12 yes, four no and one abstention) that AstraZeneca has established sufficient benefit to offset the observed risks to support the use of Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) in more individuals for more conditions.
The FDA is requiring a labeling change to Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s blockbuster anti-bloodclotting drug clopidogrel (Plavix) to indicate that it should not be used with AstraZeneca’s proton pump inhibitor (PPI) omeprazole (Prilosec/Prilosec OTC) and some other acid-reducing drugs.
Shelagh B. Coutts, MD, was granted the first Distinguished Clinician Scientist 2009 award by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health and AstraZeneca Canada during the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress this week in Edmonton, Alberta.
The European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Onglyza (saxagliptin) from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and AstraZeneca to treat type 2 diabetes.
The 21 st annual scientific symposium of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting will open on Monday in San Francisco. Gregg W. Stone, MD, immediate past-chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, which sponsors TCT, highlighted some of the trials and important sessions at next week’s show.
In patients who have an acute coronary syndrome with or without ST-segment elevation, treatment with ticagrelor as compared with clopidogrel significantly reduced the rate of death from vascular causes, MI or stroke without an increase in the rate of overall major bleeding, based on the PLATO trial presented Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona, Spain. However, researchers found an increase in the rate of non–procedure-related bleeding.
President Barack Obama Sunday released plans to cut in half the prescription drug expenses of Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have reached the coverage gap (doughnut hole) in their prescription benefit. Simultaneously, pharmaceutical companies have agreed to foot the bill for $80 billion in Medicare drugs over the next decade for this population.
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Middle age introduces itself in many ways; one is atrial fibrillation (AF). My onset of AF seems to have coincided with a mountain bike accident in the woods of North Carolina that resulted in some cracked ribs.
The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).