Switzerland

Influenza :: Switzerland to purchase GSK?s H5N1 influenza vaccine for pre-pandemic use

GlaxoSmithKline (plc) today announced that a supply contract has been signed by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and GlaxoSmithKline for 8 million doses of GSK?s H5N1 antigen influenza vaccine and its proprietary adjuvant for pre-pandemic use. The order provides enough doses, one per head of the entire Swiss population, to help prepare the immune system against the threat of a human influenza pandemic and is the first national programme to do so. Supply and stockpiling of the pre-pandemic vaccine is expected in early 2007 once the Swiss regulatory agency, Swissmedic, has reviewed and approved GSK?s regulatory file.

Diabetes :: Novartis GALIANT study – clinical trials for diabetes drug Galvus – vildagliptin

Novartis announced the start of GALIANT, a significant clinical trial set to involve more than 7,500 people in the United States comparing the investigational oral type 2 diabetes medication Galvus? (vildagliptin) with commonly prescribed anti-diabetic oral medicines called thiazolidinediones (TZDs).

Asthma :: Mutual recognition procedure for Symbicort maintenance n reliever therapy Symbicort smart

AstraZeneca announced that it has successfully completed the European Union Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP) for Symbicort? Maintenance And Reliever Therapy (Symbicort SMART?). This new asthma treatment approach allows patients to use just one inhaler for both maintenance and relief of asthma symptoms.

Nutrition :: Researchers look to solve mystery behind egcg and probiotics

When talking about nutrition, EGCG and probiotics are two words that we’ve been hearing a lot about these days. But most consumers don’t know what they are, where they are found and what they do. Some of that mystery was cleared up this week at the 47th Annual Symposia of the American College of Nutrition (ACN) where leading nutrition experts revealed new research about the health benefits of these two ingredients.

Breast Cancer :: Critical gaps in breast cancer patient education and communication

Results from a recent survey of European women with early breast cancer, presented for the first time at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress, show that the information needs of patients are not being met and that there is an unacceptably low level of patient involvement in potentially life-extending treatment decisions. The survey revealed that older women, those with a low level of education and those without Internet access are particularly uninformed.

Multiple Sclerosis :: Fty720 – fingolimod reduces multiple sclerosis symptoms

The developmental oral therapy FTY720 (fingolimod) has demonstrated sustained benefits over two years in patients suffering from relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), indicating that it could provide an important new option for treating this disabling neurological disease estimated to affect more than 2.5 million people worldwide.

Depression :: Antidepressant and Helicon, halicon

Helicon Therapeutics, Inc. is a pioneer in the development of therapies for memory-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Helicon, based in Farmingdale, New York, was originally formed in 1997 as a joint venture between OSI Pharmaceuticals of Uniondale, New York, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and Hoffman LaRoche of Basel, Switzerland.