Posted by rob on August 17, 2005 under Uncategorized | 
SAN DIEGO, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ — Privately held Structural GenomiX,
Inc., (SGX) announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in a
Phase 2/3 clinical trial of Troxatyl(TM), a novel anti-cancer drug candidate
for treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). The study, with targeted
enrollment of 211 patients at approximately 40 trial centers in the United
States and Europe, is designed to establish the safety and effectiveness of
Troxatyl in patients with relapsed or refractory AML (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Francis Giles, M.D., Chief of Section, Developmental Therapeutics,
Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center, is a Principal Investigator in the study. Dr. Giles commented, “My M.
D. Anderson Cancer Center colleagues and I are very excited to be playing a
leadership role in the clinical development of Troxatyl for treatment of AML.
Our initial clinical studies and additional recent work with this novel
investigational agent have demonstrated considerable promise for treatment of
both AML and myelodysplastic syndromes, for which there are significant unmet
medical needs. Among those needs, none are more pressing than in third-line
treatment of AML. We are delighted to have a study focused on this very
refractory population open for enrollment of our patients.”
The patients targeted in this Phase 2/3 study are those who are in second
relapse with duration of second response less than 6 months, or who were
refractory to two previous courses of induction chemotherapy.
About Troxatyl
Troxatyl, a nucleoside analog, represents the first member of a new class
of anti-cancer agents. Its unique chemical structure confers potential
advantages compared to existing AML therapy in that it is not subject to
common deactivating mechanisms that can cause resistance to existing therapy.
In preclinical studies, Troxatyl has demonstrated broad activity against both
solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. To date, approximately 700
patients have been treated in various Troxatyl Phase 1 and 2 studies in which
delivery of the drug was by bolus intravenous (IV) injection. Promising early
clinical results were observed in AML, myelodysplastic syndromes, blast phase
chronic myelogenous leukemia, renal cell carcinoma, and pancreatic cancer when
Troxatyl was administered via bolus IV injection.
Recent preclinical work has shown that Troxatyl administered as a
continuous IV infusion (CI) over 4 or 5 days results in significantly
increased drug exposure to the cancer cells. A presentation of data at ASCO
from a recently completed Phase 1/2 CI study of AML patients, most of whom had
failed multiple chemotherapy regimens and in some cases bone marrow
transplantation, reported an overall response rate of 19 percent. Moreover,
the study demonstrated that a 50 percent greater dose of Troxatyl may be
safely administered via continuous infusion compared to the bolus IV injection
route. The presentation also reported that the responding patients had a
median duration of response greater than 7 months. In this setting, Troxatyl
had a manageable and transient toxicity profile and was well tolerated, even
in patients over the age of 60 who are typically less tolerant of existing
therapies than younger patients. A Phase 1/2 CI study in solid tumors is
currently enrolling pancreatic cancer patients (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
About AML
AML is a hematopoietic stem cell disorder that is the most common form of
acute leukemia, accounting for 80 to 90 percent of all acute leukemias in
adults. Although standard induction chemotherapy results in complete
remission in 50 to 75 percent of patients, relapse is common and long-term
survival rates remain at approximately 20 percent. At present, patients with
relapsed or refractory AML have limited treatment options, underscoring the
need for new drugs in this challenging therapeutic area. A recently published
review of M. D. Anderson’s historical experience with third-line therapy for
AML patients reports a less than 5 percent overall response rate with a 1 to 2
month average life expectancy, underscoring the unmet need in this patient
setting.
About SGX
SGX is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of
innovative cancer therapeutics. SGX’s lead product candidate is Troxatyl, a
novel cancer therapeutic currently in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the
treatment of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for
the treatment of various solid tumors. SGX has also developed a preclinical
pipeline of novel oncology therapeutics using SGX FAST(TM) technology, a
proprietary fragment-based approach to lead generation. The SGX preclinical
oncology pipeline comprises novel inhibitors of the Gleevec resistant BCR-ABL
(including T315I) mutant and dual specificity inhibitors of the MET-RON
receptor tyrosine kinases. SGX is also pursuing a broad program of
fragment-based lead generation directed against a portfolio of validated
oncology targets that include HSP-90 and the Aurora kinases. SGX has secured
revenue generating drug discovery and development partnerships with leading
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including Eli Lilly, Serono S.A.,
and Roche. For more information, please visit the company website at
http://www.stromix.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those
relating to SGX’s plans regarding a Phase 2/3 clinical trial of Troxatyl(TM)
and to advance Troxatyl(TM) for the treatment of AML. The clinical
development of investigational pharmaceutical products is subject to risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that SGX’s investigational studies
of any of its product candidates can be conducted within the time frame that
the company expects, or that the studies will yield positive results. There
can be no assurance that future clinical trials will confirm the preliminary
results referred to in this release or that Troxatyl(TM) will receive
regulatory approvals or prove to be commercially successful. For further
discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see the various
disclosures made by SGX. SGX undertakes no duty to update forward-looking
statements.
Structural GenomiX Initiates Phase 2/3 Trial of Troxatyl for the Treatment of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia: “chronic”
Posted by rob on under Uncategorized |
Segawa H, Kimura S, Kuroda J, Sato K, Yokota A, Kawata E, Kamitsuji Y, Ashihara E, Yuasa T, Fujiyama Y, Ottmann OG, Maekawa T
Br J Haematol. 2005 Aug ; 130(4): 558-60
Summary We examined the in vivo effects and safety of the third generation bisphosphonate, zoledronate (ZOL) alone and combined with imatinib mesylate against primary Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph(+)) leukaemic cells. ZOL inhibited the prenylation of Rap1A in leukaemic cells in vitro and synergised with imatinib to enhance the survival of mice engrafted with cells from imatinib-responders, but not from non-responders because of mutated BCR-ABL. These findings suggest that the combination of ZOL and imatinib accelerate the eradication of Ph(+) clone, resulting in better prognosis of Ph(+) leukaemia patients who have not yet acquired mutations.
Zoledronate synergises with imatinib mesylate to inhibit Ph primary leukaemic cell growth.
Posted by rob on under Uncategorized |
Lee J, Kim Y, Kang CS, Cho DH, Shin DH, Yum YN, Oh JH, Kim SH, Hwang MS, Lim CJ, Yang KH, Han K
J Korean Med Sci. 2005 Aug ; 20(4): 603-6
The bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is the causative agent of enzootic bovine leucosis. This study investigated the presence of the BLV in leukemia (179 acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 292 acute myeloid leukemia and 46 chronic myelogenous leukemia cases) and 162 lung cancer patients (139 adenocarcinoma, 23 squamous cell carcinoma) to determine if the BLV is a causative organism of leukemia and lung cancer in Koreans. A BLV infection was confirmed in human cells by PCR using a BLV-8 primer combination. All 517 cases of human leukemia and 162 lung cancer were negative for a PCR of the BLV proviral DNA. In conclusion, although meat has been imported from BLV endemic areas, the BLV infection does not appear to be the cause of human leukemia or lung cancer in Koreans. These results can be used as a control for further studies on the BLV in Koreans.
Investigation of the Bovine Leukemia Virus Proviral DNA in Human Leukemias and Lung cancers in Korea.
Posted by rob on August 16, 2005 under Uncategorized |
In this rendering provided by Los Angeles artist Hiro Yamagata, lasers project the images of Buddhas across the Bamiyan Valley’s soaring cliffs, located 80 miles west of Kabul, Afghanistan. Yamagata hopes his upcoming exhibition project, entitled ‘Afghanistan Bamiyan Buddha,’ will commemorate the original fifth-century Buddhas destroyed by Taliban militants by projecting multicolored laser images onto the clay cliffsides where the figures once stood.
Posted by rob on August 15, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Symbolic crosses representing American military personnel who died in Iraq sit along a road near the ranch owned by U.S. President George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas.
Posted by rob on August 14, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Russian ballerinas perform at the one of twelve street stages called Bolhsoi Theatre during the First International Music Festival Dances at the Hermitage Garden in Moscow.
Posted by rob on August 13, 2005 under Uncategorized |
i XQ, Lu Y
Ai Zheng. 2005 Aug ; 24(8): 1033-6
Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have a pluripotent characteristic, and can be readily isolated and expanded in vitro. After in vivo transplantation, BMSCs can home to blood marrow, and survive for a long time by self-renewing. They can influence the biological characteristics of leukemia cells from several aspects, and participate in the outbreak process and pathologic process of leukemia. BMSCs with normal functions have direct antitumur effects on leukemic cells. They can regulate the immunity remarkably. Genetically engineered BMSCs can deliver target therapeutic proteins over sufficient time after in vivo transplantation. Thus, BMSCs are considered to be an ideal therapeutic cell vehicle and target cells in the gene therapy for leukemia. Interferons, a cytokines family, are capable of producing multiplex biological effects, and have remarkable curative effects on hair cell leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Here we reviewed the possibility and perspective of molecular target therapy for leukemia by interferons-modified BMSCs.
[Correlation of bone marrow stromal cells to leukemia and its research advancement in gene therapy for leukemia.]
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Traders in the oil futures pit work the floor at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Posted by rob on August 12, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Mike Melnechuk with The Nature Conservancy, uses a lance-like tool to inject a chemical into a tupelo tree, causing it to die, in hopes of creating a more hospitable habitat for the rare ivory-billed woodpecker, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005, in Benson Creek, near Brinkley, Ark. Scientists are betting that the soon-to-be rotting ash, locust, red maple and tupelo trees will attract the longhorn beetle, the larvae of which are the woodpecker’s most favored food.
Posted by rob on August 11, 2005 under Uncategorized |
People hold umbrellas as heavy rains falls as Beijing receives the tail end of Tyhoon Matsa.
Posted by rob on August 10, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Spectators protect themselves from the rain during the 10th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Helsinki.
Posted by rob on under Uncategorized |
Roti G, La Starza R, Gorello P, Gottardi E, Crescenzi B, Martelli MF, Mecucci C
Haematologica. 2005 Aug ; 90(8): 1139-41
This is the first report of e6a2 and e1a2 BCR/ABL1 positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with cryptic deletions of the 5′ABL1 and 3′BCR in separate clones which differ in genomic regions of the deleted der(9). Both deletions were detected throughout monitoring. Imatinib mesylate stabilized this CML with rare genetic aberrations for a relatively long time.
e6a2 BCR/ABL1 fusion with cryptic der(9)t(9;22) deletions in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia.
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Bayes M, Rabasseda X, Prous JR
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2005 Jun ; 27(5): 331-72
Gateways to Clinical Trials is a guide to the most recent clinical trials in current literature and congresses. The data in the following tables have been retrieved from the Clinical Trials Knowledge Area of Prous Science Integrity(R), the drug discovery and development portal, http://integrity.prous.com. This issue focuses on the following selection of drugs: Abiraterone acetate, acyline, adalimumab, adenosine triphosphate, AEE-788, AIDSVAX gp120 B/B, AK-602, alefacept, alemtuzumab, alendronic acid sodium salt, alicaforsen sodium, alprazolam, amdoxovir, AMG-162, aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride, aminolevulinic acid methyl ester, aminophylline hydrate, anakinra, anecortave acetate, anti-CTLA-4 MAb, APC-8015, aripiprazole, aspirin, atazanavir sulfate, atomoxetine hydrochloride, atorvastatin calcium, atrasentan, AVE-5883, AZD-2171; Betamethasone dipropionate, bevacizumab, bimatoprost, biphasic human insulin (prb), bortezomib, BR-A-657, BRL-55730, budesonide, busulfan; Calcipotriol, calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate, calcium folinate, capecitabine, capravirine, carmustine, caspofungin acetate, cefdinir, certolizumab pegol, CG-53135, chlorambucil, ciclesonide, ciclosporin, cisplatin, clofarabine, clopidogrel hydrogensulfate, clozapine, co-trimoxazole, CP-122721, creatine, CY-2301, cyclophosphamide, cypher, cytarabine, cytolin; D0401, darbepoetin alfa, darifenacin hydrobromide, DASB, desipramine hydrochloride, desloratadine, desvenlafaxine succinate, dexamethasone, didanosine, diquafosol tetrasodium, docetaxel, doxorubicin hydrochloride, drotrecogin alfa (activated), duloxetine hydrochloride, dutasteride; Ecallantide, efalizumab, efavirenz, eletriptan, emtricitabine, enfuvirtide, enoxaparin sodium, estramustine phosphate sodium, etanercept, ethinylestradiol, etonogestrel, etonogestrel/ethinylestradiol, etoposide, exenatide; Famciclovir, fampridine, febuxostat, filgrastim, fludarabine phosphate, fluocinolone acetonide, fluorouracil, fluticasone propionate, fluvastatin sodium, fondaparinux sodium; Gaboxadol, gamma-hydroxybutyrate sodium, gefitinib, gelclair, gemcitabine, gemfibrozil, glibenclamide, glyminox; Haloperidol, heparin sodium, HPV 16/HPV 18 vaccine, human insulin, human insulin; Icatibant, imatinib mesylate, indium 111 (111In) ibritumomab tiuxetan, infliximab, INKP-100, iodine (I131) tositumomab, IoGen, ipratropium bromide, ixabepilone; L-870810, lamivudine, lapatinib, laquinimod, latanoprost, levonorgestrel, licochalcone a, liposomal doxorubicin, lopinavir, lopinavir/ritonavir, lorazepam, lovastatin; Maraviroc, maribavir, matuzumab, MDL-100907, melphalan, methotrexate, methylprednisolone, mitomycin, mitoxantrone hydrochloride, MK-0431, MN-001, MRKAd5 HIV-1 gag/pol/nef, MRKAd5gag, MVA.HIVA, MVA-BN Nef, MVA-Muc1-IL-2, mycophenolate mofetil; Nelfinavir mesilate, nesiritide, NSC-330507; Olanzapine, olmesartan medoxomil, omalizumab, oral insulin, osanetant; PA-457, paclitaxel, paroxetine, paroxetine hydrochloride, PCK-3145, PEG-filgrastim, peginterferon alfa-2a, peginterferon alfa-2b, perillyl alcohol, pexelizumab, pimecrolimus, pitavastatin calcium, porfiromycin, prasterone, prasugrel, pravastatin sodium, prednisone, pregabalin, prinomastat, PRO-2000, propofol, prostate cancer vaccine; Rasagiline mesilate, rhBMP-2/ACS, rhBMP-2/BCP, rhC1, ribavirin, rilpivirine, ritonavir, rituximab, Ro-26-9228, rosuvastatin calcium, rosuvastatin sodium, rubitecan; Selodenoson, simvastatin, sirolimus, sitaxsentan sodium, sorafenib, SS(dsFv)-PE38, St. John’s Wort extract, stavudine; Tacrolimus, tadalafil, tafenoquine succinate, talaglumetad, tanomastat, taxus, tegaserod maleate, telithromycin, tempol, tenofovir, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, testosterone enanthate, TH-9507, thalidomide, tigecycline, timolol maleate, tiotropium bromide, tipifarnib, torcetrapib, trabectedin, travoprost, travoprost/timolol, treprostinil sodium; Valdecoxib, vardenafil hydrochloride hydrate, varenicline, VEGF-2 gene therapy, venlafaxine hydrochloride, vildagliptin, vincristine sulfate, voriconazole, VRX-496, VX-385; Warfarin sodium; Ximelagatran; Yttrium 90 (90Y) ibritumomab tiuxetan; Zanolimumab, zidovudine. (c) 2005 Prous Science. All rights reserved.
Gateways to clinical trials.
Posted by rob on under Uncategorized |
Bayes M, Rabasseda X, Prous JR
Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2005 May ; 27(4): 265-84
Gateways to Clinical Trials is a guide to the most recent clinical trials in current literature and congresses. The data in the following tables have been retrieved from the Clinical Trials Knowledge Area of Prous Science Integrity, the drug discovery and development portal, http://integrity.prous.com. This issue focuses on the following selection of drugs: 3-AP, Adalimumab, adefovir dipivoxil, AeroDose albuterol inhaler, agalsidase alfa, alemtuzumab, aminolevulinic acid methyl ester, anidulafungin, anthrax vaccine, anti-CTLA-4 MAb, azimilide hydrochloride; Bevacizumab, BG-12, bimatoprost, bortezomib, bosentan, botulinum toxin type B; Caspofungin acetate, ceftobiprole, certolizumab pegol, CG-53135, cilansetron; Darbepoetin alfa, degarelix acetate, dimethylfumarate, duloxetine hydrochloride, dutasteride; Eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid, eletriptan, entecavir, esomeprazole magnesium, exatecan mesilate, exenatide, ezetimibe; Falecalcitriol, fampridine, fondaparinux sodium, fontolizumab; Gefitinib, gepirone hydrochloride; Human insulin; IDEA-070, imatinib mesylate, iodine (I131) tositumomab; Lanthanum carbonate, lubiprostone; Mafosfamide cyclohexylamine salt, melatonin; NC-531, nemifitide ditriflutate, neridronic acid, nolatrexed dihydrochloride; Oral insulin; Palifermin, parecoxib sodium, PEG-filgrastim, peginterferon alfa-2a, peginterferon alfa-2b, plerixafor hydrochloride, posaconazole, pramlintide acetate, pregabalin, PT-141; Quercetin; Ranibizumab, renzapride hydrochloride, RSD-1235; Sabarubicin hydrochloride, semapimod hydrochloride, Semax, SHL-749; Tegaserod maleate, tenatoprazole, tetrodotoxin, tolevamer sodium, trabectedin, travoprost, travoprost/timolol; Valdecoxib, visilizumab, Xcellerated T cells, XP-828L; Zoledronic acid monohydrate.
Gateways to clinical trials.
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Maloisel F, Favre G, Mahmal L, Zamfir A, Andrès E
Eur J Intern Med. 2005 Aug ; 16(4): 288-90
This short report describes three patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and isolated extramedullary bone disease with isolated lytic bone lesions. All these patients were in chronic phase when skeletal blast crisis took place. All the patients developed a full-blown blastic crisis within 3 months, with a rapidly fatal outcome, despite several intensive therapies.
Isolated lytic bone lesion as extramedullary disease in chronic myelogenous leukemia: A report of three new cases.
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Wang Z, Li Y, Wu X, Cheng S, Yang L, Wu Y
Hematology. 2005 Aug ; 10(4): 307-12
Kinase domain receptor (KDR) and Semaphorin3 (Sema3) have a functional relationship and are expressed in human bone marrow (BM). We cultured in vitro bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and collected nonadherent cells from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and normal individuals. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (RT-PCR-ELISA) was performed to examine KDR and Sema3 genes expression, using beta2 microglobulin as an internal reference. KDR expression ratio in normal control BMSCs (97.0%, 32/33) was higher than in its corresponding nonadherent cells (70.8%, 17/24). KDR expression levels in ALL BMSCs and AML nonadherent cells were significantly higher than in normal controls. Sema3 expression ratios in nonadherent cells from AML (78.6%, 11/14) and CML (71.4%, 10/14) were both significantly lower than in normal control (100%, 27/27), its expression levels were also significantly lower than in normal control. Sema3 expression level in normal BMSCs was significantly lower than in nonadherent cells. Sema3 and KDR genes expression levels displayed a significantly positive correlation in normal control and ALL nonadherent cells (r=0.703, P=0.002; r=0.999, P=0.001). These results suggests that KDR may play a critical role in sustaining the hematopoietic microenvironment due to its high expression, and that KDR may be involved in pathogenesis of AML and ALL. Sema3 could also sustain the survival of hematopoietic cells with its high expression, while Sema3 gene expression may be inhibited in AML and CML.
KDR and Sema3 genes expression in bone marrow stromal cells and hematopoietic cells from leukemia patients and normal individuals.
Posted by rob on August 9, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Fruits and vegetables at a French market. Beleaguered by one of the most expensive consumer markets in Europe, a growing number of Swiss households are popping across the border to do their shopping.
Posted by rob on August 8, 2005 under Uncategorized |
By Noble Sprayberry
The question seemed simple. Mark Ratain, MD, asked a patient where they learned about a clinical trial for a new cancer drug. The answer, a printout from a website with forums for stock investors, only brought more questions for Dr. Ratain, a professor of medicine at the Cancer Research Center of the University of Chicago.
He monitored the site, learning that investors sought detailed information on the progress of clinical trials to guide their investment strategies. “It talked about other people I knew and what they were saying,” he says. “One day I noticed non-public information about one of our patients.”
Evidence was anecdotal but sufficient for concern. Should patients in trials use their personal knowledge of a drug’s success or failure to guide their own stock choices? Do patients chatting in online cancer forums unintentionally release information that can affect stock prices?
One of the most disturbing possibilities is also the least likely—a patient falsifying trial results to drive up a company’s stock, Dr. Ratain says. Patients who purchase stock from the drug’s manufacturer may withhold information about side effects.
“It’s theoretically possible you could get biased data because a patient had a position,” he says. “I think the real concern should be for the trial sponsors regarding confidentiality of data and the impact of leaks from patients on the trading behavior of stocks.”
Dr. Ratain says he has seen trial results move financial markets during a phase II trial. A company’s stock, trading at $3 at the beginning of the trial, marked a 10-fold price increase after the first presentation of data. There was no public abstract but lots of information was available on Internet message boards, he says.
Dr. Ratain, two other physicians and a law professor wrote an article printed in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute last year exploring the issue. While no one has conducted a broad study, Dr. Ratain says people were intrigued.
“Patients have access to market-moving information before anybody else in clinical trials,” he says. “There’s no legal or ethical language or constraint that relates to the patients.”
John Hiney, a spokesman for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), says he was unaware of any cases in which the SEC addressed this issue. He would not comment on what would constitute a patient crossing the line into insider trading.
It is possible, though, for patients to violate the law by using their knowledge of a trial to guide investments, says Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor and co-author of the journal article. It’s possible, but not certain, that a research subject who trades on non-public information violates insider trading laws, he wrote in the article.
One possible solution is to ask patients to meet the same standards as physicians, Epstein tells CURE. Physicians must already disclose any financial conflicts of interest. Requiring patients to follow similar guidelines, including an emphasis on keeping information confidential, could address many of the issues, Epstein says. “When you’re running trials, you don’t want people to publish in any fashion.”
A contract expressing the limits of a trial participant’s ability to share information might suffice, says Epstein, who agrees there’s not yet a serious problem.
John Robertson, a bioethicist and University of Texas law professor, says such a contract would limit speech as a condition of participation without violating the First Amendment since the First Amendment applies only to state action, not private companies. “If the group running the trial, say a pharmaceutical company, would like to set a condition of participation, they could certainly ask patients to agree to such a condition.”
Currently, there are many online forums where patients trade information about their treatments and the development of new drugs, creating a fertile resource that could be misused by a stock trader, says Dr. Ratain.
Leonardo Faoro, MD, completing his residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, started the Cancer Forums (www.cancerforums.net) eight months ago. It’s grown to more than 20 forums, with participants sharing their hopes, worries and knowledge. One breast cancer patient involved in a trial wrote about her experience, but the focus was more on how she was treated and the overall experience than on the success of the drug, says Dr. Faoro.
“Investors may be hungry for any information they can gather, but I don’t think it would give them a big advantage,” he says. “It would be just one or two patients out of a trial with hundreds.”
For now, participants in clinical trials face no limits on how they share information. “Patients certainly don’t feel any constraints about sharing information about either themselves or what they’ve heard from their physician or what they’ve heard in the waiting room,” says Dr. Ratain.
Now, he says, the medical community must decide the boundaries it’s willing to accept.
Link
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In a new report published on 14 July, Health Action International (HAI) Europe reveals how privileged access to European Union fora has been accorded to the European Patients’ Forum despite its links to the pharmaceutical industry being couched in secrecy.
HAI Europe urges the European Commission, currently considering a ‘European Transparency Initiative’, to make rules on transparency mandatory so that citizens can have the full facts about who is behind the activities of non-government organisations and lobbyists.
HAI Europe also urges the Commission and the European Medicines Agency to reconsider its relationship with the European Patients Forum. Instead they should consult with patients’ groups which are transparent and accountable to those that they represent and which are free of industry funding.
To read the HAI Europe press release, click here. To report the full report Does the European Patients’ Forum represent patient or industry interests? A case study in the need for mandatory financial disclosure, click here.
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Disclaimer
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Peter Jennings poses at one of ABC’s studios in New York, in this Feb. 5, 2001 file photo. Jennings, the suave, Canadian-born broadcaster who delivered the news to Americans each night in five separate decades, died Sunday Aug. 7, 2005. He was 67.
