Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Clinical Trials category.
Pharmaceutical start-ups: Phytomedics
Filed in Clinical Trials, Legal, Personal Health, Research, Safety, July 29, 2008, 12:01 am by Mariano DiFabioI read today about a really interesting pharmaceutical company that, though it’s considered a start-up, has spent the last 12 years researching and developing new drugs and methodologies that will allow for more rapid and safer development of drug products: Phytomedics. Their focus is on botanical drugs, which, in theory, could provide many of [...]
The Agonist/Antagonist Duel for Enhanced Pharmaceuticals
Filed in Clinical Trials, Research, Safety, July 22, 2008, 12:01 am by Scott AlexanderThis is the first posting from Scott Alexander. For more information about Scott, click the Author link on this page.
One of the persistent challenges of the Pharmaceutical industry has been maintaining the safety and efficacy of drug products in patients over time. In other words, when a patient starts taking the drug, the patient [...]
Professional Lab Rats
Filed in Clinical Trials, Safety, March 21, 2008, 3:52 pm by Mariano DiFabioFor those of you who know me, you know that I rarely take a pill if I don’t absolutely need to. It’s not that I necessarily think medicines don’t have their place as a solution for what ails me; rather, I am cautious about over-using drugs, regardless of whether it’s a simple painkiller or [...]
The Pipeline Floodeth
Filed in Clinical Trials, Research, December 18, 2007, 11:59 am by Mariano DiFabioMy latest issue of the Pharmaceutical Executive recently came in the mail, its cover heralding its report on the 2007 pipeline for drug companies. The story covers 61 offerings that are being developed at the big pharmaceutical companies to treat a variety of diseases. I examined it with great interest, taking particular note [...]
From Mighty Mice to Mighty Humans
Filed in Clinical Trials, Personal Health, Research, November 30, 2007, 1:23 pm by Mariano DiFabioOn Tuesday, I wrote a post about studies that have been done by researchers that have, either accidentally or purposefully, modified mice to have extraordinary characteristics beyond those of their wild counterparts. In one study on metabolism, scientists modified the genes in their subjects to yield a mouse that displayed evidence of increased athletic [...]
FDA Balancing Act
Filed in Clinical Trials, Legal, November 16, 2007, 10:55 pm by Mariano DiFabioThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come under a lot of scrutiny lately over safety concerns of approved drugs that were on the market but had to be recalled because of some serious adverse events reported by their customers. We can view mainly Merk’s Vioxx as the catalyst for this interest and examination [...]
Triple-play on Cancer
Filed in Clinical Trials, Research, October 26, 2007, 10:18 pm by Mariano DiFabioI remember when I was young I didn’t quite understand the concept of cancer. The thought that there was something out there that couldn’t be destroyed through medication, and that didn’t limit its attacks to the frail and elderly but could bring the young and healthy to their knees was frightening. I remember [...]
A Brief FDA History Lesson
Filed in Clinical Trials, General, Legal, Research, October 23, 2007, 11:29 pm by Mariano DiFabioJust before a presentation I gave on Monday concerning Virtual Reality and its use in medicine, the group that had assembled was discussing a variety of current topics in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. One of the attendees, Peter Castellano, caught my interest when he described an article he found in the October 2007 [...]
Ethical Dilemma
Filed in Clinical Trials, Legal, Personal Health, Research, September 11, 2007, 3:21 pm by Mariano DiFabioIn my second post ever on this site, I wrote about the FDA Fast Track program called Pay-For-Review, and I questioned whether drug companies who took advantage of this program were being given enough scrutiny for the products they were putting to market. Interestingly, in a Boston Globe article yesterday called “Burden of Proof,” [...]
Don’t Forget to take This Vaccine
Filed in Clinical Trials, Research, July 27, 2007, 12:01 am by Mariano DiFabioOn July 19th a small pharmaceutical company based in Austria, Affiris, announced the beginning of clinical trials for a new drug intended to halt the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in humans. The drug, currently known as Affitope AD01, will be administered to 24 patients diagnosed with mild to moderate symptoms of the disease. [...]
