News summary
Research and Development News
in brief
Control of entry article leads to three hour OFT grilling for Day Lewis
boss Kirit Patel, chairman of the Day Lewis group of pharmacies,
spent three hours talking to the Office of Fair Trading last week as part
of its investigation into control of entry...[more]
ETP pilots head towards intensive beta-testing
stage The three pilot schemes for electronic transmission
of prescriptions (ETP) are all heading towards more intensive beta-testing
(the second stage of testing new software, involving selected users in
normal operating conditions) of their systems despite software development
problems and the withdrawal of another member from the TransScript consortium...[more]
Supplies of dressings are taken off prescription
in Isle of Wight pilots Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust is
piloting a new way of supplying dressings through community pharmacies
without the need for a doctor's prescription...[more]
Pharmacists to sell prepayment certificates under
Scottish scheme Patients will be able to buy prepayment certificates
direct from community pharmacists in Scotland from April...[more]
Community technician completes prescription checking
course Teresa Bevan has become the first community pharmacy
technician to complete the dispensing technician checking course that
results in a nationally recognised qualification...[more]
Look what you could lose, say south London pharmacies
Pharmacy customers in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, south
London, are to be warned that they may lose free services...[more]
MCA seeks information on Epilim in pregnancy
The Medicines Control Agency wants new data on the use of sodium
valproate (Epilim) in pregnant women and will be seeking advice from the
Committee on Safety of Medicines when the data becomes available...[more]
NICE defends its work to the Health Select Committee
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has given the
House of Commons Health Select Committee a comprehensive defence of its
work so far...[more]
NICE panel rejects MS appeals A National
Institute of Clinical Excellence appeal panel has rejected all arguments
brought against the institute's final determination on the use of beta
interferon and glatiramer acetate in multiple sclerosis...[more]
Lords challenge on robotic dispensing A
challenge to the Government to draw up a national specification for robotic
dispensing has been issued in the House of Lords...[more]
Benefits of adding rituximab confirmed Adding
rituximab (MabThera) to the standard treatment for patients with diffuse
large-B-cell lymphoma results in an increased complete-response rate and
prolongs event-free and overall survival, a new study confirms...[more]
Europe proposes registration procedure for herbal
medicines A specific registration procedure for herbal medicines
with long-standing traditional use has been proposed by the European Commission...[more]
Safety concerns over butterbur Pharmacists
should advise patients not to purchase crude butterbur from herbalists,
according to expert opinion...[more]
Incidence of gastric 'flu not unusual, says PHLS
The number of cases of gastric 'flu, which have been widely
reported in the national media, does not appear to be out of proportion
to those seen in previous winters, says the Public Health Laboratory Service...[more]
Two-step peroxide system performs best in contact
lens solution study A study designed to test three contact
lens solutions has concluded that a two-step peroxide system (0.6 per
cent hydrogen peroxide) has better amoebicidal properties than a one step
peroxide system (3 per cent) or a multipurpose disinfecting solution...[more]
Povidone-iodine for impetigo not supported by
study results Use of povidone-iodine alone or as an adjunctive
treatment for impetigo is of questionable value, say Dutch researchers...[more]
Cidex disinfectant to be withdrawn Cidex
(glutaraldehyde), a disinfecting agent widely used in hospitals for disinfecting
medical instruments, is being withdrawn from the market...[more]
Free NHS from political control, says King's
Fund Politicians should not be closely involved with decision-making
in the National Health Service, says a King's Fund report...[more]
Ambulance service tells patients: "Talk to a
pharmacist" London Ambulance Service is telling people to seek
advice from pharmacists about non-emergency medical advice or treatment
as part of a campaign to reduce inappropriate use of ambulances...[more]
Transparency needed for approving new local pharmaceutical
services There is insufficient detail on the process for approving
applications for local pharmaceutical services (LPS) schemes in guidance
issued by the Department of Health, according to the National Pharmaceutical
Association...[more]
Research trust seeks £10m fund The
Pharmacy Practice Research Trust has launched a campaign to raise £10m
to fund its "Medicines and people" programme...[more]
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Promising vector for HIV vaccine but virus could
escape host response Researchers have shown that a vaccine
against the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) induces cellular responses
that can contain, but not prevent, infection. However, surviving viruses
could mutate and avoid the host immune response, say the authors of a
second study...[more]
HIV vaccine within reach but politics will decide
An effective, affordable and accessible HIV vaccine is within
reach but whether or not it is ever developed is dependent on politics.
This is the view of researchers from the Medical Research Council of South
Africa...[more]
New cancer vaccines aim to boost natural immunity
Cancer vaccines that are in development are unlike traditional
vaccines but all aim to boost immunity, according to a report published
by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry...[more]
Synthetic antioxidant prevents onset of type
1 diabetes in mice A synthetic antioxidant, AEOL 10113, can
prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes, a new study suggests...[more]
Positive results for Huntingdon's Two
phase II studies have shown thatLAX-101 might reduce the severity of Huntington's
Disease...[more]
Breast cancer drugs show synergistic effect when
given in combination Using trastuzumab (Herceptin) in combination
with ZD1839 (an anilinoquinazoline currently in development) has a synergistic
inhibitory effect on the growth of breast cancer cells, say researchers...[more]
Study suggests sirolimus does not share tumour
promoting properties of other immunosuppressants The immunosuppressant
drug sirolimus (Rapamune), also known as rapamycin, does not stimulate
the cancer growth seen with older drugs such as ciclosporin, say German
researchers...[more]
Structure and action of third toxic anthrax protein
revealed in Nature The structure of the third anthrax toxin,
oedema factor (EF), has been published in Nature...[more]
Cannabis-based medicines on trial Cannabis-based
medicines are to be tested in clinical trials for their effect on cancer
pain...[more]
NEWS IN BRIEF
CHI arms cancer patients A
booklet containing questions that cancer patients can ask health care
professionals has been launched by the Audit Commission and the Commission
for Health Improvement. The booklet also contains a description of the
standards of care that providers should be offering. The two commissions
hope that the list of essential questions and the hallmarks for care will
help patients to push for improvements to the services they receive.
New chairman for SIGN Professor
Gordon Lowe, professor of vascular medicine at Glasgow Royal Infirmary,
has been appointed chairman of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines
Network. His appointment follows the death of the previous chairman, Professor
Jim Petrie, last year.
GSK could sell off R&D units
GlaxoSmithKline may consider selling off
its recently established centres of research excellence in the future
if they do not come up with successful new drugs. Dr Tachi Yamada, GSK's
head of research and development, said that he was not yet certain whether
the R&D units would be more successful than small biotechnology companies
or university departments. "This debate will play out over the next decade.
It could go both ways," he said. GSK established six centres of research
excellence last year
(PJ, 3 March 2001, p276), two of which are in the United Kingdom.
New PhEur implemented The
4th edition of the European Pharmacopoeia has now superseded the 3rd edition.
In addition, 107 new and revised monographs are to come into force on
1 July. For the future, the pharmacopoeia will be updated using non-cumulative
supplements. Two, 4.1 and 4.2, have already been published and three further
supplements will be published each year while the 4th edition is in force.
NPA website revamped The
National Pharmaceutical Association has revamped its www.npa.co.uk
website, which gives the association a public face on the internet. The
revised website includes NPA policy statements. The members only section
of the website is to be closed down shortly. Member access to the NPA
on the web will be by registration with NPAnet.
Superdrug to run brown bag month
Superdrug is to run a brown bag scheme through
its 230 pharmacies this month encouraging customers to return out-of-date
or unwanted medicines. Research carried out for Superdrug revealed that
of 1,000 adults surveyed, 60 per cent had medicines which were a year
or more old in their homes, with one in 12 having medicines over five
years old. The most common were analgesics and antibiotics.
Moss osteoporosis counselling
Moss Pharmacy is to offer counselling and
monthly follow up telephone calls to patients taking Eli Lilly's product
Evista (raloxifene). Twenty-five pharmacists will take part in the six-month
programme. Each patient will have an initial counselling session with
the pharmacist. They will then receive a monthly newsletter providing
more information on their condition and its treatment and a telephone
check up from the pharmacist. Compliance with the treatment will be analysed
at the end of the programme.
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