Home » Posts tagged 'NEW DRUGS' (Page 14)
Tag Archives: NEW DRUGS
Sandoz launches Phase III clinical trial for biosimilar etanercept

Etanercept
is made from the combination of two naturally occurring soluble human 75-kilodalton TNF receptors linked to an Fc portion of an IgG1. The effect is an artificially engineered dimeric fusion protein.
• Sandoz continues to advance biosimilar pipeline with seven Phase III trials across five molecules
• Global program underscores Sandoz’s leadership in biosimilarsHolzkirchen, Germany, June 24, 2013 – Sandoz, the global leader in biosimilars, announced it has initiated a major Phase III clinical trial with its biosimilar version of etanercept (Amgen’s Enbrel®).
Read more at
http://www.drugs.com/news/novartis-begins-enbrel-phase-iii-trial-45414.html
| Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) is a biopharmaceutical that treats autoimmune diseases by interfering with tumor necrosis factor (TNF; a soluble inflammatory cytokine) by acting as a TNF inhibitor. It has U.S. F.D.A. approval to treat rheumatoid, juvenile rheumatoid andpsoriatic arthritis, plaque psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis. TNF-alpha is the “master regulator” of the inflammatory (immune) response in many organ systems. Autoimmune diseases are caused by an overactive immune response. Etanercept has the potential to treat these diseases by inhibiting TNF-alpha. Etanercept is a fusion protein produced by recombinant DNA. It fuses the TNF receptor to the constant end of the IgG1 antibody. First, the developers isolated the DNA sequence that codes the human gene for soluble TNF receptor 2, which is a receptor that binds to tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Second, they isolated the DNA sequence that codes the human gene for the Fc end of immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1). Third, they linked the DNA for TNF receptor 2 to the DNA for IgG1 Fc. Finally, they expressed the linked DNA to produce a protein that links the protein for TNF receptor 2 to the protein for IgG1 Fc. The prototypic fusion protein was first synthesized and shown to be highly active and unusually stable as a modality for blockade of TNF in vivo in the early 1990s by Bruce A. Beutler, an academic researcher then at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and his colleagues.[2][3][4] These investigators also patented the protein, selling all rights to its use to Immunex, a biotechnology company that was acquired by Amgen in 2002. It is a large molecule, with a molecular weight of 150 kDa., that binds to TNFα and decreases its role in disorders involving excess inflammation in humans and other animals, including autoimmune diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and, potentially, in a variety of other disorders mediated by excess TNFα. In North America, etanercept is co-marketed by Amgen and Pfizer under the trade name Enbrel in two separate formulations, one in powder form, the other as a pre-mixed liquid. Wyeth is the sole marketer of Enbrel outside North America excluding Japan whereTakeda Pharmaceuticals markets the drug. Etanercept is an example of a protein-based drug created using the tools of biotechnologyand conceived through an understanding afforded by modern cell biology. |
Promising Antiviral Compounds Discovered

Scientists sifted through thousands of potentially efficacy compounds and managed to identify two promising candidates for the development of drugs against human adenovirus, a cause of ailments ranging from colds to gastrointestinal disorders to pink eye
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified two promising candidates for the development of drugs against human adenovirus, a cause of ailments ranging from colds to gastrointestinal disorders to pink eye. A paper published in FEBS Letters, a journal of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, describes how the researchers sifted through thousands of compounds to determine which might block the effects of a key viral enzyme they had previously studied in atomic-level detail.
Quad Pill for HIV Appears Safe in Renal Disease
Published: Jul 7, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR — HIV patients with mild to moderate renal impairment appear to tolerate treatment with a combination tablet that contains drugs known to impact kidney function, a phase III, open-label, two-cohort study found.
The treatment group receiving the four-drug combination of elvitegravir, cobicistat, tenofovir DF, and emtricitabine, branded as Stribild
GSK tests ofatumumab in rare skin disorder
GlaxoSmithKline is to start a new Phase III study of ofatumumab as a treatment for pemphigus vulgaris, a rare autoimmune disorder of the skin, according to partner Genmab. The Danish biotech and the drug major are long-term partners on ofatumumab which is already marketed, as Arzerra, for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/13-07-04/GSK_tests_ofatumumab_in_rare_skin_disorder.aspx
Ofatumumab(trade name Arzerra, also known as HuMax-CD20) is a human monoclonal antibody (for the CD20 protein) which appears to inhibit early-stage B lymphocyte activation. It is FDA approved for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia that is refractory to fludarabine and alemtuzumab (Campath) and has also shown potential in treating Follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Diffuse large B cell lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Ofatumumab has also received conditional approval in Europe for the treatment of refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This makes ofatumumab the first marketing application for an antibody produced by Genmab, as well as the first human monoclonal antibody which targets the CD20 molecule that will be available for patients with refractory CLL.


Anthrax Killer from the Sea
Anthrax Killer from the Sea
Unusual antibiotic from a marine actinomycete is effective against anthrax
http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/4972631/Anthrax_Killer_from_the_Sea.html
- Anthracimycin, a Potent Anthrax Antibiotic from a Marine-Derived Actinomycete,
Kyoung Hwa Jang, Sang-Jip Nam, Jeffrey B. Locke, Christopher A. Kauffman, Deanna S. Beatty, Lauren A. Paul, William Fenical,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013.
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201302749
From Pharmacy to the Pub — A Bark Conquers the World: Part 3
The long road from the structure determination to the total synthesis of quinine is an exciting detective story
Biosimilar drugs step up complexity, by Phillip Broadwith

The first ever generic monoclonal antibody therapies have been recommended for approval in Europe. The two biosimilar versions of infliximab (Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade) have passed assessment by the European Medicines Agency’s committee for medicinal products for human use, but will need to be fully approved by the European commission before they can be marketed.
Monoclonal antibodies are significantly larger and more complex than previously approved biosimilars, which include growth hormones and erythropoietin. Proving that they are functionally similar to the original drug is therefore complex. Both manufacturers, Celltrion and Hospira, had to complete human trials to prove that their generic infliximab products were as safe and effective as Remicade in treating autoimmune diseases.
read all at
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/07/biosimilar-approval-steps-complexity
Array Starts First Phase 3 Trial, Shifts to Late-Stage Development

HY-15202
MEK162
(Synonyms ARRY-162; ARRY-438162; MEK 162; ARRY 162; ARRY 438162)
MEK162 M.Wt: 441.23
MEK162 Formula: C17H15BrF2N4O3
MEK162 Storage: at -20℃ 2 years
MEK162 CAS No.: 606143-89-9
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00959127
|
Array Starts First Phase 3 Trial, Shifts to Late-Stage Development read all at |
Roche’s Perjeta Gets FDA Priority Review
The structure of HER2 and pertuzumab
Application follows proposed new FDA pathway designed to help bring promising medicines to people with earlier stages of breast cancer faster
Perjeta is one of the first medicines the FDA will evaluate as an option given before surgery (neoadjuvant treatment)
Perjeta, in combination with Herceptin and chemotherapy, was approved by the FDA in 2012 for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer
Pertuzumab (also called 2C4, trade name Perjeta) is a monoclonal antibody. The first of its class in a line of agents called “HER dimerization inhibitors”. By binding to HER2, it inhibits the dimerization of HER2 with other HER receptors, which is hypothesized to result in slowed tumor growth. Pertuzumab received US FDA approval for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer on June 8, 2012. Pertuzumab was developed at Genentech and is now owned by Roche which acquired Genentech in 2009.
Early clinical trials of pertuzumab in prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers met with limited success.
The dosage of pertuzumab used in the pivotal phase III CLEOPATRA (Clinical Evaluation of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab) trial was as follows: IV 840 mg loading dose followed by IV 420 mg every three weeks.
The pharmacokinetics of intravenous pertuzumab appear to be unaffected by age and no drug-drug interaction has been reported with docetaxel. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of pertuzumab were summarized in a Feb 2012 review by Gillian Keating.
The combination of pertuzumab plus trastuzumab plus docetaxel, as compared with placebo plus trastuzumab plus docetaxel, when used as first-line treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, significantly prolonged progression-free survival, with no increase in cardiac toxic effects in the randomized, double-blind, multinational, phase III CLEOPATRA trial.
Intravenous pertuzumab is currently being evaluated in patients with breast cancer in the following trials: MARIANNE (advanced breast cancer), NEOSPHERE (early breast cancer), TRYPHAENA (HER2-positive stage II/III breast cancer) and APHINITY (HER2-positive nonmetastatic breast cancer)
Flamel Technologies Announces FDA Approval of Bloxiverz

LYON, FRANCE — (Marketwire) — 06/03/2013 — Flamel Technologies today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Bloxiverz (neostigmine methylsulfate), a drug used intravenously in the operating room for the reversal of the effects of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents after surgery. Flamel expects to launch Bloxiverz in July 2013 in 0.5 and 1.0 mg/mL strengths
read all at
.http://www.drugs.com/newdrugs/flamel-technologies-announces-fda-approval-bloxiverz-3802.html
DRUG APPROVALS BY DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO
.....










