For the last six years,
’s blood thinner Plavix has enjoyed a near monopoly in the market for oral medications meant to prevent clots in patients who are at risk for heart attacks and strokes.
That monopoly status could be threatened, if the
. Tuesday afternoon, an advisory panel may recommend that the F.D.A. grant that approval.
Plavix had global sales of $7.3 billion in 2007, making it the world’s second best-selling drug after
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rose into the close Tuesday after an FDA unanimously recommended approval of its anticlotting agent prasugrel.
The nine members of the Food and Drug Administration’s cardiology panel said the new blood thinner, which Lilly developed with Japanese drugmaker
, is a significant improvement over its forebears for preventing blood clots in patients with heart problems.
Lilly had asked the panel to specifically evaluate prasugrel in patients requiring Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials said Friday a blood thinner from Eli Lilly offers life-saving benefits over drugs currently on the market, though its use may have to be restricted due to bleeding side effects.
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the highly anticipated drug, called prasugrel, as a therapy for patients with acute heart problems such as heart attacks, who face increased risk of blood clots. Lilly developed Read the rest of this entry »

Published: February 02. 2009 12:01AM
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials said Friday a blood thinner from Eli Lilly offers lifesaving benefits over drugs currently on the market, though its use may have to be restricted due to bleeding side effects.
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the highly anticipated drug, called prasugrel, as a therapy for patients with acute heart problems such as heart attacks, who face increased risk of Read the rest of this entry »

New research findings suggest that structural abnormalities in the brains of cocaine addicts are related in part to drug use and in part to a predisposition toward addiction. The research, published by Cell Press in the October 9th issue of the journal
, maps the topography of the addicted brain and provides new insight into the effect of cocaine on neural systems mediating cognition and motivation.
“Human studies have shown differences in how Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, a drug has won approval in Europe before the U.S. This time, it’s the anticlotting drug prasugrel from Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo. The companies
that the drug has been greenlighted in Europe for certain patients who have stents put in to clear the arteries around the heart.
The drug, marketed under the name Efient, will compete with the blockbuster Plavix, which is co-marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis.
when Read the rest of this entry »

-(Dow Jones)- Rep.
, R-Texas, on Wednesday questioned why
the Food and Drug Administration waited six months to seize contaminated lots of
a popular blood thinner from an
-based company that wasn’t properly
recalling the product.
The FDA announced in November that U.S. Marshalls seized 11 contaminated lots
of the blood thinner heparin from
-based Celsus Laboratories Inc.
after an April inspection found the company wasn’t properly recalling Read the rest of this entry »

Another diet book.  Thousands upon thousands of “wanna-be diet gurus” confusing most of us, most of the time with some recycled diet and weight loss idea. 
However, 
by Eric R. Braverman, MD is really different!  I’m inspired by a few things.  It approaches anti-aging, dieting and weight loss from a “brain perspective,” not a “time and stomach perspective.”  And Dr. Braverman uses an integrative approach in his medical Read the rest of this entry »

Calcium channel blockers appear to inactivate an enzyme essential for the activity of Plavix, said the report by Austrian physicians published online Oct. 28 in theJournal of the American College of Cardiology.
Studying 200 people who were taking Plavix after artery-opening procedures and stent placement, the University of Vienna researchers found a higher level of activity of platelets — the blood cells that can clump together to form blood clots Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials said a highly anticipated blood thinner from Eli Lilly will likely save more lives than drugs already on the market, despite also having a higher risk of internal bleeding.
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the drug, called prasugrel, as a therapy for patients with acute heart problems such as heart attacks, who face increased risk of blood clots. Lilly developed the drug with Japanese Read the rest of this entry »