Binge Drinking Damages Teenage Girls’ Brains More Than Boys’

Teenage girls who binge-drink have a higher risk of long-term harm to the brain compared to boys of the same age who also binge drink, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Stanford University reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research…

Crack Cocaine Use May Be Predicted By Current, Not Prior, Depression

Even after accounting for current crack use, a new study finds that women in drug court who are experiencing current major depression are more likely to use crack within four months than other women in drug court. The paper’s lead author argues that depression screening and treatment may be important components of drug court services [...]

Washington Week: Obama Backs Medicare Means-Testing

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) — As the nation’s leaders wrapped another week of haggling over the debt limit and spending cuts, President Obama indicated on Friday that he would support charging wealthier Medicare recipients more for using the program.

Diabetes Patients Do Better With Medical Home (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) — Diabetes patients enrolled in a medical home program supported by multiple payers saw improvements in several aspects of their care, researchers say.

Inovio reports strong immune responses with VGX-3100 vaccine for cervical dysplasia and cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, has reported data demonstrating long-term durability of T cell immune responses of up to over two years (at the latest time measured) in 7 of 8 evaluated patients following a fourth vaccination of VGX-3100, its investigational SynCon® [...]

Transcept Pharmaceuticals Receives Complete Response Letter From FDA On Intermezzo® New Drug Application

Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSPT) announced that it has received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the resubmitted New Drug Application (NDA) for Intermezzo® (zolpidem tartrate sublingual tablet)…

BioMarin Initiates Phase 1 Trial For BMN 673 In Patients With Advanced Hematological Malignancies

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRN) announced the initiation of a Phase 1 trial for BMN 673, a poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with advanced hematological malignancies. A Phase 1/2 trial for BMN 673 for the treatment of patients with solid tumors was initiated in January 2011 and is ongoing…

Transcept decreases workforce to reduce expenses following FDA news on Intermezzo NDA

Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today plans to reduce operating expenses by eliminating approximately 45% of its workforce following notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the resubmitted New Drug Application (NDA) for Intermezzo, the company’s lead product candidate, cannot be approved in its present form.

Shah congratulates researchers on PrEP findings

In statement released Thursday, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said, “I congratulate the Partners PrEP and CDC TDF2 teams on their study findings demonstrating that PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) - and HIV medication when taken orally, once a day - is highly effective in preventing HIV in heterosexual men and women.

New antidepressant prescription linked to increased risk of falls in nursing home residents

Nursing home residents taking certain antidepressant medications are at an increased risk of falling in the days following the start of a new prescription or a dose increase of their current drug, according to a new study by the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.