A biotechnology company that holds patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes may lose them after a federal judge ruled that seven of their 23 patents involving the genes tied to breast and ovarian cancers should not have been granted, the New York Times reports. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation filed a suit last year, claiming that patents held by Myriad Genetics kept competitors from creating tests to find mutations in the genes and stifled research.If the court’s decision is upheld, the biotechnology industry would “have to get more creative about how to retain exclusivity and attract capital in the face of potentially weaker patent protection,” said Kenneth Chahine, who filed an amicus brief for Myriad, the Times reports. Read the rest of this entry »
After 2 years of her husband’s death Amanda Bennet examines the cost of keeping one man alive suffering from cancer. Read the rest of this entry »
THE GLOBAL generic drug industry has witnessed an almost decade-long sales euphoria and volumes and sales growth of prescription generic drugs continued to increase in 2009.
In the 12 months ended September 2009, global prescription sales growth of generic drugs climbed by 7.7%, up from 3.6% in 2008, according to US-based health care information and consulting company IMS Health. This compares with the 5.7% growth seen within the overall global pharmaceutical universe last year, says Doug Long, vice-president, industry relations at IMS Health. Read the rest of this entry »
2009 estimates projected that in the United States alone 21,550 new cases of ovarian cancer would be diagnosed and 14,600 women would die of the disease. Often diagnosed in late stages, ovarian cancer has an asymptomatic onset and a relatively low 5-year survival rate of about 45%. Consequently investigation linked to survivorship is critical. A study published in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, is among the first to evaluate possible diet associations with ovarian cancer survival. Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago determined that there is a strong relationship between healthy eating and prolonged survival. Read the rest of this entry »
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