Industry News
Each month LifeTrack newsletter brings you up-to-date news for the life sciences community. You can also click our PR Newswire link to read the latest breaking news.
Toronto
Microbix patent approval allows them to double influenza vaccine
Microbix Biosystems Inc. (Toronto) has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for its technology - VIRUSMAX(TM) - which enables vaccine manufacturers to double the amount of influenza vaccine they produce each year. Microbix’ discovery has enormous implications for protecting more people during a pandemic. Patents are also being allowed in Canada, India and Australia, and a number of other applications in major markets are currently pending.
Montreal
IMS Health Predicts 5 to 6 Percent Growth for Global Pharmaceutical Market in 2008, According to Annual Forecast
NORWALK, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov 1, 2007 - The global pharmaceutical market is expected to grow at a 5 - 6 percent pace next year, compared with 6 - 7 percent in 2007, according to IMS Health’s 2008 Global Pharmaceutical Market and Therapy Forecast released today. The forecast, the leading annual industry indicator of market dynamics and therapy performance, predicts global pharmaceutical sales to expand to US$735 - 745 billion next year.
Calgary
Alberta team trying to turn E. coli into fuel places at world competition
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A University of Alberta team trying to turn E. coli into fuel has earned a first place finish in the energy category at an international genetic engineering competition at MIT. But the grand prize for the competition eluded them, going instead to a team from Peking University who wowed the judges with their efforts to program bacteria.
USA
Bayer Stops Sales of Trasylol Globally based on Canadian Findings
WASHINGTON_Under government pressure, Bayer AG said Monday it halted worldwide sales of its antibleeding drug Trasylol after a Canadian clinical study found it could be linked to a higher risk of death than other drugs.
The Food and Drug Administration asked the company to stop selling the drug, used to prevent excessive bleeding during heart bypass surgery, pending detailed review of preliminary results from the Canadian study. The study comparing the safety and efficacy of the drug with two others was recently halted.
Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, said it made the decision to suspend sales after talks with FDA, the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medicine Products along with Health Canada.
Trasylol, also known as aprotinin, works by blocking enzymes that dissolve blood clots. It is designed to stem blood loss and enable patients receiving heart bypass surgery to avoid transfusions. Bayer estimates worldwide sales of the injection drug were roughly $135 million for the nine months through September. The U.S. accounted for about $91 million of that total.
The Canadian study comparing the safety and efficacy of Trasylol with two other drugs was recently halted. Preliminary results
from the study suggested Trasylol increased the risk of death when compared with the other drugs. The trial was to include 3,000 patients.
© AP Online
Google to launch online health platform early next year
Google plans to formally launch its long-awaited health platform in early 2008, said Marissa Mayer, Google’s head of search, earlier this month at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Mayer said that Google has developed an online health platform prototype that includes: Personal health records, healthcare-related search functions, diet and exercise regimens, and a localized “find a doctor” application.
“Google is not a doctor, but people come to us with a lot of health information searches,” Mayer said, adding, “There is a big user information need, which we should ultimately fill.” Some parts of Google’s health platform will be available at no cost, but the services and applications might be subscription-based, Mayer said.
Source: Canadian Healthcare Technology
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An Interview with Dr Saleem Razack
Dr Saleem Razack
Pediatric Residency Program Director, McGill University
As increasing pressure is placed on physicians by an aging population by a critical shortage of community pediatricians, and by the need to provide continual care for complex children while taking time to consult with family doctors, healthcare professionals are seeking ways to become more efficient with their time and demanding schedules. We spoke to Dr Saleem Razack, Pediatric Residency Program Director at McGill University to see how he manages his time and team.