Archive for August, 2007
August 29th, 2007
New research shows that erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis may increase production of oxytocin, a reproductive hormone released during orgasm.
That news comes from scientists at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. They tested sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient), vardenafil (Levitra’s active ingredient), and a related chemical called T-1032 in lab tests on rats.
The researchers exposed part of the rats’ pituitary gland to those chemicals (which are called PDE5 inhibitors) and to mild electrical stimulation. Under those conditions, the rats’ pituitary glands produced more oxytocin.
Does that happen in people, too? This study doesn’t answer that question.
But that topic deserves further study, since oxytocin is important in various reproductive functions, write researcher Meyer Jackson, Ph.D., and colleagues.
Their study shows no signs of increased oxytocin production without stimulation.
“Erectile dysfunction drugs do not induce erections spontaneously; they enhance the response to sexual stimulation,” Jackson states in a news release.
“The same thing is happening in the [rats’] posterior pituitary - Viagra will not induce the release of oxytocin on its own, but it will enhance the amount of release you get in response to electrical stimulation,” states Jackson.
Their findings appear in the Aug. 9 advance online edition of the Journal of Physiology.
August 13th, 2007
Erectile dysfunction after surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy) has traditionally been attributed to nerve damage that theoretically should heal over time. But it can take as long as two years for the nerves to recover enough for a man to have an erection without the aid of drugs or devices.
By that time, other damage may have occurred, according to an article in the latest issue of Perspectives on Prostate Disease.
The Harvard Medical School bulletin notes that when the penis is flaccid for long periods of time, it is deprived of a lot of oxygen-rich blood. Recent research suggests that this low oxygen level causes some muscle cells in the penis’s erectile tissue to lose their flexibility. The tissue gradually becomes more like scar tissue, interfering with the penis’s ability to expand when it’s filled with blood.
Therefore, the traditional advice given to men—to wait for erectile function to return on its own—may not be adequate. Simply put, erections seem to work on a use-it-or-lose-it basis. To prevent the secondary damage that may occur if the penis goes too long without erections, researchers now think it’s better to restore erectile function soon after prostate removal. Treatment options include using a vacuum pump device or taking erectile dysfunction drugs by mouth or by injection into the penis.
According to Dr. Marc Garnick, editor in chief of Perspectives on Prostate Disease and a Harvard oncologist, “Although the evidence supporting this ‘penile rehabilitation’ isn’t perfect, you may want to ask your doctor about the options. Such early intervention may help increase the odds that you will regain erectile function.”
Also covered in the 48-page report:
- Alternative therapies for prostate cancer
- Handling a prostate cancer relapse
- Surgical options for benign prostatic hyperplasia
August 10th, 2007
A Des Moines woman who asked the Polk County Jail to lock her up so she can quit smoking is looking at smoking cessation programs and methods.Viewers’ e-mails have been pouring in to KCCI about Jodi Perkins.The Polk County Jail said they wouldn’t take her, but many people from around the country offered suggestions for Perkins to try.
“I do look at it as a life-or-death situation. Just last week, two people that I know were diagnosed with lung cancer and that has really hit home and scared me,” Perkins said.
Many told Perkins to try a prescription drug called Chantix. The Mayo Clinic e-mailed Perkins inviting her to try its residential treatment program.Perkins’ co-workers recommended she try laser treatment.”They laser your ears, nose and hands, and they shoot endorphins into you. So I already e-mailed them because it sounded like the best idea so far,” she said.Perkins said she is desperate to quit the habit. She said she has tried prescription pills, gum, nicotine patches to no avail.”I got stronger and stronger patches and then I went to wearing multiple patches while smoking and that didn’t faze me,” she said.She said she wishes she knew at 16 what she knows today.”Absolutely don’t pick up that first cigarette and don’t take it. Don’t take it because somebody said it was cool and don’t hang around with people who do,” she said.Perkins contacted the Mayo Clinic about its offer. She has a week of vacation time next week and is hoping to participate in the program at that time.
August 6th, 2007
The Co-operative Group is moving into the generic drugs industry with the construction of a factory in China in partnership with a Chinese pharmaceutical company.The group today announced that it had signed a joint venture with Tasly Group China, one of the country’s top three drug companies.
It has taken a 60% stake in the venture which will employ up to 200 people and is expected to begin production of a range of generic drugs within a year. Total investment for the project is £20m.
John Nuttall, managing director of the healthcare division of the Co-op, said the new factory would make well-established generic medicines as well as newer generic versions of drugs that have recently come off-patent. These will be brought back to the UK to supply the Co-op’s 600 pharmacies.
Mr Nuttall said the group planned to sell the generics it makes in Europe and was interested in going into the US. The drugs will not have the Co-op brand but another to be decided.
This is the group’s first move into drug manufacturing and its first venture in China. The generics industry is a lucrative one, as more and more blockbuster drugs come off patent, providing profitable opportunities for companies to copy them.
Global blockbusters such as Pfizer’s Viagra are reaching the end of their patent, and by 2009, $80bn worth of blockbuster drug patents will expire.
Mr Nuttall said the move would give the group control over its source of supply and would help improve margins. He said the Co-op had chosen China because of the wide experience of its partner Tasly in making drugs as well as lower production costs.
Frances Cloud, a generics analyst at Nomura Code Securities, said this was the first Chinese deal of its kind. She said an Indian company would normally do this kind of deal.
China has been criticised recently for the lack of safety of some of its products. The head of the country’s food and drug administration was executed last month after he was found guilty of accepting bribes from companies to approve their products without the necessary checks. Some of the drugs were blamed for several deaths.
Mr Nuttal said the Co-op had management control of the joint venture, adding that any drugs that came into the UK had to adhere to strict guidelines set by the MHRA, the UK’s drugs regulator. “We’ve got a very high degree of confidence that the products will comply with UK standards.”
Ms Cloud questioned the group’s timing. “A year from breaking ground to actually having products coming out is rather short,” she said. Announcement of the venture comes after the recent merger of the Co-operative Group and United Co-operatives, which was completed at the end of last month.
The enlarged group is the world’s largest consumer co-operative with sales of more than £9bn, 4 million members and 87,500 employees. The Co-op is the third largest pharmaceutical chain in the country with annual sales of £450m and more than 33 million prescriptions dispensed every year.
August 2nd, 2007
Just how badly sales of diet drug Acomplia (rimonabant) have been set back by Sanofi’s inability to bring it to the U.S. market was dramatically illustrated July 25th when GlaxoSmithKline revealed initial launch results for over-the-counter diet pill alli (low-dose Xenical).
Sales of non-prescription alli totaled a surprising $156 million in the weeks after its U.S. launch in mid-June — a sales surge that dwarfs the monthly sales of Acomplia in all the countries where it is on the market in the European Union.
If most of the alli sales were to people initially buying a one-month supply of the over-the-counter diet pill, the sales figure would suggest that more than 1 million Americans decided to try these non-prescription weight-loss product in its first weeks on the market.
By contrast, in the European Union, where Acomplia was approved for sale last summer, somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 are believed to have tried it over the course of a year.
Sanofi had initially hoped that Acomplia — which was to be sold in the United States as Zimulti — would be a blockbuster drug with sales that could even exceed $5 billion worldwide.
But without the U.S. market, it appears that Sanofi will be fortunate if sales in Europe and other countries where it has been approved total one-tenth of that.
Glaxo, in announcing sales results for alli as part of its report on second-quarter earnings, said its big advertising and promotion campaign paid off with more than 2.4 billion.
Glaxo also said that it had recorded more than 4.5 million visits to its website — myalli.com — making it the third-most visited website for any over-the-counter pharmaceutical product.
Acomplia is currently marketed in 13 European Union nations as well as in Argentina, Mexico and a handful of other countries.
