| 3M to Sell Pharmaceutical Unit for $2.1 Billion (Update2) | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 11:00:59 AM by Blog57 Team | | Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- 3M Co., which makes Scotch tape, cancer drugs and electronic roads signs, agreed to sell its pharmaceutical operation for $2.1 billion to focus on products that take less time to develop and market. The company will sell its U.S. operations to Graceway Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $875 million and the European unit to Meda AB for $857 million. Ironbridge Capital and Archer Capital will buy the Asian business for $349 million, St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M said today in a Business Wire statement. 3M wants to invest in products such as Post-it notes that are cheaper and quicker to introduce. The unit, which accounts for about 3 percent of 3M's sales, markets the Aldara genital warts treatment, the Tambocor heart medicine and the Metro-Gel Vaginal gel for infections.... | |
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| | | HPV vaccine available on campus | | Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:02:48 PM by Blog57 Team | | WSU Health and Wellness Services now offers the first vaccine developed to prevent cervical cancer and other diseases in females caused by types of genital human papillomavirus, or HPV, commonly known as genital warts. The vaccine consists of a series of three injections in six months for females aged 9 to 26, and has minimal side effects, said Marsha Turnbull, health education administrator for Health and Wellness Services. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration licensed the vaccine, which prevents the contraction of four harmful strains of HPV: Types 6, 11, 16 and 18. HPV Types 16 and 18 cause approximately 70 percent of cases of cervical cancer, while Types 6 and 11 cause nearly 90 percent of genital wart cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... | |
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| | | Aromatase Inhibitors Declared Superior to Tamoxifen in the ... | | Posted Thursday, August 03, 2006 8:57:03 AM by Blog57 Team | | WILMINGTON, Del., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- An international panel of leading breast cancer specialists, in an opinion paper published today, agreed that aromatase inhibitors (AIs) surpass tamoxifen as the most effective treatment option for postmenopausal women with early, hormone-sensitive breast cancer. This global opinion, published in Current Medical Research and Opinion, declares the consensus findings of The International Aromatase Inhibitor Expert Panel, composed of 24 breast cancer clinicians from Europe, the USA, Australia, China and Brazil, who agreed that AIs should be prescribed as the preferred therapy in this patient setting. The panel's findings reaffirm current guidelines regarding the use of aromatase inhibitors, such as ARIMIDEX(R). ARIMIDEX is approved for adjuvant treatment (treatment following surgery with or without radiation) of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer.... | |
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| | | Vaccination studied | | Posted Wednesday, July 05, 2006 7:01:29 PM by Blog57 Team | | Taking up a sensitive issue among religious conservatives, an influential government advisory panel Thursday recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices also said the shots can be started for girls as young as 9, at the discretion of their doctors. The committee's recommendations usually are accepted by federal health officials, and influence insurance coverage for vaccinations. Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., is the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent cancer. Approved earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration for females ages 9 to 26, it protects against strains of the human papilloma virus, or HPV, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts.... | |
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