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Prescription Drug Use Dropped In 2008, Though Spending Increased, Medco Research Indicates
Use of prescription drugs in the U.S. declined in 2008 -- the first such decrease in a decade -- but total spending on such treatments increased by 3.3%, according to a report released on Wednesday by Medco Health Solutions, the AP/Washington Post reports. The report attributed the decline in sales to fewer new drugs being introduced in 2008, popular medications becoming available as non-prescriptions and concerns about certain drugs" safety. Total spending increased largely because of increased use of "specialty" medications for chronic and complicated illnesses, which often are more costly and sometimes require special considerations for storage or delivery to patients, according to the AP/Post. Profits on specialty drugs in 2008 increased by about 16%. The average costs for other brand-name drugs increased by more than 8% in 2008, the largest increase in five years. According to the report, spending on prescription drugs would have been higher but less costly generic medications accounted for 64% of all prescriptions in 2008.The report predicted that prescription drug use in the U.S. will increase by no more than 1% in 2009 and 2010. However, price increases are expected to contribute to an increase in total spending of 3% to 5% in 2009 and 4% to 6% in 2010 (Seaman, AP/Washington Post, 5/13).

HAART Is 'Optimal Treatment' For Reducing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) should be the new standard treatment for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in poor countries, according to an editorial in response to a research study in the August 15 issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. JAIDS is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.
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Health Centers Get $850 Million For Infrastructure Improvements
First Lady Michelle Obama visited a Washington, D.C. community health center Monday afternoon to announce the release of $851 million for the expansion and rehabilitation of clinics around the country, The New York Times reports.
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Lilly Receives Fourth FDA Approval For ALIMTA(R) - First Chemotherapy Approved As Maintenance Therapy For Nonsquamous Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced it received a fourth approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ALIMTA® (pemetrexed for injection). The latest approval is for ALIMTA as a maintenance therapy for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), specifically for patients with a nonsquamous histology whose disease has not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based first-line chemotherapy. ALIMTA is not indicated for treatment of patients with squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer. NSCLC is the most common form of lung cancer, resulting in more than 180,000 new cases in the U.S. each year.[1],[2] It is defined as a group of histologies, that is, tumor types differentiated by cellular structure. Nonsquamous histology includes adenocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma, which account for more than half of all NSCLC diagnoses,[3] as well as histologies classified as "other." "This FDA approval is encouraging news for non-small cell lung cancer patients, their caregivers and doctors," said Richard Gaynor, M.D., vice president of cancer research and global oncology platform leader for Lilly. "It represents an important paradigm shift for NSCLC treatment - maintenance therapy as a way of extending survival in nonsquamous patients, using histology as a way of determining which NSCLC patients may benefit and which may not. "Previously, patients received best supportive care following their chemotherapy. Now physicians and patients have a new option to improve survival," added Gaynor. The notion of maintenance therapy in NSCLC is new. Maintenance therapy is treatment given after initial chemotherapy but before new tumor growth. And while pathologists routinely determine the cancer"s histology, or tissue type, the use of this information to tailor therapy for potentially better outcomes is also new. Results from a global, multicenter, double-blind Phase III trial were presented as an oral presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. on May 31, 2009 (Abstract # CRA8000) by Chandra Belani, M.D., Miriam Beckner distinguished professor of medicine and deputy director of Penn State Cancer Institute at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The trial compared efficacy with respect to overall survival of ALIMTA plus best supportive care versus placebo plus best supportive care in 663 patients with stage IIIB/IV NSCLC whose disease had not progressed after four cycles of platinum-based induction chemotherapy. The trial supported previous studies looking at the use of histology to tailor treatment for patients with advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. Patients in the trial were treated with ALIMTA (500 mg/m2 on day one of each 21-day cycle) plus best supportive care or placebo plus best supportive care. All patients were supplemented with vitamin B12, folic acid and dexamethasone. In 2004, ALIMTA received consecutive approvals: it was the first agent to be approved in combination with cisplatin as a treatment for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, whose disease is unresectable or who are otherwise not candidates for curative surgery, and then as a single agent for the second-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC after prior chemotherapy treatment.[4] In 2008, ALIMTA, in combination with cisplatin, was approved as a first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC for patients with nonsquamous histology. At the time of the first-line approval, the FDA also approved a change to the second-line indication. ALIMTA is now indicated as a single agent for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic, nonsquamous NSCLC after prior chemotherapy. ALIMTA is not indicated for treatment of patients with squamous cell non-small cell lung cancer. 1 American Cancer Society, "What Is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer?," October 15, 2007, American Cancer Society (February 21, 2008). 2 American Cancer Society, "What Are the Key Statistics About Lung Cancer?," October 15, 2007, American Cancer Society, (September 19, 2008). 3 American Cancer Society. What is Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer? Available here. Accessed May 1, 2009. 4 NOTE: The 2nd-line NSCLC indication was approved under 21 CFR 314.500 et seq (Subpart H - Accelerated Approval of New Drugs for Serious or Life-Threatening Illnesses) using a surrogate endpoint. Eli Lilly & Company


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