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White House Seeks More Money For Swine Flu
The White House requested new funding for swine flu from Congress late Tuesday and also sought an additional $3.1 billion from the unspent stimulus funds in case of a pandemic emergency, according to various news s.
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Provectus Pharmaceuticals Completes Patient Accrual In Initial Phase 2 Study Of PH-10 For Atopic Dermatitis
Provectus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC BB: PVCT), a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company, has completed patient accrual for its Phase 2 study of PH-10 for atopic dermatitis. PH-10 is the Company"s topical drug for the treatment of dermatologic diseases, including atopic dermatitis, a chronic skin condition that includes some forms of eczema. The Phase 2 study was designed to evaluate safety and efficacy of PH-10 in at least twenty subjects with mild to severe forms of the disease.
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Some Small Businesses Must Cut Employee Health Benefits Or Lay Off Workers Amid Economic Recession
Small businesses increasingly are eliminating their employee health coverage plans because of rising health care premiums and declining revenue attributed to the current economic recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. About 10% of small companies are considering ending their employee health coverage plans over the next year, compared with 3% of small businesses in 2005, according to a recent survey by the National Small Business Association. In 2008, 38% of small companies offered health coverage, compared with 41% in 2007 and 61% in 1993, according to NSBA. According to a Hewitt Associates survey, 19% of all U.S. businesses plan to halt providing health care benefits to their employees in the next three to five years.A rise in health care coverage premiums has contributed to employers eliminating plans, according to the Journal. Premiums for single policies increased by 74% for small businesses from 2001 to 2008, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. According to Scott Krienke, senior vice president of product lines for Assurant Health, health insurance premiums for small businesses increase by 8% to 16% annually on average, with smaller firms often having the highest increases. According to the Journal, many employers are choosing to eliminate health coverage instead of eliminating jobs or closing down their business. Some businesses have chosen instead to shift more health care costs to workers, change health insurers, switch prescription drug plans to encourage employees to purchase more generic drugs or offer employees wellness plans that encourage healthy habits as a strategy to reduce health care costs, the Journal reports (Mattioli, Wall Street Journal, 5/26).
Endocrinology

US Oncology Research Network Participates In Phase III Follow-up Study To BiPar's Investigational Cancer Drug BSI-201

US Oncology, Inc. today announced that US Oncology Research will participate in the BiPar Sciences" Phase III, Multi-center, Open-Label, Randomized Trial of Gemcitabine/Carboplatin (G/C), with or without BSI-201, in patients with Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), and HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Joyce O"Shaughnessy, M.D., co-chair of the US Oncology Breast Cancer Research Committee, associate director for clinical research for US Oncology and co-director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Baylor-Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center and Texas Oncology, a US Oncology affiliate in Dallas, Texas, will lead the study as a follow-up to the Phase II study presented in a plenary session at the 45th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held May 29-June 2, 2009, in Orlando, Fla. "We are very pleased to be participating in this clinical trial of BSI-201 which is a very promising new treatment for metastatic triple negative breast cancer," says Dr. O"Shaughnessy. "We expect that accrual will be very rapid within the US Oncology network and hope that this trial will lead to rapid FDA approval of what appears so far to be a well tolerated and effective therapy." BSI-201 targets PARP, or poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, a key enzyme involved in DNA repair and cell proliferation. By inhibiting the enzymatic activity of PARP, BSI-201 significantly enhances the anti-tumor effects of chemotherapy and has shown promising safety and efficacy results in patients with solid tumors. "We are extremely pleased to be launching the Phase 3 clinical trial so rapidly after the close of the Phase 2 trial," said Barry Sherman, M.D., head of clinical development at South San Francisco-based BiPar Sciences, which is developing BSI-201. BiPar is a wholly owned subsidiary of Paris-based sanofi-aventis. "Our primary focus now is enrolling patients in this trial with a similar sense of urgency." Physicians within the US Oncology network are expected to enroll more than 100 participants in this 420-patient study. Enrollment in the study opened July 17 in centers nationwide. "The BSI-201 PARP Inhibitor is a potential game changing therapy in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. US Oncology Research is excited about the opportunity to continue our development collaboration with BiPar on this important potential new therapy," said Steve Smith, vice president and general manager of Research and Personalized Science for US Oncology Research. "We are eager to leverage the US Oncology Research network to support the study." Patients targeted for the study include adults with histologically documented metastatic breast cancer with measurable disease that is ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2- non-overexpressing. They will receive the chemotherapy combination of gemcitabine/carboplatin with or without BSI-201. Patients must have measurable metastatic breast cancer with zero to two prior chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease; adjuvant chemotherapy is allowed. Primary objectives of the study are to evaluate: overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), the objective response rate (ORR), and to further evaluate the safety and tolerability of BSI-201 in combination with gemcitabine and carboplatin. Phase II of the study in triple negative breast cancer patients found that BSI-201 + G/C resulted in a statistically and clinically significant improvement in clinical benefit rate (CBR), median progression-free survival (PFS) and OS, compared with G/C alone. BSI-201 + G/C was well tolerated with adverse events (AEs) consistent with known safety profiles of G/C regimens. J Clin Oncol 27:18s, 2009 (suppl; abstr 3) About US Oncology Research With experienced investigators and dedicated research nurses, US Oncology Research represents the largest research network specializing in Phase I-IV oncology clinical trials in the United States. US Oncology Research serves more than 80 sites in 200 locations with over 70 open trials being managed at any given time. Additionally, the research network has accrued over 38,500 patients since its inception and contributed to the development of 36 of the latest cancer-fighting drugs approved by the FDA. About US Oncology US Oncology, Inc., headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, works closely with physicians, payers, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturers, to identify and deliver innovative services that enhance patient access to advanced cancer care. US Oncology supports one of the nation"s foremost cancer treatment and research networks, accelerating the availability and use of evidence-based medicine and shared best practices. US Oncology uses its expertise to support every aspect of the cancer care delivery system--from drug development to distribution and outcomes measurement--enabling the company to help increase the efficiency and safety of cancer care. According to the company"s last quarterly earnings report, US Oncology is affiliated with 1,227 physicians operating in 468 locations, including 95 radiation oncology facilities in 39 states. US Oncology, Inc


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