Shares soar after takeover talks

Shares in a Craigavon-based company have risen sharply after an announcement that it is in talks with an unnamed firm about a possible takeover bid for the group.

Galen Pharmaceuticals' top selling products are its contraceptive pills, hormone replacement cream and a treatment for acne.

Stock market analyst Peter Frawley from Dublin firm Merrion Capital said this was not the first time that Galen had been targeted for a takeover.

"It was rumoured roughly this time last year that the German company Schering AG was looking at them," he said.

"It could be Schering again, or it could be a women's healthcare company such as the American firm Barr Labs or even Johnson and Johnson.

"They are the firms which would get most of the synergy from any takeover."

Most of Galen's revenue is earned in the United States, and the company recently strengthened its presence in the US market with the launch of the HRT product Femring, which is expected to generate annual revenues of about $50 million for Galen from 2007 onwards.

Femring's commercial launch represents an important milestone for the company.

It is the first product developed by Galen which the company has then taken through by approval process of the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Menopause

The US market for menopausal products is worth more than $1 billion each year, partly due to the high incidence of hysterectomies among American women.

It is estimated that as many as 52 million women will be of menopausal age or over in the US within the next decade.

Galen claims that Femring is particularly well positioned to take advantage of this market because it treats both hot flushes and vaginal symptoms simultaneously.

Earlier this year, the company had to postpone plans for a new 50m euro plant in County Louth.

This followed objections by residents in Ardee, who were worried about the possibility of hazardous waste being discharged on to horticultural land.

Galen received planning permission for the plant in November 2001, and had hoped to start building work last May.


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Review Article - Understanding Pyoderma Gangrenosum: A Review

Review Article - Understanding Pyoderma Gangrenosum: A Review

from Medscape General Medicine [TM]

Further Investigations

Investigations are required to diagnose or exclude the presence of an associated systemic disease. Barium enema, upper gastrointestinal series, sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy may be required to exclude gastrointestinal disease. Hematologic malignancy can be excluded by a full blood count, examination of blood smear, serum and urine immunoelectrophoresis, and, in selected cases, bone marrow aspiration or biopsy.[15,16] Antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies may indicate Wegener's granulomatosis, and perinuclear antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies may indicate the presence of vasculitis. Other investigations, such as chest x-ray, computed tomography, and bone marrow biopsy, may be necessary depending on the past medical history and examination findings of individual patients.[16]

Syphilis serology, anticardiolipin antibody, and partial thromboplastin time should be tested routinely because gummatous syphilic ulcers and antiphospholipid syndrome can mimic PG.[3] An infectious etiology needs to be excluded. Biopsy material should be cultured for any possible bacterial, mycobacterial, or fungal cause. Stains can also be requested to exclude the presence of foreign bodies.

Systemic vasculitis is suggested by the presence of leukocytoclastic vasculitis, which is absent in PG.[7] Factitious ulcers can have a suspicious shape, or the patient may have a background history of psychiatric illness. Drug eruptions secondary to isotretinoin[17] and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor[18] can also mimic PG, and it is believed that iodine and bromide overdose can also lead to ulcers that mimic PG.[7]

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Viagra prevents anti-cancer drug induced heart damage, study

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have found that the popular impotence drug Viagra prevents damage to the heart from a potent chemotherapeutic agent frequently used in the treatment of breast cancer, leukemia and sarcomas.

In the April 5 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers demonstrated for the first time that administration of clinically relevant doses of Viagra, generically known as sildenafil citrate, one-hour prior to the administration of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) prevented heart damage at the cellular level. The research also showed that the impotence drug also prevented dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure in a chronic mouse model. Furthermore, researchers observed a reduction of DOX-induced cell death, an improvement of heart function, and a reduction of electrophysiological abnormalities associated with heart sickness.

"Our research holds promise for the potential use of sildenafil in patients receiving DOX as part of their chemotherapeutic regimen with the goal of reducing the incidence of DOX cardiomyopathy," said the lead author of the study, Rakesh C. Kukreja, Ph.D., professor of medicine, physiology and biochemistry at VCU.

"Viagra stabilizes the mitochondria and protects against free-radical damage of the mitochondria and heart dysfunction caused by treatment with DOX by opening the mitochondrial KATP channels in cardiac cells," said Kukreja.

Mitochondria are cellular organelles critical for converting oxygen into ATP, the key fuel for cellular function. According to Kukreja, free radicals generated in the mitochondria of cardiac cells by DOX lead to the break down of regular cellular function, resulting in programmed cardiac cell death. Over time, cell death has been linked to decreased heart function or heart failure.

DOX is an effective chemotherapeutic agent commonly used in the treatment of many blood and solid tumor malignancies. Despite DOX's clinical efficacy for treatment of cancer, its use is associated with a delayed and progressive cardiomyopathy, often presenting several years after treatment cessation.

"Viagra is able to protect the heart from damage that would otherwise disrupt normal cellular functioning," Kukreja said.

Kukreja and his colleagues began studying sildenafil in 2002 as part of ongoing research into "preconditioning," a way to protect the heart muscle from serious damage in the future by subjecting it to very brief periods of deprivation of blood flow and, therefore, oxygen. In papers published in the September 2002 issue of the American Journal of Physiology and the March 2003 issue of Circulation Research, Kukreja and his colleagues observed a powerful, protective effect of Viagra in the heart during experimental heart attacks in animal models.

The research was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

About VCU and the VCU Medical Center: Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, Va., Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked nationally by the Carnegie Foundation as a top research institution and enrolls more than 28,500 students in more than 170 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral programs in the arts, sciences and humanities in 15 schools and one college. Forty of the university's programs are unique in Virginia, and 20 graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best of their kind. MCV Hospitals, clinics and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University compose the VCU Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical centers in the country. For more, see http://www.vcu.edu.

Contact: Anne Buckley
albuckley@vcu.edu
804-828-6052
Virginia Commonwealth University
http://www.vcu.edu
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Topical Treatments for Melasma and Postinflammatory Hyperpigmentation

Postinflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH)

PIH represents a pathophysiologic response to cutaneous inflammation, such as acne, atopic dermatitis, lichen planus, and psoriasis. Similar to melasma, it is more obvious in patients with brown or black skin.[8] It has no gender or age predominance.[10] The lesions are characteristically limited to the site of the preceding inflammation and have indistinct, feathered borders.[7] Melanocytes can either be stimulated by the inflammatory process to become hypertrophic, thus secreting more melanin, or the number of melanocytes can increase. Epidermal hyperpigmentation (e.g., associated with acne) occurs when increased melanin is transferred to keratinocytes while dermal pigmentation (e.g., associated with lichen planus and cutaneous lupus erythematosus) occurs when the basement membrane is disrupted and melanin falls into the dermis and resides within melanophages.[8]

Any inflammatory disorder can be associated with PIH, including: Acne vulgaris

Atopic dermatitis

Discoid lupus erythematosus

Erythema dyschromicum perstans

Fixed drug eruption

Generalized drug eruption

Idiopathic eruptive macular pigmentation

Impetigo

Insect bites

Irritant and allergic contact and photocontact-dermatitis

Lichen planus

Lichen simplex chronicus

Morphea

Pityriasis rosea

Polymorphous light eruption

Psoriasis

Trauma (i.e., burns, abrasions, postsurgical)

Viral exanthem  Printer- Friendly Email This

Skin Therapy Lett.  2006;11(9):1-6.  ©2006 SkinCareGuide.com
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“Erectile Dysfunction” Drugs Heighten Natural Anti-Cancer Activity

Sildenafil and other "impotence drugs" that boost the production of a gassy chemical messenger to dilate blood vessels and produce an erection now also show promise in unmasking cancer cells so that the immune system can recognize and attack them, say scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Tests at Hopkins on mice with implanted colon and breast tumors showed that tumor size decreased two- and threefold in sildenafil-treated animals, compared to mice that did not get the drug. In mice engineered to lack an immune system, tumors were unaffected, proof of principle, the scientists say, that the drug is abetting the immune system's own cellular response to cancer.

In a report published in the Nov. 27 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the Hopkins team says boosted levels of the chemical messenger nitric oxide appear to dampen the effects of a specialized cell that diverts the immune system away from tumors, allowing swarms of cancer-attacking T-cells to migrate to tumor sites in the rodents.

Lab-grown cancer cells treated with sildenafil showed similar results, as did tissue samples taken from 14 head and neck cancer and multiple myeloma patients.

Sildenafil, marketed under the trade name Viagra, is one of a class of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction in millions of men, and in recent years, its ability to stimulate the production of NO has been investigated by experts in diseases linked to the activity of blood vessels and blood components.

The new Hopkins study homes in on a tactic used by cancers to avoid detection by the immune system by turning elements of that system to its own advantage, says Ivan Borrello, M.D., assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

Borrello and his colleagues found that tumors exploit nitric oxide-producing immune cells to create a sort of "fog" that keeps them hidden from white blood cells (T-cells) that mount attacks on tumors.

These NO-producing cells, a.k.a. myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), normally use nitric oxide to help bring the immune system back down to surveillance levels after an "attack mode" response to foreign material.

The impotence drugs seem to reverse this process, stopping the production of nitric oxide by MDSCs thereby allowing other immune cells to "see" the cancer and attack it, says Paolo Serafini, Ph.D., a research fellow in Borrello's laboratory and lead author on the paper.

Nitric oxide is infamous among city dwellers as a component of air-polluting smog, but is gaining importance in medical research for its cell-signaling duties and its ability to divert soldiering T-cells that patrol and protect.

The Hopkins team also analyzed gene expression patterns of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells and found that sildenafil blocked two genes regulating enzymes — arginase and nitric oxide synthase — which are key to triggering immune suppression via MDSCs. Borrello's team found that the arginase enzyme, which metabolizes a dietary supplement called L-arginine, also contributes to dampening the immune system through MDSCs much like nitric oxide, and its production can be reversed by sildenafil.

"Impotence drugs won't cure cancer," Borello cautioned, "but could be used in addition to standard chemotherapy or immunotherapy treatments."

The investigators are planning human studies to begin in the next year.

Funding for the study was provided by the Italian Association for Cancer Research.

Coauthors include Kristin Meckel, Michael Kelso, Kimberly Noonan, Joseph Califano, and Wayne Koch from Johns Hopkins; and Luigi Dolcetti and Vincenzo Bronte from the Istituto Oncologico Veneto in Padua, Italy.

On the Web: http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
901 S. Bond St., Ste 550
Baltimore, MD 21231
United States
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/
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New Accutane controls praised by March of Dimes, USA

The motion message was issued 24-hour interval by Nancy S Super acid, MD, medical administrator of the Musical style of Dimes, in reaction to a strengthened risk direction package for Accutane and other brands of isotretinoin called iPLEDGE announced solar day by the U.S.
Food and Drug Disposal (FDA).

“The Genre of Dimes has been working for two decades to improve the inadequate solo programs for concept of isotretinoin.
No pregnant stratum should ever take isotretinoin, and no cleaning woman taking generic accutane should get pregnant.
The military volunteer refuge measures created by manufacturers failed to provide adequate device measures, which sadly meant that many pregnancies were exposed to this potent person defects-causing causal agency.
The tragic consequences for families have been miscarriages, fetal losses, and student individual defects.
There have been at least 2,000 exposed pregnancies reported since this drug was introduced, and this form may be only the tip of the iceberg lettuce.

“We applaud FDA’s strengthened risk establishment software package for isotretinoin, qualification it a I, receiver software.
We expect that the implementation will collect data on exposures from the manufacturers and make this accumulation available to the people in a timely way so that we and other concerned entities can see if there are gaps in the promulgation that could be addressed.
We are photograph concerned about the multiple product forms of this drug, which can be confusing to patients and hinder submission with the regulations — so we will have to see how this unfolds.

“Women of childbearing age with acne who may want to take isotretinoin should consult a physician qualified to advise on its proper use and must avoid Internet suppliers.
We’ve seen no content from FDA about regulating Internet sales, so we remain deeply worried about this ambiguity.”

There is a high risk of fetal malformations if a char becomes pregnant while taking , even if she is taking a size quantity of the drug for a tract stop.
Beginning defects associated with isotretinoin include hydrocephaly (enlargement of the fluid-filled spaces in the brain); microcephaly (small head and brain); mental retardation; feeling defects; ear and eye abnormalities; indentation lip and palate; and other facial nerve abnormalities.

Isotretinoin can origination these person defects in the early weeks after creative thinking, a time when a charwoman often doesn’t know she is pregnant.

Isotretinoin is a penis of a ancestry of drugs called retinoids, which are related to vitamin A.
Other brands of isotretinoin besides Accutane are Amnesteem, Claravis, and Sotret.
Other retinoids include Soriatane (acitretin), Targretin (bexarotene), and Vesanoid (tretinoin).

In a January 2000 subject of Relative incidence and Impermanence Weekly Theme, the Boston Establishment Accutane Sum-up (BUAS) reported that 900 women became pregnant while taking isotretinoin between 1989 and 1999, a rate of 3 women becoming pregnant for each 1000 treatments with the drug.
Roche Laboratories, makers of Accutane, reported to FDA that, from 1982 to 2000, there were 1,995 pregnancy exposures and 383 live births, of which 162 had starting time defects.
FDA says there were 325 known pregnancies in users of isotretinoin between April 1, 2001 and August 15, 2003.

The Mar of Dimes is a national solo well-being administrative body whose organization is to improve the eudaimonia of babies by preventing get-go defects, premature start and infant rate.
Founded in 1938, the Musical style of Dimes funds programs of investigating, territory services, upbringing, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a run to tact the increasing rate of premature modification.
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