January 24, 2006
Amarin Insiders Hopeful
Some good news. The insiders and major investors in Amarin are putting more of their money into the company based on their expectations of Miraxion (LAX-101). It's not only looking promising as a helpful treatment for Huntington's Disease, it's also showing promising results as a treatment for Parkinson's Disease.
For those new to this...Miraxion is a purified form of EPA, a fish oil derivative. If you have Huntington's Disease, talk to your doctor about taking 1 gram's worth of EPA twice every day. That's roughly equivalent to the doses being used in Miraxion's Phase III trial.
Posted by Dave at 04:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 11, 2006
NeurotrophinCell Update
Living Cell Technologies has had their meeting with the FDA and they are indicating that it went well. They plan on initiating Phase I trials this year for NeurotrophinCell, now being referred to as NtCell, for the treatment of Huntington's Disease. See here for past postings on the promise of NtCell.
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January 08, 2006
Depression And Huntington's Disease
Do you have a loved one who has Huntington's Disease or is at risk? (Of course I do, otherwise why would I be here?)
The outstanding researchers at the University of Iowa interviewed Huntington's Disease patients on the issue of depression. Half reported that they had sought treatment for depression and more than 10% had at least one suicide attempt.The researchers conclude that many HD patients are being adequately treated for depression.
Since there is evidence that anti-depressents not only reduces the chance of suicide but also might slow the progression of Huntington's Disease...Why aren't more people with HD prescribed an anti-depressant?
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2005 Fall;17(4):496-502.
Depression and stages of Huntington's disease.
Paulsen JS, Nehl C, Hoth KF, Kanz JE, Benjamin M, Conybeare R, McDowell B, Turner B.
University of Iowa, 1-305 Medical Education Building, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. jane-paulsen@uiowa.edu
Individuals with manifest Huntington's disease (HD) were interviewed with regard to the presence, frequency, and severity of depression symptoms to better characterize depressed mood across the disease course in HD. Rates of depression were more than twice that found in the general population. One-half reported that they had sought treatment for depression, and more than 10% reported having at least one suicide attempt. The proportion of HD patients endorsing significant depression diminished with disease progression. Despite the public health impact of depression, available treatments are underutilized in HD, and research is needed to document the efficacy and effectiveness of standard depression treatments in this population.
PMID: 16387989
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January 07, 2006
Unusual Sentence For Person With HD
Joe Haskins was just sentenced to put his truck on blocks. It could have been worse. Joe just plead guilty to his second DUI. Joe hadn't been legal to drive for four years, to many points, and the truck wasn't registered. He was also charged with resisting arrest.
It appears that two things worked in his favor...he had a good attorney and a judge who understood Huntington's disease.
[Judge] Katz worked with the prosecution and defense lawyers to allow Haskins to keep his prized possession until his probation ends in late 2007 -- as long as it doesn't move from its spot near the apartment."He sands it, shines it up, got it so it runs. To take it away would really devastate him," said Lorin Duckman, Haskins' lawyer. "This was a great solution to a difficult problem."
Katz declined to comment on the case, but Duckman said the unusual sentence came partly because of the nature of Haskins' physical limitations.
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January 04, 2006
Risk & Reward
How each individual reacts to medications can be puzzling. Any one anti-depressant may only work well for half of those who take it. Fortunately, there are many choices for anti-depressants so doctors can find a medication that does work for a patient. That wasn't the case a few decades ago.
Ralph Nader's group, Public Citizen, has been campaigning the FDA for years to ban various medications because they feel the risks are too high. They, and other groups , have focused their attention on drugs that are used to treat mental disorders in children and teenagers. Many feel that such drugs should not be prescribed (or at least prescribed much less).
Users of Permoline (Cylert) are now victims to this campaigning as the FDA has pulled Permoline from the market. Permaline was originally released as a treatment for ADHD, however it has found to be useful in the treatment of fatigue in M.S. and Narcolepsy.
One victim is Teresa Nielsen Hayden of the Making Light blog. Permoline has been the only drug that has worked against her Narcolepsy. Now she nothing to help her with her disease.
So what was the FDA's reason for pulling Permoline from the market? Some people taking Permoline developed liver problems (and many people didn't). Originally, to address this, the FDA issued a "black box" warning asking to doctors to regularly check the livers of patients taking this medication and to stop use of the medication if a problem developed.
Teresa Nielsen Hayden's liver is fine, she had been regularly tested. However, her narcolepsy isn't. Now she has no options. Since narcolepsy is a "rare" disease, similar in numbers to Huntington's Disease, they don't have as much influence with the FDA as Public Citizen.
It's a crying shame.
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January 03, 2006
Anti-Depressants Work
From the Washington Post:
The researchers found that the risk of attempted suicide was 60 percent lower in the month after treatment began and that it continued to decline. While the overall risk for suicide was higher for adolescents than adults, the reduction in risk was about the same for both groups. When the researchers specifically examined 10 of the newest antidepressants, such as Prozac -- the ones that have come under the most suspicion -- they found that the risk was even lower.
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January 02, 2006
Sicko
A year ago I commented on what I thouight be upcoming difficulties for the pharmaceutical industry. One of them is due to hit this fall.
Variety reports that Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" is due to hit theaters this fall. I stand by what I wrote a year ago:
I didn't see his last film, "Fahrenheit 9/11" though I know it has its fans & critics, but let me tell you about one that hit close to home - "Bowling for Columbine". I live near Columbine High School and I saw his distortions. I would even call them lies. Some examples that I can confirm from local coverage: The killers didn't go bowling, the Lockheed plant makes rockets for satellites not WMD's, he lied about the plaque & the plane, and many who appeared in the film state they were deceived by him.Having seen his work first hand, my belief is his pharmaceutical movie will be filled in a similar, misleading way. That can't be good for the industry.
And how has the pharmaceutical industry done over the past year? Not so good:
Not that long ago, investors thought of drug stocks as protection against the economy's troughs and as opportunities for growth in rising markets. But Big Pharma's struggles of recent years have sent many once-supportive shareholders scrambling for something stronger.The Amex Pharmaceutical Index, which tracks mostly big companies, trails both the S&P 500 and the Amex Biotechnology Index at intervals of six months, one year, two years and five years.
It takes money to make cures for diseases like Huntington's Disease. It hurts us all when investors no longer wish to invest in the pharmaceutical industry.
However, there is one bright spot and it is biotechnology. Investors are still flooding in as companies start to make some real progress. Overall, biotechnology stocks were up 25% for 2005. Sirna Therapeutics, which has a very promising Huntington's Disease program, saw its stocks end the year about where it started at a little over $3 a share.
Posted by Dave at 08:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 01, 2006
Australia Moving On Genetic Descrimination
Some good news from The Age:
The Government has agreed to amend the Disability Discrimination Act to ban employers from requiring employees to provide them with results of genetic tests, and to clarify the definition of disability to include a genetic predisposition to a disability, making it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees on the basis of their genetics.The Government has also agreed to make it an offence to test someone's genetic information without their consent.
Earlier this year, the Government announced it would partially implement the key recommendation of the commission, to establish a Human Genetics Commission to advise the public and government on present and emerging issues in genetic technology, among other roles.
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