U.S. medical scientists say a drug used to treat high potassium levels for more than 50 years has no proven benefit and probably would not be approved today.The study was led by Dr. Richard Sterns of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry."These agents came into widespread use in 1958 -- four years before drug manufacturers were required to prove the effectiveness of their products before gaining FDA approval," Sterns said.

Read more: Drug used for high potassium questioned

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it approved Allergan's botulinum-based drug Botox to treat spasms of the elbow, wrist and fingers.Under the latest FDA indication, Allergan will be able to market Botox as a treatment for adults with spasticity in the flexor muscles of the elbow, wrist, and fingers."Muscles affected by spasticity have increased stiffness and tightness, which may lead to pain, difficulties with hygiene and other activities of daily living, and may affect how a patient looks," said Dr. Russell Katz, director of the FDA's division of neurology products.

Read more: FDA approves Botox for elbow, wrist, finger spasms

WASHINGTON - Federal health advisers say an experimental drug from InterMune Inc. provides a meaningful benefit for patients with a rare lung disease.The Food and Drug Administration's panel of lung experts narrowly voted 7-5 in favor of the benefits of the company's drug pirfenidone.The FDA is not required to follow the group's advise, though it often does.

Read more: FDA panel narrowly backs benefit of InterMune drug

BASEL, Switzerland - Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Group said Monday it has suspended a late-stage trial for a new rheumatoid arthritis and lupus drug after several patients died from infections.Roche said the drug, ocrelizumab, was developed together with Biogen Idec with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.A review found "the safety risk outweighs the benefits observed in these specific patient populations at this time" after detecting "serious and opportunistic infections, some of which were fatal," Basel-based Roche said.

Read more: Roche suspends arthritis drug study after deaths

LONDON - AstraZeneca PLC said Monday that its cancer drug Recentin failed in a head to head late stage trial with Roche AG's Avastin in tests for use as an initial treatment against colon cancer.The London-based drug company said it will wait for the results of a second study on Recentin - this time testing its effectiveness in combination with chemotherapy compared with chemotherapy alone - before deciding whether to submit the drug to regulators for marketing approval.Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said the stock coming under pressure was expected, but advocated buying on weakness "as the mid-term guidance story remains intact, because Recentin was a high risk development."

Read more: Astra's colon cancer drug fails test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it's approved a name change for the heartburn drug Kapidex to avoid confusion with two other medications.The FDA said the name change, effective late next month, will avoid confusion with the drugs Casodex (bicalutamide) and Kadian (morphine sulfate), both of which are indicated for very different uses than is Kapidex."Kapidex is a proton pump inhibitor used to treat heartburn and other conditions by reducing the amount of acid produced in the stomach," the FDA said.

Read more: FDA Oks name change for drug Kapidex

NEW YORK - Drug developer and medical products company Covidien said Wednesday it has launched a generic version of the painkiller Actiq.The company gained Food and Drug Administration approval for the generic version on Oct. 30.In October, Covidien said it expected to start selling six different doses of generic Actiq, or fentanyl citrate, which is a powerful and addictive painkiller.

Read more: Covidien launches generic version of Actiq

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/b903c4/antivirals_novel) has announced the addition of Decision Resources, Inc.'s new report "Antivirals: Novel Targets, Technologies, and Dealmaking" to their offering.Targeted antivirals have been enormously successful for human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV) and include life-saving blockbusters such as Truvada, Atripla, Kaletra, and Reyataz. Most HIV drug development is for existing targets, but companies are also investigating novel targets such as viral maturation.

Read more: Research and Markets: Antivirals: Novel Targets, Technologies, and Dealmaking

In the fourth part of our series about Ulster scientists at the forefront of the battle against the deadly disease, Lisa Smyth looks at the success of Herceptin in the fight against breast cancerMORE than 1,000 women from Northern Ireland have been treated with the miracle drug Herceptin -- improving the life expectancy of women with advanced breast cancer and even saving the lives of those diagnosed at an earlier stage.Northern Ireland breast cancer patients were involved in the trials which led to Herceptin becoming a standard treatment for patients with advanced breast cancer in 2002.

Read more: 'Miracle' drug giving women real hope

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fdb853/drugdevice_combin) has announced the addition of Woodhead Publishing Ltd's new report "Drug-Device Combination Products" to their offering.Chapters in part one discuss specific applications such as drug eluting stents and antimicrobial cements. Part two covers the development of drug device combination products with such topics as preclinical testing and regulation of products.

Read more: Research and Markets: A Thorough Analysis of the Fundamentals, Applications and New Technologies of Drug-Device Combination Products