QDIS Blog

I just wanted to let folks know that a few days ago, I posted episode 2 of “Searching the Internet” podcast. This episode covers how to use some of the advanced search features on Google and Yahoo. You can read the show notes on the site or subscribe via iTunes by clicking here (mp3 version).

If you want to subscribe to the enhanced version in iTunes or to listen to on your iPod the link is below:

http://www.qdinformation.com/searching/?feed=rss2&category_name=enhanced-podcast-aac

Copy the above link and go to iTunes. Under the menu item “Advanced” select “Subscribe to Podcast” and in the resulting dialog box, paste in the above URL. This will subscribe you to the enhanced version of “Searching the Internet” and allows you to automatically get all future episodes when they are posted. The enhanced version offers the advantage of placing a picture in the lower left corner of itunes to let you know what that section of the podcast is all about as well as a URL link to the page I’m talking about. You can also skip to certain parts within the podcast by clicking on the icon just to the left of the the search bar. It looks like this:

If you use iTunes and an iPod, I highly recommend the enhanced version. Episode 3 should be out later this week and will cover some non-search engine sites to find addresses, phone numbers, and more.

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The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has recommended approval of Sanofi-aventis’ Accomplia (rimonabant) weight loss drug. While not binding, the EU usually follows the recommendation within three months. This means it may be approved by the end of July. It should be noted that the EMEA did not recommend approval of Accomplia for smoking cessation.

Also, the FDA sent an approvable letter in Feb to Sanofi-aventis for weight loss but also did not think the drug worked for quitting smoking. It is unclear when it may be approved in the US. The NDA was filed in June 2005 so it may happen by the end of 2006.

The interesting thing about rimonabant is that it works by a new mechanism different from most other drugs by blocking a pleasure center in the brain.

Wikipedia has a nice article on rimonabant. Two article are available for those seeking more information; one from the New England Journal of Medicine (free) and the other from the Lancet (registration required). Drug Development Technology also had a nice article on rimonabant.

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Just a quick update; after blogging about TagClouds on Friday, it seems they are undergoing major changes. Until now, it had been run on a single server as a weekend project. It has now grown beyond that and they have a sponsor and are moving the service to new servers. I’ve temporarily taken down the TagClouds until the service is back up and running. Sorry for that. Hopefully they’ll be back soon.

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The Boston globe has an article on a recent ruling that will likely limit how low the price of generic versions of Zocor (simvastatin). This is one of the leading statin drugs and the patent is set to expire on June 23rd. There is expected to be almost a dozen generic companies via for this market. The District Judge Richard Roberts declared invalid an FDA decision to NOT allow Ivax (a division of Teva Pharmaceuticals) and Ranbaxy Laboratories to sell generic versions of Zocor. This means it is sent back to the FDA to reconsider. Ivax and Ranbaxy will both most likely have 6 months exclusivity to the generic market with others allowed to enter the market after the six month time period is over. Merck is also working with a third company to make an “authorized” version so there will likely be three companies making a generic version.

The price will likely be about 65% less than the brand name Zocor initially. This also means that patients who are on Lipitor may also be switched to generic simvastatin since the price will be much lower. However, the assumption is that when the market becomes more crowded, the price will likely drop even more as the 10 or so companies compete for this market (maybe by as much as 95%!). Zocor was a $4.5 billion in 2005 so the market is huge.

For a more detailed analysis see the article from the Patent Barista.

Here is a collection of news articles from Yahoo on this issue and here is the Google news on Zocor (simvastatin).

Technorati Tags: FDA, simvastatin

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