Patients with severe COPD may benefit more from therapy that combines salmeterol and fluticasone [SFC] than treatment with tiotropium, according to results from a long-term, multi-center study, “Investigating New Standards for Prophylaxis in Reducing Exacerbations” (INSPIRE) that directly compared the two therapies. [click link for full article]

Perrigo Company (Nasdaq: PRGO; TASE) announced that it has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for over-the-counter (OTC) Cetirizine Hydrochloride Tablets, 5 and 10 mg. [click link for full article]

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) issued its annual Clinical Practice Recommendations to help health care providers treat people with diabetes using the most current evidence available. This year, one notable change occurs in the Medical Nutrition Therapy section dealing with weight loss. Until now, the ADA did not recommend low carbohydrate diets because of lack of sufficient scientific evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness. [click link for full article]

FASgen is pleased to report the publication of important research results for lung cancer treatment using FAS093, one of the Company’s proprietary compounds. In a long-standing cooperation with The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, FASgen supported research into the selective inhibition of fatty acid synthase (FASi) at the Hopkins Oncology Center as a potential therapeutic agent against various forms of solid tumor cancers. [click link for full article]

Contrary to previous studies, married patients with lung cancer do not have longer survival, according to analysis of an extensive Mayo Clinic database in the December issue of “The Oncologist.” However, the results suggest some other potentially important differences among patient subgroups — including the possibility that married patients receive a more aggressive approach to lung cancer treatment, write Dr. Aminah Jatoi and colleagues. [click link for full article]

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) announced the first occupant in its Biogen Idec Innovation Incubator (bi3). Bi3 is a corporate initiative designed to contribute to the company’s drug development pipeline by offering entrepreneurial scientists the opportunity to rapidly convert novel biological insights into life saving and life changing therapies. [click link for full article]

Some describe New Year’s as the “world championship” of weight loss, as adults are bombarded with weight-loss claims and promises. For millions of well-intentioned dieters, the chaos can result in confusion, frustration and, ultimately, disappointment. [click link for full article]

UroToday.com- Two important developments are reported in this manuscript. First, the creation of an electronic stent registry which allows for the timely sending of email messages to administrative staff and the urologist placing the stent as to when a predetermined “maximal stent life” has been exceeded and the stent needs to be removed. Using this registry, all stents were removed within 21 days following the MSL. [click link for full article]

UroToday.com- Kochakaru and colleagues from Thailand report one of the largest series to date of cystectomy and orthotopic diversion for bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis. Thirty-five females with IC that met NIDDK criteria and failed to respond to conservative therapy agreed to undergo bladder removal. For cystectomy, the urethra was cut 0.5cm below the bladder neck, proximal to the pubourethral ligament, leaving the endopelvic fascia intact. [click link for full article]

UroToday.com- Using a Dornier MPL 9000, the authors provide a very thorough evaluation of treatments among 118 patients with solitary calyceal stones. Stone free was defined as [click link for full article]