Surveillance Summary Feb 14 – Feb 20, 2004

Our surveillance program experienced light activity throughout Week 8 of 2004. A total of 20 technology updates were recorded; 2 of these were newly detected technologies added to our database (New Detects), while 18 updates were made to already existing technology records. This week’s average Health Technology Impact Score was 41.85, slightly above the 2004 [...]

CYPHER Sirolimus-eluting Stent

On February 18, 2004, Cordis Corporation announced completion of patient enrollment in the first randomized head-to-head coronary stent trial comparing its new CYPHER sirolimus-eluting coronary stent with the Taxus Express (2) paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent. This trial is expressly designed to compare performance differences between the two drug-eluting stents, particularly in high-risk patient group subsets such [...]

Indiplon

Indiplon On February 18, 2004 Neurocrine Biosciences said that preliminary results from a late-stage clinical trial showed that its experimental sleeping pill, being developed in conjunction with Pfizer, works in elderly patients with chronic insomnia. Results from its Phase III clinical trial with two doses (5 mg and 10 mg) of the immediate release formulation [...]

Visudyne

On January 29, 2004, U.S. health authorities expanded patient reimbursement for QLT’s Visudyne therapy to treat Wet Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The changes, which could take effect by October 2004, will make 40,000 to 60,000 new patients eligible for reimbursement, potentially doubling QLT’s current patient pool of about 60,000. Until now, Medicaid has covered [...]

Erbitux

On Feb 12, 2004, ImClone Systems Incorporated and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced that the FDA approved the Erbitux (cetuximab) Injection for use in combination with irinotecan in the treatment of certain colorectal cancer patients. Particularly, Erbitux has been approved for patients with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) expressing, metastatic colorectal cancer who are refractory to [...]

Surveillance Summary Feb 7 – Feb 13, 2004

Our surveillance program experienced moderate activity throughout week 7 of 2004. A total of 19 technology updates were recorded; 12 of these were new technologies added to our database, while the remaining 7 updates occurred for already existing technology records. Etanercept, Remicade and Visudyne were the only High Impact technologies updated during week 7. Please [...]

Surveillance Summary Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2004

Our surveillance program experienced heavy activity throughout week 6 of 2004. A total of 27 technology updates were recorded; 9 of these were new technologies added to our Emerging Health Technology Database (‘new detects’), while the remaining 18 updates occurred for already existing technology records. 8 of the 18 or 44% are currently in our [...]

Namenda

In October of 2003, Forest Laboratories announced FDA approval of Namenda™ (memantine HCL) for moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease. This new therapy is the first of a new class of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease known as NMDA antagonists. Namenda is thought to decrease the affinity of the NMDA receptor for a neurotransmitter known as glutamate, which plays [...]

Avastin

n early December 2003, Genentech announced that the Biologics License Application (BLA) for Avastin (bevacizumab) as a first line therapy in metastatic colorectal cancer had been submitted to the FDA. Genentech requested and received a ‘Priority Review’ designation.