To increase research on minority health problems, the US government has established the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in individuals over 55 years of age in the developed world. AMD affects about 11 million Americans, 5 million of whom have become legally blind because of it. Stargardt's macular degeneration (STGD3) is an early-onset form of AMD that affects about 30,000 children and young adults in the United States. Researchers reported in this week's Nature Genetics that they have identified a gene linked to AMD and predicted the discov

A French research team is criticised for allowing a clinical trial to continue even though preliminary results suggested the drug therapies were ineffective.

Since 1997 the US FDA has banned use of 11 prescription drugs because of serious side effects. The FDA says it's not the drug approval process but inappropriate prescribing that is responsible.

HOUSTON A variety of motives are behind several recent drug company announcements of donations of HIV/AIDS drugs to African countries. Certainly, something needs to be done to control existing cases of HIV/AIDS, in addition to the lifestyle changes that would reduce the number of new AIDS cases. By the end of this year, 36.1 million people will be living with HIV or AIDS, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).WHO and UNAIDS res

HOUSTON Bristol-Myers Squibb Company unveiled both a scientific achievement and a patent strategy that, if used by other drug companies, could delay introduction of cheaper generic versions of hundreds of patented drugs. Typically, after patents expire and generic versions of a drug become available, most drugs lose up to 80% of sales during the first year they face generic competition, according to Barbara Ryan, a drug industry analyst with Deutsche Banc Alex Brown. US patents on drugs with sal

Families of children suffering a degenerative brain disease are suing the hospital and researchers who used their children's blood and tissue to identify and patent the gene responsible for the disorder.

HOUSTON "Mosquitoes are flying syringes," declared Frank Cortez-Flores of Loma Linda University (California), and two mosquito-borne diseases have broken past old geographic boundaries to invade the US. The first, West Nile encephalitis, is a newcomer to the western hemisphere and thus has garnered the most headlines. The other, dengue fever, is considered the world's most important vector-borne viral disease affecting people, in terms of both morbidity and mortality. The West Nile virus, native

Many drugs effective against tropical diseases are no longer available or in danger of being pulled from the market because they are unprofitable.

HOUSTON. Amgen, the largest biotechnology company in the world, is funding research focusing on disorders that destroy parts of the nervous system. These include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke. Medicines for disorders resulting from dysfunction of the neuroendocrine system such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes are also under development. In both areas, Amgen licenses product candidates and technologies that complement its internal drug discovery and develop

Neurogenomics has significant commercial potential by way of gene targets for enhancement of brain function and treatment of brain-based disease.

A new law in the US requiring new adult drugs to be tested for use in children could result in a three-fold increase in the number of pediatric clinical trials.