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A Call For Research On The Emerging Influenza Pandemic
A call for research on the emerging influenza pandemic is being launched by the NIHR as the World Health Organization (WHO) announces the move to pandemic phase 6. The research will provide evidence to influence ongoing health policy and practice.

AlphaRx Presents Positive Preclinical Data On Zysolin(TM) Inhalable Nanoparticles At Controlled Release Society Annual Meeting
AlphaRx, Inc. (OTCBB: ALRX) announced positive preclinical results which demonstrated that an inhaled tobramycin nanoparticle (Zysolin(TM)) formulation was a more effective treatment in animal models of acute Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia when compared to inhaled and injected conventional tobramycin solutions. The data was presented recently in an oral podium session at the 36th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the Controlled Release Society in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Roche To Offer Developing Countries Discounted Tamiflu
The pharmaceutical company Roche on Wednesday announced a program to help ensure developing countries have access to its antiviral Tamiflu, for "the management of a novel influenza strain defined by the WHO as having significant and current pandemic potential," Reuters reports (Egenter, 7/1). The program will make Tamiflu, which has been shown to be effective against the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, available to developing countries for "half the price normally charged," Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports (Mengewein, 7/1).
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Aiming For 'Below The Norm' Blood Pressure Offers No Benefit

Aiming for lower than standard blood pressure targets offers no known clinical benefit, according to a Cochrane Review. In a systematic review of the evidence, researchers found that using antihypertensive drugs to reduce blood pressure below the 140/90 mm Hg standard was not associated with any reduction in death rates or serious morbidity. "At present there is no evidence from randomized trials to support aiming for a blood pressure target lower than 140/90, in the general population of patients with elevated blood pressure," says lead researcher Jose Arguedas of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Costa Rica in Costa Rica. The findings do not support guidelines in a number of publications that recommend aiming for lower targets, based on the assumption that "lower is better" when it comes to blood pressure. The researchers were unable to determine whether it is safe to aim for lower targets because relevant data was missing from most of the trials. The review is based on the results of seven trials, which together involved 22,089 people. Whilst patients aiming for targets below 135/85 mmHg did succeed in achieving greater reductions in blood pressure than those in the standard target group, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the number of patients dying or suffering heart attacks, strokes, heart failure or kidney failure. "Our research included patients with diabetes or chronic renal disease, and the evidence was slightly less robust for those subgroups of patients. We intend to carry out separate systematic reviews for those subgroups, especially because guidelines recommend even lower blood pressure targets for them", says Arguedas. Jennifer Beal Wiley-Blackwell


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