| Letters: Neuro-Pioneers (1 Letter) A letter to the editor. feeds.nytimes.com |
Strengthening La Nina could mean more hurricanes By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID 2010-09-09T17:21:36ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- The La Nina climate phenomenon is strengthening, increasing the likelihood an active hurricane season could get even busier.... hosted.ap.org |
Robert Truax, a Top Rocket Scientist, Is Dead at 93 The Encyclopedia Astronautica called Mr. Truax “one of the great originals of American rocketry.” He died at age 93 of prostate cancer on Sept. 17 in Valley Center, Calif., said his wife, Marisol. feeds.nytimes.com |
David Brennan of AstraZeneca says public sector crucial to drug research AstraZeneca chief executive stresses need for co-operation in tackling problem of antibiotic resistanceAstraZeneca's chief executive will this week urge ministers to work with the pharmaceutical industry to share the risks and costs in developing effective antibiotics and other treatments.Speaking on public-private partnerships at the Asian Business Leaders conference on Wednesday, David Brennan will stress the importance of public sector bodies and NGOs teaming up with pharmaceutical groups to tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance."I'm clear that the most certain way for us to create value for our shareholders is by doing something useful or of value for patients," Brennan will say.Governments are keen to accelerate research on antibiotics after decades of neglect. Pharmaceutical companies and governments have blamed each other for the paucity of new drugs to help combat hospital superbugs and other diseases."I know, in the past, some NGOs and public sector bodies have worried [that] our aims are incompatible with their approach," Brennan will say. "I think that view is now changing. Increasingly both public and private sector organisations are recognising that by working together we can make a bigger contribution to tackling some of the world's biggest problems."Pharmaceutical groups are collaborating with universities, biotech companies and even rival drugmakers to share expertise and costs. Last year AstraZeneca formed more than a hundred new partnerships.A spokeswoman for the company said: "If we think [a treatment is] not commercially viable, we can give it to somebody in the public sector who is willing to spend money to develop it."In his speech, Brennan points to antibiotic resistance as an area where partnerships offer real potential. The discovery of antibiotics 70 years ago revolutionised the treatment of bacterial infections and saved millions of lives. But what were once regarded as miracle medicines are losing effectiveness as the bacteria they are fighting have become resistant to them.The rapid spread of multi-drug-resistant bacteria led the medical journal The Lancet: Infectious Diseases to ask in August "Is this the end of antibiotics?"Brennan admits that in the past 30 years, only two new classes of antibiotics have been developed.Margaret Hamburg, commissioner at the US Food and Drug Administration, said last week that "the range of new antibiotics is disturbingly limited".Many pharmaceutical companies have stopped investing in the development of antibiotics because they do not regard them as a lucrative area, given the speed at which bacteria build up resistance to these drugs.Along with Novartis and Merck, AstraZeneca is one of few companies that are investing in the area. The Anglo-Swedish group last year bought Novexel, a French firm spun off from Sanofi-Aventis, which specialises in treatments for infections that have become resistant to antibiotics.In the fight against tuberculosis, AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical companies have teamed up with government agencies, academics and NGOs in a collaboration led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the TB Alliance and the Critical Path Institute."Partnerships are happening; they are working; and they are making a real difference," Brennan will conclude.AstraZenecaPharmaceuticals industryAntibioticsMedical researchJulia Kolleweguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Dot Earth: Seeking Crowd-Sourced Climate Pacts A contest calls on the online cloud to come up with feasible international climate agreements. feeds.nytimes.com |