HPS2-THRIVE Coming Attraction: First Look At What Went Wrong With Niacin
In a few weeks, on March 9, the main results of the HPS2-THRIVE (Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events) study will be presented in San Francisco at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. These results have been eagerly awaited since Merck’s brief announcement in December that the trial had not met its primary endpoint and that it would no longer pursue approval of Tredaptive, the combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant, in the US. The trial was designed to assess whether adding the niacin/laropiprant combination to standard st...
Source: CardioBrief - February 27, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: People, Places & Events Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes European Heart Journal High-density lipoprotein Laropiprant Merck niacin Statin Tredaptive Source Type: blogs
Does the Oil in Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo Do Anything?
Miss Monet must know…I was looking for a good conditioning and found Garnier Triple Nutrition shampoo. Why is oil is put in shampoo when its going to go down the drain because sulfates get rid of dirt and oil?
The Beauty Brains respond:
Garnier’s Fructis line (made my L’Oreal) was originally based on fruit acids. Over time they’ve expanded their product line to include new products like this Triple Nutrition shampoo. According to their website it’s based on “Fortified Fruit Science” which consists of “3 Nutritive Fruit Weightless Oils” Olive, Avocado and Shea.
Nut...
Source: thebeautybrains.com - February 9, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: thebeautybrains Tags: Questions Source Type: blogs
Ken Frazier's at Davos
Merck CEO says jury out on raising good cholesterol
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The jury is still out on the benefits of increasing "good" HDL cholesterol, but the strategy remains worth pursuing, despite recent setbacks, the chief executive of Merck & Co said on Thursday.
Confidence in the HDL thesis suffered a fresh blow last month when a major clinical trial of Merck's Tredaptive medicine failed. That followed earlier failures with two other HDL-boosting drugs from Pfizer and Roche.
The Pfizer and Roche drugs worked differently to Tredaptive, by inhibiting a protein called CETP, and Merck is also developing a ke...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 24, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Trials Of Niacin And Atrial Fibrillation Device Will Headline American College Of Cardiology Program
Two big trials will highlight this year’s American College of Cardiology meeting in March in San Francisco. First is the PREVAIL trial testing Boston Scientific‘s long-anticipated Watchman left atrial appendage closure device for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. Second is the detailed presentation of the controversial failed HPS2-THRIVE trial of extended-release niacin and laropiprant. Read my complete story on Forbes, along with a list of the late-breakers. (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - January 22, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Heart Failure Heart Rhythms Interventional Cardiology & Surgery MI/ACS People, Places & Events American College of Cardiology atrial fibrillation Boston Scientific niacin San Francisco Watchman Source Type: blogs
#174: Niacin/laropiprant products to be suspended; JNC 8, ATP 4 guidelines; new meta-analysis on sugar sparks old debate; two antihypertensives plus NSAID ups risk of acute kidney injury
Niacin/laropiprant products to be suspended; JNC 8, ATP 4 guidelines; new meta-analysis on sugar sparks old debate; two antihypertensives plus NSAID ups risk of acute kidney injury (Source: Blogs@theHeart.org)
Source: Blogs@theHeart.org - January 18, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: theheart.org Tags: This week in cardiology from heartwire Source Type: blogs
Tredaptive RIP
Niacin/laropiprant products to be suspended worldwide
Tuesday 15th January 2013
LATEST NEWS
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended that the marketing, supply, and authorisations of three identical niacin/laropiprant products—Tredaptive, Pelzont, and Trevaclyn—for the treatment of adults with dyslipidemia be suspended across the European Union.[1]
In addition, the company that markets the combination, Merck, has begun working with regulatory agencies in all countries where the medicine is currently available to develop communications for healthcare providers and to suspend the availability of the pro...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 15, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Merck Starts To Suspend Worldwide Availability Of Tredaptive
In the wake of the negative HPS2-THRIVE study announced last month, Merck said today that it was beginning to suspend the worldwide availability of Tredaptive, its combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant. Click here to read the full story on Forbes. (Source: CardioBrief)
Source: CardioBrief - January 11, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes HDL High-density lipoprotein HPS2-THRIVE Laropiprant Merck niacin Tredaptive Source Type: blogs
Merck Pulls Tredaptive Cholesterol Pill After A Flop
Less than a month after a study showed its Tredaptive cholesterol pill failed to prevent heart attacks, strokes and deaths more than traditional statin drugs that lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, Merck is withdrawing the drug from 40 countries around the world. Tredaptive was not approved in the US, however (see Merck statement here).
The move is not surprising. At the time, the drugmaker acknowledged the results were so disappointing that regulatory approval would not be sought in the US. The trial followed more than 25,000 patients for almost four years and also found that Tredaptive significantly raised the incidence of s...
Source: Pharmalot - January 11, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Abbott Laboratories Abbvie Cholesterol Eli Lilly Merck Niaspan Pfizer Source Type: blogs
Should Niacin Still Be Prescribed? William Boden Versus Harlan Krumholz
In the wake of HPS2-THRIVE many have argued that there is no longer any reason to prescribe niacin. William Boden, the lead investigator of AIM-HIGH and COURAGE, thinks there were enough flaws in the design of the niacin trials to justify the cautious use of niacin in certain circumstances. Says Boden: “There is evidence of clinical outcome improvement (i.e., CHD death/MI reduction) from VA-HIT for gemfibrozil; there is similar clinical outcome improvement for niacin from the Coronary Drug Project. Numerous studies show niacin’s benefit on surrogate outcome measures (i.e., quantitative coronary angiography, IVUS, c...
Source: CardioBrief - January 9, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Larry Husten Tags: Policy & Ethics Prevention, Epidemiology & Outcomes AIM-HIGH Boden cholesterol HDL Heart Protection Study High-density lipoprotein HPS2-THRIVE LDL niacin Source Type: blogs
Nuvosa Skin Care: In the Beauty Brains Bathroom
Can I tell you how sick and tired I am of hearing anti-aging claims from companies that don’t provide ANY data to back up what they say?
That’s why it was so refreshing to find that the samples of Nuvosa skin care that I received were accompanied by actual test data showing how well their products work. If you aren’t familiar with Nuvosa, they offer a Deep Wrinkle Remedy, a Reborn Moisturizer and a Flawless Toner. You can learn more here at Nuvosa.com.
Nuvosa test data
According to their data, at the end of a 28 day study here’s what the women said:
94% agreed skin is hydrated.
90% of ...
Source: thebeautybrains.com - January 8, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: thebeautybrains Tags: Questions Source Type: blogs
