Background: Pioglitazone has been approved in Europe for oral combination therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Along with other agents of the thiazolidinedione class, it has a novel intracellular mechanism of action. Clinical trials with pioglitazone have confirmed a strong product profile in...

Aims: To estimate the costs, benefits and cost effectiveness, from the UK NHS perspective, of fluvastatin (relative to no HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor [statin]) for the secondary prevention of major adverse cardiac events following a successful first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)....

Objective: To estimate the economic value of pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in overweight and obese patients using orlistat in addition to standard diabetes therapy (i.e., a sulphonlyurea, metformin or insulin) and weight management strategies as compared with standard...

The pharmaceutical industry's core business is the innovation, development and marketing of new drugs. Pharmacogenetic (PG) testing and technology has the potential to increase a drug's value in many ways. A critical issue for the industry is whether products in development should be teamed with...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death and illness in industrialised countries. Like other hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, pravastatin reduces total and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels and increases high density lipoprotein...

Memantine (Ebixa(R), Namenda(TM), Axura(R)) is an uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist used in the management of patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. It is currently the only drug approved for use in these more advanced stages of the disease. Significant reductions in...

Background:Background: The benefit of unfractionated heparin (UFH) added to aspirin in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) was described more than 20 years ago. Ever since, a wide variety of anticoagulant drugs have become available for clinical use, including low-molecular-weight...

Background:Background: Screening and vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) can protect against cervical cancer. Neither alone can provide 100% protection. Consequently it raises the important question about the most efficient combination of screening at specified time intervals and...

Background:Background: Over 200 million people have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) worldwide. The number of disease-year equivalents and deaths attributable to COPD are high. Guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of the disease recommend an individualized step-up approach in...

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) invited the manufacturer of golimumab (Schering-Plough/Centocor) to submit evidence for the clinical and cost effectiveness of this drug for the treatment of active and progressive psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients who have...