Month: June 2013

By Caroline Copley ZURICH (Reuters) – When Swede Goesta Larsson died in 2006, the titanium screw-in teeth put in his mouth more than 40 years earlier were still in good working order. Now, Nobel Biocare Holding AG – the firm that grew from that first implant system – is trying to regain its initial success after seeing its profits and image hit in recent years. Nobel is battling bad luck and bad decisions. Many European consumers stopped spending on cosmetic dentistry during the financial crisis and rivals pushed ahead with cheaper options. …

LONDON (AP) — A representative for actor Michael Douglas now says the actor doesn't blame his throat cancer on oral sex.

(Reuters) – Clovis Oncology said initial results of an early-stage trial of its experimental lung cancer drug showed a reduction in tumor size, prompting investors to more than double the company’s market value on Monday. The experimental therapy, named CO-1686, aims to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with a mutation in gene T790M. “(The) data was extremely impressive and we believe further highlights the drug’s paradigm changing potential for at least refractory NSCLC patients with (this) mutation,” Leerink Swann analyst Marko Kozul wrote in a note. …

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A European regulator will fine Denmark's Lundbeck and eight other makers of generic drugs for limiting the supply of cheaper medicines, two people with knowledge of the matter said, its first sanction against "pay-for-delay" deals. Following an inquiry launched in 2009, the European Union's anti-trust regulator will impose a "significant" fine on Lundbeck and lesser fines on Germany's Merck KGaA this month, the people said. Seven smaller drug firms will also be fined. The sanctions underscore the determination of EU and U.S. …

Two-and-a-half years after beating throat cancer, Michael Douglas is blaming the disease on a virus he contracted during oral sex. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Douglas, 68, said the walnut-sized tumor at the back of his throat stemmed from the human papillomavirus, a sexually-transmitted infection best…        

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Shares of Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp fell by nearly one-third on Monday morning on disappointing results from its trial of an experimental lung cancer drug. The drug, ganetespib, was shown in a mid-stage trial to improve survival in patients with advanced lung cancer that worsened after initial treatment, but the results led some investors to reassess the outlook. BMO analyst Jim Birchenough said that while the risk of death and disease progression appears positive for ganetespib, the difference in patient deaths is relatively small. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Actors Bradley Cooper and Glenn Close are among those gathering Monday at the White House for a conference on mental health, organized as part of President Barack Obama’s response to last year’s shooting massacre at a Connecticut elementary school.