Top China coal province vows 20 percent cut in pollution by 2020: Xinhua

One of China’s top coal-producing provinces has vowed to slash its level of fine particle pollution by one-fifth by 2020, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, citing the provincial government. China has adopted various measures from policing barbeques to halting industrial production in efforts to ease the yearly winter haze that hit the country earlier this month leaving cities veiled in foul-smelling smog. China’s northern Shanxi province aims to increase the proportion of days per year with good air quality to 75.4 percent, the agency said.
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Growth hormone deficiency drug from OPKO and Pfizer fails study

(Reuters) – OPKO Health Inc said its experimental drug for growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults failed to provide a statistically significant benefit over a placebo in a late-stage study, sending its shares down 14 percent in early trading. GHD is a rare disorder characterized by the inadequate secretion of the growth hormone from the pituitary gland, an organ responsible for the production of multiple hormones. Miami-based OPKO, which is developing the drug, hGH-CTP, with Pfizer Inc, said on Friday it had identified one or more outliers that may have affected the trial, in which patients were given the drug once a week.
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FDA rejects Cempra’s antibiotic for pneumonia, shares sink

Cempra Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had rejected its antibiotic for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), citing inadequate data on the drug’s impact on the liver and manufacturing issues. The FDA did not ask for further data on solithromycin’s effectiveness in treating CABP, Cempra said. An independent FDA panel narrowly backed the drug, solithromycin, in November, although a preliminary staff review by FDA scientists highlighted a potentially concerning rise in liver enzymes associated with its use.
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