Pain/Inflammation Featured Articles

1. New Patch Technology Will Help Scintilla Treat Pain 8/16/2016

   Pain management company Scintilla Pharmaceuticals has announced it will acquire SCILEX Pharmaceuticals to bolster its pain management business. SCILEX is engaged in the development and commercialization of products focused on the treatment of pain. Its lead product candidate, ZTlido, is a branded lidocaine patch formulation being developed for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia, the chronic pain that sometimes develops with shingles.

2. Iroko Uses Event Monitoring System To Power Phase 3 Trial Of VIVLODEX 6/13/2016

   In a recently completed Phase 3 trial, efficacy was demonstrated in patients with osteoarthritis pain who were treated with VIVLODEX, a low-dose SoluMatrix NSAID product. The Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) was used in the study to accurately track when patients required additional pain-relieving medication and to show that patients using VIVLODEX required less rescue pain medication.

3. France Tragedy Reminds Us Phase 1 Researchers Must Live With Tragic Results 3/29/2016

   The recent clinical research tragedy in France that resulted in the death of one patient and the hospitalization of four others shocked many who work in the clinical research space. The adverse effects experienced by the previously healthy patients, reportedly involving deep brain bleeds, were both rare and disturbing.   

4. Will Cyclobenzaprine Be A Solution For Fibromyalgia Patients? 2/22/2016

   Seth Lederman, M.D. has worked with many patients with fibromyalgia as a physician, and knows they have waited long enough for relief from its symptoms. “Those symptoms can quickly take over their lives,” he says. “Fibromyalgia is considered to be a pain disorder but it’s much more than that.”

5. Is There A Link Between The France Tragedy And Legal Highs? 1/20/2016

   By now you have heard about the tragic clinical trial in France that has resulted in the death of one person and the hospitalization of four others. While full details of what caused the fatal death of a healthy man are still not available, we do know the trial was likely testing an FAAH-inhibitor. Maia Szalavitz, writing on the website Vice.com, says this should be a wakeup call to some legal substance users in the U.S.

6. Your CRO Just Acquired Another CRO – Now What? 7/27/2013

   A year ago, Wendel Barr, CEO of CRO Synteract, was frustrated. His company was profitable, he had talented personnel, Synteract was managing a wide variety of projects, and his clients were satisfied with their level of service. Despite this success, his potential to grow the business was constrained. Synteract was a U.S.-based firm with limited presence overseas. As a result, his company often found itself forced to leave money on the table, especially as its customers moved to larger, Phase 3 trials. “It became clear to us that in order to provide the range of services our customers required, we had to have more offices in Europe, beyond our office in Prague,” he says. “If you want to be a full service provider from Phase 1 to Phase 4, you have to be global.”

7. Outsourcing Insights From The President Of A Virtual Drug Discovery Company 4/16/2013

   Carolyn Green, is the President and Director for Atreaon, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing a novel engineered protein called Atsttrin, for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Having recently completed a $20 million Series A financing to support the pre-clinical development of Atsttrin, Green took time out from her busy schedule to share some of her thoughts and insights regarding the outsourcing of clinical research.

8. Engage With Patients, Not Paper 4/12/2013

   Technology has come a long way, and continues to evolve in ways that many of us could not have imagined 20 years ago. Consider the iPhone 5. This device has a user friendly interface, PassPort (an app that keeps all your gift cards, coupons, boarding passes, and tickets organized, and which are ready for you when you need them), enables cloud computing, and of course has Siri, which remembers where you are, reminds you of appointments, and gives you directions. Just 10 years ago, I could not have imagined doing all of that from the palm of my hand.

    

   Michael Smyth, general manager of TransPerfect Life Sciences Solutions, thinks of this technology every time he walks into a clinical investigative site and sees row after row of shelves piled high with binders full of paper. “When a new technology comes out, like the iPhone 5, most people can’t wait to embrace it,” he says.  “It makes our lives better and easier in so many ways, it is almost counter-productive to NOT embrace it. I know many people in the life science industry who have this device. Yet when it comes to documenting the results of clinical trials, many sites continue to use the same methods that were used 100 years ago, even though far more efficient and time-saving technologies are now available. I believe it is time for the life sciences industry to embrace these technologies as well.”

9. Former Acorda Chief Medical Officer Discusses Benefits And Pitfalls Of Outsourcing 3/18/2013

   Dr. Thomas C. Wessel, former chief medical officer for Acorda Therapeutics, recently shares his expertise acquired from working with the clinical development and operations, regulatory affairs, biostatistics, data management and drug safety functions.

10. Ten Things You Need To Know About Conducting A Human Abuse Liability Study 10/10/2012

    Tips about the HAL Study from Dr. Lynn Webster, medical director of CRI Lifetree and president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.