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In Elderly Lung Cancer Patients, All-Biologic Regimen Found To Be Efficacious And Well-Tolerated
Previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients over the age of 70 respond well to a combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

FDA Approves Generic Version Of Emergency Contraception Pills
FDA on Wednesday approved Watson Pharmaceuticals" generic version of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, the Wall Street Journal reports. The generic drug will be available without a prescription to women ages 18 and older on Aug. 24, when Duramed Pharmaceuticals" market exclusivity for Plan B expires (Kalish, Wall Street Journal, 6/25). The generic version will be available to women ages 17 and younger with a prescription, according to an FDA press release (FDA Web site, 6/24). Watson will market the generic version under the name Next Choice (AP/Washington Post, 6/24).A one-time use pack of the brand-name product, Plan B, currently costs $49.99 through the online retailer DrugStore.com. According to Bloomberg, generic drugs usually cost 30% to 80% less than brand-name versions (Larkin, Bloomberg, 6/24).
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IPS Examines Need For New Drugs To Treat Neglected Tropical Diseases
Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004. "The diseases in question account for the deaths of 500,000 people annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, but drug development is biased towards the prospect of high profits, which diseases of the poor like sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniaisis are unable to offer," IPS writes.
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G8 Leaders Launch $20B Initiative To Help Farmers In Developing Countries

The Washington Post reports: "Leaders of the world"s major economies pledged Friday to raise $20 billion over the next three years for food and agricultural aid to the world"s most impoverished countries." According to Obama administration officials, "the U.S. will contribute at least $3.5 billion over the next three years to the worldwide effort," which in addition to the funding, "hopes to better coordinate global food aid efforts and work through initiatives already in place in poor countries around the world, rather than creating new plans," the Washington Post reports (Fletcher, 7/10). According to Reuters, the U.N. "says the number of malnourished people has risen over the past two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing a four-decade trend of declines." Also on Friday, African leaders said they would "voice their concerns" about the G8 countries" unfulfilled aid promises, Reuters reports. Ethiopian premier Meles Zenawi said, "The key message for us is to ask the G8 to live up to their commitments" (Stewart/Heller, 7/10). In a related article, IRIN examines President Obama"s desire to shift "to focus on agricultural development" in U.S.-supported countries, "rather than having them remain recipients." The change "comes hot on the heels of the 2008 food price crisis, which prompted the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to call for better governance of food security," IRIN writes, adding that the "move towards development does not necessarily portend the end of food aid" (7/9). CQ Transcript Wire/Washington Post published a transcript of President Obama"s remarks to the G8 summit (7/9). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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