Oh my gosh, who can believe it, we are almost in May! A week away in London and all of a sudden, I’ve come back to some major Spring action, with flowers blooming, my car all covered in yellow pollen and weeds making my house look like something out of a major science fiction production.
But here is what happened this week.
- Adulterated Feed Enters U.S. Farms – In what I have termed "issue creeping" – one of the suspect agents in the pet food recall has now found its way closer to your table since it has now been found in food imported for pig consumption. According to an FDA press release, the agency "FDA determined that a shipment of rice protein imported from China was contaminated with melamine and melamine-related compounds. The product was imported during the week of April 2, 2007 by Wilbur-Ellis, an importer and distributor of agricultural products. The rice protein was used in the production of pet food and a byproduct was used to produce animal feed." The USDA is offering to compensate producers who euthanize swine that were fed the adulterated product. No word on how many that might be or whether they could have entered the food supply already.
- Wyeth Gets Approvable Letter – The company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an approvable letter for bazedoxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. To familiarize yourself with approvable letters, see prior posting on what the approvable letter means.
- New Legislation Proposed on Follow-on Biologics – H.R. 1956 – Patient Protection and Innovative Biologic Medicines Act of 2007 – was introduced by Representative Jay Inslee (WA).
- Puppy Prozac – Yes, anxious puppies everywhere can breath a sigh of relief as the FDA has given the green light to Lilly to market Prozac for puppies to be indicated for separation anxiety and sold under the tradename "Reconcile" – who thinks those names up?
- New Interesting Blog – One Med Place – OneMedPlace is housed on a larger site designed to facilitate communication among many healthcare entities. It includes a global database of over 5,000 healthcare companies, investor portal, research library of clinical developments, and a variety of other useful resources, such as listings of consulting firms, banks, associations and relevant media outlets.
There was lots more, but this was serious enough. Have a good weekend everyone.
