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Canada Joins International Effort To Provide Access To Health Research
Accelerating the development of discoveries and innovations and facilitating their adoption through free and open access to research findings. This is the aim of an important new initiative that will provide researchers and knowledge users free access to a vast digital archive of published health research at their desktop and connect them to an emerging international network of digital archives anchored in the United States.

Waits To See Specialists In Boston Increased To Average Of 50 Days, Study Finds
The average time patients in Boston wait for an appointment to see a specialist has increased over the last five years to an average of 50 days and can be up to one year, despite the fact that the city has an "abundance" of specialists, according to a recent study, the Boston Globe reports. For the study, Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a Texas-based consulting and physician recruiting firm, surveyed 1,162 physician offices in 15 metropolitan areas to try to re-create the situation of a new patient seeking a nonurgent appointment in five specialty areas -- cardiology, dermatology, family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and orthopedic surgery. The average wait time in Boston is more than three weeks longer than any other city included in the study. The study determined that while Boston patients had the longest wait times for appointments to see dermatologists, ob-gyns and family practitioners, Dallas had the longest wait times to see orthopedic surgeons, followed by Boston. Miami, Minneapolis and San Diego all had longer wait times to see cardiologists than Boston.According to the study, while Boston patients have long faced delays, the problem may have been exacerbated by an increase in patients seeking care following the implementation of the 2006 Massachusetts health insurance law. While the study did not pinpoint a cause for longer wait times in Boston, the study"s authors wrote that the city"s experience "may signal what could happen nationally in the event that access to health care is expanded through health care reform."Brian Rossman, research director for Health Care for All, said the reason for long wait times also is because many specialists in Boston work for academic medical centers and do not see patients full time (Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, 5/15).
News of the day
CBO: Health Reform Bills Bend Cost Curve In Wrong Direction
"Congress"s chief budget analyst delivered a devastating assessment yesterday of the health-care proposals drafted by congressional Democrats, fueling an insurrection among fiscal conservatives in the House and pushing negotiators in the Senate to redouble efforts to draw up a new plan that more effectively restrains federal spending," the Washington Post reports.
Oncology

Emergent BioSolutions Receives FDA Approval Extending Shelf Life Of BioThrax (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) To 4 Years

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) announced that its flagship product, BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), has been granted a shelf life extension from 3 to 4 years by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Based on this approval, Emergent has achieved a contract milestone warranting a payment of approximately $30 million for doses previously delivered to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) under the terms of the company"s existing BioThrax procurement contracts with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This amount is expected to be recognized as revenue in the second quarter of 2009. In addition, FDA approval of 4-year expiry dating results in an immediate price increase for the future delivery of BioThrax doses under the current contract as well as under the follow-on multi-year contract, valued at $405 million, for the delivery of 14.5 million doses of BioThrax. "We are pleased that the FDA has approved the 4-year expiry dating of BioThrax as this extends the ability of the U.S. government to store our product in the nation"s Strategic National Stockpile," said Fuad El-Hibri, chairman and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions. "This is a critically important product feature that we believe will increase the attractiveness of BioThrax to the U.S. government as it increases BioThrax"s lifecycle value. We are continuing our efforts to further enhance the attributes of BioThrax, including research towards a further reduction in the vaccination schedule and an expanded label indication for post-exposure prophylaxis. We believe these enhancements, if approved, will advance the U.S. government"s preparedness efforts in response to anthrax as a potential weapon of bioterrorism." Emergent has been pursuing a number of BioThrax product enhancements over the past several years. In addition to FDA approval of 4-year dating for BioThrax, in December 2008, Emergent received FDA approval of a reduced vaccination regimen to a five-dose schedule and a change to an intramuscular route of administration. Emergent continues to research additional enhancements to BioThrax such as a possible further reduction in the vaccination regimen and a potential label expansion to include use as a post-exposure prophylaxis. To date, Emergent has supplied over 33 million doses of BioThrax to the U.S. government, with additional deliveries to the SNS scheduled through the third quarter of 2011. About BioThrax BioThrax is the only FDA-licensed vaccine for the prevention of anthrax infection. It is indicated for the active immunization of adults who are at high risk of exposure to anthrax. BioThrax is manufactured from a culture filtrate, made from a non-virulent strain of Bacillus anthracis. Since 1998, the U.S. government has procured nearly 33.5 million doses of BioThrax. During that time period, more than 8.7 million doses have been administered to more than 2.2 million military personnel. For full FDA-approved prescribing information, please visit www.biothrax.com/prescribinginformation_biothrax_us.pdf. Important Information About BioThrax® The most common (>10%) local (injection-site) adverse reactions observed in clinical studies were tenderness, pain, erythema and arm motion limitation. The most common (>5%) systemic adverse reactions were muscle aches, fatigue and headache. Serious allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock, have been observed during post-marketing surveillance in individuals receiving BioThrax. Pregnant women should not be vaccinated unless the potential benefits of vaccination have been determined to outweigh the potential risk to the fetus. If BioThrax is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant during the immunization series, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus. This product should be administered with caution to persons with a possible history of latex sensitivity since the vial stopper contains dry natural rubber. Vaccination with BioThrax should be avoided by individuals with a history of anaphylactic or anaphylactic-like reaction following a previous dose of BioThrax. BioThrax is not licensed for use in a post-exposure setting. The safety and efficacy of BioThrax have not been established in pregnant women, nursing mothers, pediatric populations or geriatric populations. BioThrax may not protect all individuals vaccinated, particularly patients with impaired immune responses due to congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, or immunosuppressive therapy. Individuals are not considered protected until they have completed the full vaccination series. Emergent BioSolutions Inc.


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