Dear Colleague

We hope you enjoyed Issue 1 of the Dialog Pharma/Biotech News. Issue 2 brings you stories from industry experts we think will interest you, search tips and Dialog and DataStar information. Don’t forget to send us your suggestions for articles you would like to see featured in the newsletter.

Bonnie Snow, Director
Pharmaceutical Markets

Take Advantage of Indexing in Adis Clinical Trials Insight

Adis Clinical Trials Insight (Files 173, 373/ACZZ, ACTI) covers the best evidence across 28 therapeutic areas from approximately 2,000 journals, more than 150 meetings, and hundreds of media releases. The database provides detailed, evaluative assessments of clinical trials as they are announced, presented and published. Searchable by clinical-trial specific parameters, it enables you to quickly find critical details needed for clinical data analysis and comparison.

Here are a few uses:

• Identify Phase IV, pharmacoeconomic studies (PR) designed to prove the targeted drugs have cost benefits or provide quality of life

• Identify large, well-designed trials (randomized, double-blind, meta-analysis) by phase of study (Phase III) by creating a search that includes patient numbers (NP), study design (SI) and study phase (SP) for the indication of interest

• Uncover niche markets by searching indication (DI) and patient age (PK) to find those drugs with trials that have had success in treating children

Refer to the Bluesheet for additional information and to view all the unique searching fields available on Adis Clinical Trials Insight.

Tracking Pharmaceutical R&D or Developing Drugs Using Pharmaprojects

Pharmaprojects (Files 128, 928/PHAR, PHZZ, PHAX), the leading database tracking pharmaceutical R&D worldwide, highlights a decreasing trend in the development of drugs targeting alpha4beta1 integrin (VLA-4). Following the voluntary withdrawal of Elan's multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri (natalizumab), from the market and the discontinuation of Antisense Therapeutics' Phase IIa multiple sclerosis trial for ATL-1102, this trend may continue. Should the pharmaceutical industry conclude that alpha1beta4 integrin is no longer a viable drug development target? A further 11 drugs currently in active development could possibly be under threat. Click to read the rest of this article.

Alerts Default Frequency for EMBASE® Changes to Daily

The Alerts default frequency for EMBASE (Files 72, 73) and EMBASE Alert (File 172) has changed from weekly to daily for all new Alerts created on and after July 1, 2005. The frequency for Alerts created prior to July 1 has not changed. Available frequencies are daily, weekly, bi-weekly and monthly.

New Newsletter Added to PHIND

A new newsletter, The Healthcare Lobbyist, has been added to the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industry News Database (PHIND) (129, 130). The Healthcare Lobbyist is the first publication to provide impartial coverage of the political activities of worldwide healthcare organizations. The PHIND database is updated daily and Healthcare Lobbyist stories are added as they are made available by the PJB editorial team.

Where China and India Fit in the Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Supply Chain

Although the API industry in China is continuing to develop rapidly, it still lags behind its Indian counterpart. Today, China continues to be mostly a supplier of older, off-patent molecules, while Indian API manufacturers often focus on newer, still-patented molecules. As a result of the introduction of product patents in India January 2005, we may see increased interest in older molecules by Indian API manufacturers, though the full impact of this change is difficult to determine at this time. Read the full article.

Call for Contributors

Participate in knowledge sharing with your colleagues interested in pharmaceutical-related topics. Share your story suggestions with us at support.dialog.com/enewsletters/contribute/.