Latest Methylnaltrexone Stories

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MedImmune, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca, announced that it has signed an in-licensing agreement with Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGNX) for Progenics' Clostridium difficile late-stage preclinical program. The agreement was led by MedImmune's Infectious Diseases & Vaccines Innovative Medicines (iMed) Unit. Clostridium difficile infections are the leading cause of hospital-acquired bacterial infections in the...

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AstraZeneca today announced positive top-line results from two Phase III trials and one safety extension trial in patients with non-cancer related pain and opioid-induced constipation (OIC). These Phase III KODIAC trials evaluated the safety and efficacy of naloxegol, an oral peripherally-acting, mu-opioid receptor antagonist for the treatment of OIC, a common side effect of prescription opioids. KODIAC-04 and -05 are both multicenter,...

SAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated NKTR-181 as a Fast Track development program for the treatment of moderate to severe chronic pain. NKTR-181 is a novel mu-opioid agonist molecule, which is designed to have a slow rate of entry into the brain to reduce the attractiveness of the molecule as a target of abuse and to reduce its CNS-mediated side effects. NKTR-181...

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Opioid-based painkillers, such as morphine, have been the standard treatment of postoperative and chronic cancer pain for over 200 years. Two new studies show that opioid drugs may stimulate the spread and growth of tumors! "Epidemiologic findings suggest that the type of anesthesia we do for cancer surgery influences recurrence rate, and laboratory studies demonstrate that opioids influence tumor progression and metastasis. These studies have caused anesthesiologists...

Opioid drugs used to relieve pain in postoperative and chronic cancer patients may stimulate the growth and spread of tumors, according to two studies and a commentary in the 2012 annual Journal Symposium issue of Anesthesiology, the academic journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. "Epidemiologic findings suggest that the type of anesthesia we do for cancer surgery influences recurrence rate, and laboratory studies demonstrate that opioids influence tumor progression and...

Opioids are a mainstay of care in the critical care unit, but their use frequently causes constipation which can lead to adverse outcomes including delayed feeding and later discharge from the ICU. Researchers from London, UK, and Chicago, IL, have found that methylnaltrexone (MNTX), a peripheral opioid antagonist, may restore bowel function in critically ill patients. Their retrospective study appears in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. "We found MNTX to be very effective in...

Across U.S. outpatient clinics between 1997 and 2008, opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Chronic abdominal pain is a common symptom and a frequent reason for health-care visits. Because it is often incurable, clinicians often find it challenging to help their patients manage their abdominal pain over time. "Opioid use...

Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. The opiate-associated itch is so common that even women who get epidurals for labor pain often complain of itching. For many years, scientists have scratched their own heads about why drugs that so effectively suppress pain also induce itch. Now in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown they can control opioid-induced...

  Analysis: Facing up to the prescription opioid crisis Action is needed to tackle the increasing number of deaths in the United States and Canada from prescription painkillers known as opioids, experts reported on bmj.com August 23. Opioids are prescription painkillers that contain compounds derived from the opium poppy. While they have long been used to control the symptoms of cancer and acute medical conditions, they are increasingly being used to control chronic pain, for...