A new oral medication for type two diabetes is now available in Australia. The drug, Januvia, is designed to manage the nation’s fastest growing chronic disease in a better way, with which millions of Australians are suffering. Given a single dose a day, “Januvia boosts the effect of a natural body process called the incretin system”, Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, Greg Fulcher said in a statement. Incretins are intestinal hormones that are released after the intake of food. They are essential for regulating blood glucose. Type two diabetes patients have impaired incretins. The drug, the first ever oral medication for the purpose, is a Merck & Co product.

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center are working on developing a spectral imaging system that could reduce the operating times for infants undergoing surgery for Hirschsprung’s disease, according to a mouse study published in the Journal of Biophotonics. Apart from the diagnostic capabilities, the system could provide an “optical biopsy,” enabling surgeons to determine the exact location of a needed intervention.

Photo by Mat Culpepper

The FDA has approved UCB Corp’s Cimzia® (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of Crohn’s Disease (CD). The company aims to make the drug, which is a new, promising option for patients suffering from moderate to severe Crohn’s Disease, available in the U.S. in the next few days. Cimzia is the first and only pegylated anti-TNF? (anti-tumor necrosis factor-?). The excessive production of TNF? has been associated with a wide variety of diseases.

Actavis Group’s U.S. division, Actavis Totowa LLC, has recalled all lots of heart failure treatment Digitek (digoxin tablets). The company announced the Class I nationwide recall for Digitek after the possible commercial release of tablets with twice the approved level of the active ingredient, posing a risk of digitalis toxicity in patients with renal failure. Digitalis toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, low blood pressure, cardiac instability, bradycardia and death.

Masimo has been granted FDA approval for its breakthrough noninvasive and continuous total hemoglobin monitoring technology (SpHb). The technology should make hemoglobin measurement more convenient and available to clinicians in hospital and outpatient settings, according to the company. It is designed to improve patient safety and decrease costs. Noninvasive total hemoglobin monitoring will be offered as part of the upgradable Masimo Rainbow SET technology platform. The company expects the technology to be available to select customers by the third quarter of this year.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC has launched a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD) in the U.K. ReQuip XL® (ropinirole prolonged-release tablets) is the U.K.’s first and only once-daily non-ergot oral dopamine agonist available for the treatment of PD1, providing continuous delivery of ropinirole from a single daily dose. Ropinirole prolonged-release is approved for the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (Monotherapy and Adjunct Therapy) in patients already taking ropinirole immediate release tablets and in whom adequate symptomatic control has been established.

Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories Inc., has received final approval from the FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to manufacture and market a generic version of Yasmin (drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol). Yasmin is an oral contraceptive product manufactured and marketed by Bayer Schering Pharma AG.

Dilon Technologies has received CE Marking for its Dilon 6800 gamma camera. The high-resolution gamma camera enables molecular imaging of the breast and other small organs for early cancer detection. It performs breast-specific gamma imaging, a technique that images the metabolic activity of breast lesions through radiotracer uptake.

 St. Jude Medical Inc. has launched the TigerWire steerable guidewire in the U.S. A guidewire is used by physicians to move a catheter through the arteries. It enables doctors to diagnose the severity of disease and deliver treatments such as stents to open blockages and restore blood flow.

Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. have received FDA approval for their Relistor, a treatment for opioid-induced constipation. Relistor (methylnaltrexone bromide) is a subcutaneous injection for patients with advanced illness who receive palliative care and who have not responded to laxative therapy.