LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance. The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip. The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing "Skylark" and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. ...
Read More..
News Analysis: Now Gathering in Rome, a Conclave of Fallible Cardinals
Label: World
Dmitry Lovetsky/Associated Press
St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday. Roman Catholic cardinals were gathering at the Vatican amid scandal to choose a new pope.
The sudden resignation of the most senior Roman Catholic cardinal in Britain, who stepped aside on Monday in the face of accusations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward priests years ago, showed that the taint of scandal could force a cardinal from participating in the selection of a new pope.
His exit came as at least a dozen other cardinals tarnished with accusations that they had failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing minors were among those gathering in Rome to prepare for the conclave to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. There was no sign that the church’s promise to confront the sexual abuse scandal had led to direct pressure on those cardinals to exempt themselves from the conclave.
Advocates for abuse victims who were in Rome on Tuesday focused particular ire on Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, and called for him to be excluded from the conclave. But Cardinal Mahony, who has vigorously defended his record, was already in Rome, posting on Twitter about the weather.
Even stalwart defenders of the church point out that to disqualify Cardinal Mahony would leave many more cardinals similarly vulnerable. Many of the men who will go into the Sistine Chapel to elect a pope they hope will help the church recover from the bruising scandal of sexual abuse have themselves been blemished by it.
“Among bishops and cardinals, certainly the old guys who have been involved for so long, sure they’re going to have blood on their hands,” said Thomas G. Plante, a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University, who has served on the American bishops’ national abuse advisory board and has written three books on sexual abuse. “So when Cardinal Mahony says he’s being scapegoated, in some respects I think he’s right. All the focus is on him, but what about the other guys?”
Among the many challenges facing the church, addressing the wounds caused by sexual abuse is among the top priorities, church analysts say. When Benedict was elected pope in 2005, many Catholics hoped that his previous experience at the helm of the Vatican office that dealt with abuse cases would result in substantive changes.
Benedict has repeatedly apologized to victims, and listened personally to their testimonies of pain. After the abuse scandal paralyzed the church in Europe in 2010, and began to emerge on other continents, Benedict issued new policies for bishops to follow on handling sexual abuse accusations, and he held a conference at the Vatican on the issue. But despite calls from many Catholics, he never removed prelates who, court cases and documents revealed, put children at risk by failing to report pedophiles or remove them from the priesthood.
It is not that these cardinals behaved so differently from the others, or that they do not have achievements to their names. It is just that they happened to come from pinpoints on the Catholic world map where long-hidden secrets became public because victims organized, government officials investigated, lawyers sued or the news media paid attention.
They include cardinals from Belgium, Chile and Italy. They include the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, who is accused of taking large monetary gifts from a religious order, the Legion of Christ, and halting an investigation into its founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel — who was later exposed as a pathological abuser and liar.
They also include cardinals reviled by many in their own countries, like Cardinal Sean Brady, the primate of All Ireland, who survived an uproar after government investigations uncovered endemic cover-ups of the sexual and physical abuse of minors.
“There’s so many of them,” said Justice Anne Burke, a judge in Illinois who served on the American bishops’ first advisory board 10 years ago. “They all have participated in one way or another in having actual information about criminal conduct, and not doing anything about it. What are you going to do? They’re all not going to participate in the conclave?”
Even one cardinal frequently mentioned as a leading candidate for pope has been accused of turning a blind eye toward abuse victims. A Canadian, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, issued apologies to the many victims of abuse in church boarding schools in Quebec Province, but left behind widespread resentment when he reportedly refused to meet with them.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 27, 2013
An earlier version of this article misstated part of the address of a Web site that tracks abuse cases. It is BishopAccountability.org, not BishopAccountability.com.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 27, 2013
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the Roman church over which Cardinal Bernard Law presides. It is a basilica, not a cathedral.
HP sells webOS operating system to LG Electronics
Label: TechnologySAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Hewlett-Packard Co said on Monday it will sell the webOS operating system to South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, unloading the smartphone software it acquired through a $ 1.2 billion acquisition of Palm in 2010.
LG will use the operating software, used in now-defunct Palm smartphones years ago, for its “smart” or Internet-connected TVs. The Asian electronics company had worked with HP on WebOS before offering to buy it outright.
Under the terms of their agreement, LG acquires the operating software’s source code, associated documentation, engineering talent, various associated websites, and licenses under HP’s intellectual property including patents covering fundamental operating system and user interface technology.
HP will retain the patents and all the technology relating to the cloud service of webOS, HP Chief Operating Officer Bill Veghte said in an interview.
“As we looked at it, we saw a very compelling IP that was very unique in the marketplace,” he said, adding that HP has already had a partnership with LG on webOS before the deal was announced.
“As a result of this collaboration, LG offered to acquire the webOS operating system technology,” Veghte said.
Skott Ahn, President and CTO, LG Electronics, said the company will incorporate the operating system in the Smart TV line-up first “and then hopefully all the other devices in the future.”
Both companies declined to reveal the terms of the deal.
LG will keep the WebOS team in Silicon Valley and, for now, will continue to be based out of HP offices, Ahn said.
HP opened its webOS mobile operating system to developers and companies in 2012 after trying to figure out how to recoup its investment in Palm, one of the pioneers of the smartphone industry.
The company had tried to build products based on webOS with the now-defunct TouchPad tablet its flagship product.
HP launched and discontinued the TouchPad in 2010, a little over a month after it hit store shelves with costly fanfare after it saw poor demand for a tablet priced on par with Apple’s dominant iPad.
WebOS is widely viewed as a strong mobile platform, but has been assailed for its paucity of applications, an important consideration while choosing a mobile device.
(Additional reporting By Paul Sandle and Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Tim Dobbyn and M.D. Golan)
Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Title Post: HP sells webOS operating system to LG Electronics
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/hp-sells-webos-operating-system-to-lg-electronics/
Link To Post : HP sells webOS operating system to LG Electronics
Rating:
100%
based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author:
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment
Ben Affleck Finally Comes Clean - and Shaves His Beard!
Label: LifestyleJennifer Garner and Ben Affleck
David Livingston/Getty
And what did Ben Affleck do after his Argo won Best Picture on Sunday night? He took it all off – his facial hair, that is.
A friend of the actor-filmmaker's confirms to PEOPLE that following the Oscars ceremony Affleck, 40, shaved his beard at Craig's restaurant in Hollywood, – where wife Jennifer Garner and pal and Argo co-producer George Clooney were celebrating with him.
"The whole family was tired of [his] beard," says the friend.
Sure enough: "Jen brought clippers!" he added.
According to TMZ.com, the shave took place in the middle of the restaurant's hallway.
– Shakthi Jothianandan
C. Everett Koop, 'rock star' surgeon general, dies
Label: HealthNEW YORK (AP) — Dr. C. Everett Koop has long been regarded as the nation's doctor— even though it has been nearly a quarter-century since he was surgeon general.
Koop, who died Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H., at age 96, was by far the best known and most influential person to carry that title. Koop, a 6-foot-1 evangelical Presbyterian with a biblical prophet's beard, donned a public health uniform in the early 1980s and became an enduring, science-based national spokesman on health issues.
He served for eight years during the Reagan administration and was a breed apart from his political bosses. He thundered about the evils of tobacco companies during a multiyear campaign to drive down smoking rates, and he became the government's spokesman on AIDS when it was still considered a "gay disease" by much of the public.
"He really changed the national conversation, and he showed real courage in pursuing the duties of his job," said Chris Collins, a vice president of amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.
Even before that, he had been a leading figure in medicine. He was one of the first U.S. doctors to specialize in pediatric surgery at a time when children with complicated conditions were often simply written off as untreatable. In the 1950s, he drew national headlines for innovative surgeries such as separating conjoined twins.
His medical heroics are well noted, but he may be better remembered for transforming from a pariah in the eyes of the public health community into a remarkable servant who elevated the influence of the surgeon general — if only temporarily.
"He set the bar high for all who followed in his footsteps," said Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as surgeon general a decade later under President George W. Bush.
Koop's religious beliefs grew after the 1968 death of his son David in a mountain-climbing accident, and he became an outspoken opponent of abortion. His activism is what brought him to the attention of the administration of President Ronald Reagan, who decided to nominate him for surgeon general in 1981. Though once a position with real power, surgeon generals had been stripped of most of their responsibilities in the 1960s.
By the time Koop got the job, the position was kind of a glorified health educator.
But Koop ran with it. One of his early steps involved the admiral's uniform that is bestowed to the surgeon general but that Koop's predecessors had worn only on ceremonial occasions. In his first year in the post, Koop stopped wearing his trademark bowties and suit jackets and instead began wearing the uniform, seeing it as a way to raise the visual prestige of the office.
In those military suits, he surprised the officials who had appointed him by setting aside his religious beliefs and feelings about abortion and instead waging a series of science-based public health crusades.
He was arguably most effective on smoking. He issued a series of reports that detailed the dangers of tobacco smoke, and in speeches began calling for a smoke-free society by the year 2000. He didn't get his wish, but smoking rates did drop from 38 percent to 27 percent while he was in office — a huge decline.
Koop led other groundbreaking initiatives, but perhaps none is better remembered than his work on AIDS.
The disease was first identified in 1981, before Koop was officially in office, and it changed U.S. society. It destroyed the body's immune system and led to ghastly death, but initially was identified in gay men, and many people thought of it as something most heterosexuals didn't have to worry about.
U.S. scientists worked hard to identify the virus and work on ways to fight it, but the government's health education and policy efforts moved far more slowly. Reagan for years was silent on the issue. Following mounting criticism, Reagan in 1986 asked Koop to prepare a report on AIDS for the American public.
His report, released later that year, stressed that AIDS was a threat to all Americans and called for wider use of condoms and more comprehensive sex education, as early as the third grade. He went on to speak frankly about AIDS in an HBO special and engineered the mailing of an educational pamphlet on AIDS to more than 100 million U.S. households in 1988.
Koop personally opposed homosexuality and believed sex should be saved for marriage. But he insisted that Americans, especially young people, must not die because they were deprived of explicit information about how HIV was transmitted.
Koop's speeches and empathetic approach made him a hero to a wide swath of America, including public health workers, gay activists and journalists. Some called him a "scientific Bruce Springsteen." AIDS activists chanted "Koop, Koop" at his appearances and booed other officials.
"I was walking down the street with him one time" about five years ago, recalled Dr. George Wohlreich, director of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, a medical society with which Koop had longstanding ties. "People were yelling out, 'There goes Dr. Koop!' You'd have thought he was a rock star."
Koop angered conservatives by refusing to issue a report requested by the Reagan White House, saying he could not find enough scientific evidence to determine whether abortion has harmful psychological effects on women.
He got static from some staff at the White House for his actions, but Reagan himself never tried to silence Koop. At a congressional hearing in 2007, Koop spoke about political pressure on the surgeon general post. He said Reagan was pressed to fire him every day.
After his death was reported Monday, the tributes poured forth, including a statement from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made smoking restrictions a hallmark of his tenure.
"The nation has lost a visionary public health leader today with the passing of former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who was born and raised in Brooklyn," Bloomberg said. "Outspoken on the dangers of smoking, his leadership led to stronger warning labels on cigarettes and increased awareness about second-hand smoke, creating an environment that helped millions of Americans to stop smoking — and setting the stage for the dramatic changes in smoking laws that have occurred over the past decade."
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health taught Koop what was known about AIDS during quiet after-hours talks in the early 1980s and became a close friend.
"A less strong person would have bent under the pressure," Fauci said. "He was driven by what's the right thing to do."
Carmona, a surgeon general years later, said Koop was a mentor who preached the importance of staying true to the science in speeches and reports — even when it made certain politicians uncomfortable.
"We remember him for the example he set for all of us," Carmona said.
Koop's nomination originally was met with staunch opposition. Women's groups and liberal politicians complained Reagan had selected him only because of his conservative views, especially his staunch opposition to abortion.
Foes noted that Koop traveled the country in 1979 and 1980 giving speeches that predicted a progression "from liberalized abortion to infanticide to passive euthanasia to active euthanasia, indeed to the very beginnings of the political climate that led to Auschwitz, Dachau and Belsen."
But Koop, a devout Presbyterian, was confirmed as surgeon general after he told a Senate panel he would not use the post to promote his religious ideology. He kept his word and eventually won wide respect with his blend of old-fashioned values, pragmatism and empathy.
Koop was modest about his accomplishments, saying before leaving office in 1989, "My only influence was through moral suasion."
The office declined after that. Few of his successors had his speaking ability or stage presence. Fewer still were able to secure the support of key political bosses and overcome the meddling of everyone else. The office gradually lost prestige and visibility, and now has come to a point where most people can't name the current surgeon general. (It's Dr. Regina Benjamin.)
Even after leaving office, Koop continued to promote public health causes, from preventing childhood accidents to better training for doctors.
"I will use the written word, the spoken word and whatever I can in the electronic media to deliver health messages to this country as long as people will listen," he promised.
In 1996, he rapped Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole for suggesting that tobacco was not invariably addictive, saying Dole's comments "either exposed his abysmal lack of knowledge of nicotine addiction or his blind support of the tobacco industry."
He maintained his personal opposition to abortion. After he left office, he told medical students it violated their Hippocratic oath. In 2009, he wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, urging that health care legislation include a provision to ensure doctors and medical students would not be forced to perform abortions. The letter briefly set off a security scare because it was hand delivered.
Koop served as chairman of the National Safe Kids Campaign and as an adviser to President Bill Clinton's health care reform plan.
Worried that medicine had lost old-fashioned caring and personal relationships between doctors and patients, Koop opened an institute at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire to teach medical students basic values and ethics. He also was a part-owner of a short-lived venture, drkoop.com, to provide consumer health care information via the Internet.
Koop was the only son of a Manhattan banker and the nephew of a doctor. He said by age 5 he knew he wanted to be a surgeon and at age 13 he practiced his skills on neighborhood cats. He attended Dartmouth, where he received the nickname Chick, short for "chicken Koop." It stuck for life.
He received his medical degree at Cornell Medical College, choosing pediatric surgery because so few surgeons practiced it. In 1938, he married Elizabeth Flanagan, the daughter of a Connecticut doctor. They had four children. Koop's wife died in 2007, and he married Cora Hogue in 2010.
He was appointed surgeon-in-chief at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and served as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He pioneered surgery on newborns and successfully separated three sets of conjoined twins. He won national acclaim by reconstructing the chest of a baby born with the heart outside the body.
Although raised as a Baptist, he was drawn to a Presbyterian church near the hospital, where he developed an abiding faith. He began praying at the bedside of his young patients — ignoring the snickers of some of his colleagues.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vt.; Jeff McMillan in Philadelphia; and AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard in Washington.
Dow, S&P rise as Bernanke defends policy, warns on cuts
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly rose on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus before Congress, but warned forced spending cuts that could be triggered this week represented a headwind for the economy.
Gains in homebuilders and other consumer stocks, following strong economic data, kept the S&P 500 nearly unchanged, while a 5 percent jump in Home Depot
Stocks hit session highs shortly after Bernanke, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, strongly defended the Fed's bond-buying stimulus program that has been essential for the stock market's recovery.
However, he also urged lawmakers to avoid sharp spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday, which he warned could combine with earlier tax increases to create a "significant headwind" for the economic recovery.
"He really came down foursquare on the bearish camp with respect to the potential economic impact of these cuts. That's a surprise, and that's probably why the market's a little nervous right now," said Michael Jones, chief investment officer of Riverfront Investment Group in Richmond, Virginia.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 74.64 points or 0.54 percent to 13,858.81. The S&P 500 <.spx> gained 1.78 points or 0.12 percent to 1,489.63. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 5.84 points or 0.19 percent to 3,110.41.
The S&P 500 failed to move above 1,500, a closely watched level that was technical support until recently, but could now become a hurdle.
Cable network AMC Networks was the Nasdaq's biggest percentage decliner after the home of popular shows such as "The Walking Dead" and "Mad Men" reported a quarterly profit way below analysts' estimates. Its stock fell 7.4 percent to $53.77.
Equities continued to be weighed by concerns about a stalemate in Italy after a general election failed to give any party a parliamentary majority, posing the threat of prolonged instability and European financial crisis.
The FTSEurofirst-300 index of top European shares <.fteu3> unofficially closed down 1.3 percent at 1,150.58. The benchmark Italian index <.ftmib> tumbled 4.9 percent.
Dow component Home Depot Inc
Macy's Inc
Economic reports that showed strength in housing and consumer confidence also supported stocks.
U.S. home prices rose more than expected in December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. Consumer confidence rebounded in February, jumping more than expected, and new-home sales rose to their highest in 4-1/2 years.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Additional reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Jan Paschal)
gN2WZW ߣ鐨qʭl q$ :}X,MjVư&0ryUŤޏh, %Et]Aխk#8>4b;KuF1dV@BgyWpZ֬>+ ̲כ#Jv@X8Gň(/EwȉPɕ]Uڌ+mkf˲-+oɫة7>v6ume\Uaʹё(NϢ؈co#е/]5eA{zG1�-/F% 2ɮ6,dיcq! F+3jZ|lZ Xo;y-RvOb_?;OTxi-!O2z롸/Mdf’,@@_OoT;o O$Ǩ64`%Y/h93m&(gJc>S:”N5kExD!Kzf1|M+’X{fu6E 3>.`#Ĩ?Sӌ!c8ʴ)|}R8ѥ)Ncݥdx,iA]w0″L)f|. qN{91TWiEO:5`c4ȉ21ԵEH”DŽYt; mp=*a܆y’ԙ>AU?a=LypBL,sŖB”C]Ӧj悌fyn0t?)dD,>”䕙s$ s{tir’.L,3Ui՜FeZu 4Mho&1Ja퍾8u>TY%*:dMvm@R/O(xJ竔ךH 37MqXq,yJ2; G6e\p*)w9=3nӗ|d1+i3En?4jfDgh,7 3|!ew_Mv4N4+a8ņlxf{nO[e C Dw9CX&(.KdZtIhn3Ѷz8rC!`\9~EV/ءaIy EI兗ŽA 4Lc_G]-
Label: TechnologyTitle Post: gN2WZW ߣ鐨qʭl q$ :}X,MjVư&0ryUŤޏh, %Et]Aխk#8>4b;KuF1dV@BgyWpZ֬>+ ̲כ#Jv@X8Gň(/EwȉPɕ]Uڌ+mkf˲-+oɫة7>v6ume\Uaʹё(NϢ؈co#е/]5eA{zG1�-/F% 2ɮ6,dיcq! F+3jZ|lZ Xo;y-RvOb_?;OTxi-!O2z롸/Mdf’,@@_OoT;o O$Ǩ64`%Y/h93m&(gJc>S:”N5kExD!Kzf1|M+’X{fu6E 3>.`#Ĩ?Sӌ!c8ʴ)|}R8ѥ)Ncݥdx,iA]w0″L)f|. qN{91TWiEO:5`c4ȉ21ԵEH”DŽYt; mp=*a܆y’ԙ>AU?a=LypBL,sŖB”C]Ӧj悌fyn0t?)dD,>”䕙s$ s{tir’.L,3Ui՜FeZu 4Mho&1Ja퍾8u>TY%*:dMvm@R/O(xJ竔ךH 37MqXq,yJ2; G6e\p*)w9=3nӗ|d1+i3En?4jfDgh,7 3|!ew_Mv4N4+a8ņlxf{nO[e C Dw9CX&(.KdZtIhn3Ѷz8rC!`\9~EV/ءaIy EI兗ŽA 4Lc_G]-
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/gn2wzw-%df%a3%e9%90%a8q%ca%adl-q-xmjvu0ryut%de%8fh-eta%d5%adk84bkuf1dvbgywpz%d6%ac-%cc%b2%d7%9bjvx8gnew%c8%89p%c9%95u%da%8cmkf%cb%b2-o%c9%ab%d8%a97v6umeua%cd%b4/
Link To Post : gN2WZW ߣ鐨qʭl q$ :}X,MjVư&0ryUŤޏh, %Et]Aխk#8>4b;KuF1dV@BgyWpZ֬>+ ̲כ#Jv@X8Gň(/EwȉPɕ]Uڌ+mkf˲-+oɫة7>v6ume\Uaʹё(NϢ؈co#е/]5eA{zG1�-/F% 2ɮ6,dיcq! F+3jZ|lZ Xo;y-RvOb_?;OTxi-!O2z롸/Mdf’,@@_OoT;o O$Ǩ64`%Y/h93m&(gJc>S:”N5kExD!Kzf1|M+’X{fu6E 3>.`#Ĩ?Sӌ!c8ʴ)|}R8ѥ)Ncݥdx,iA]w0″L)f|. qN{91TWiEO:5`c4ȉ21ԵEH”DŽYt; mp=*a܆y’ԙ>AU?a=LypBL,sŖB”C]Ӧj悌fyn0t?)dD,>”䕙s$ s{tir’.L,3Ui՜FeZu 4Mho&1Ja퍾8u>TY%*:dMvm@R/O(xJ竔ךH 37MqXq,yJ2; G6e\p*)w9=3nӗ|d1+i3En?4jfDgh,7 3|!ew_Mv4N4+a8ņlxf{nO[e C Dw9CX&(.KdZtIhn3Ѷz8rC!`\9~EV/ءaIy EI兗ŽA 4Lc_G]-
Rating:
100%
based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author:
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment
Ben Affleck, Channing Tatum & More of PEOPLE's Sexiest Men Alive Step Out at the Oscars
Label: LifestyleYears have passed for some of our favorite Sexiest Men Alive, but that didn't stop them from looking stunning at the Oscars
Credit: George Pimentel/Getty
Updated: Monday Feb 25, 2013 | 01:00 PM EST
Subscribe Now
FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug
Label: HealthWASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.
The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent dose of anti-tumor poison.
Cancer researchers say the drug is an important step forward because it delivers more medication while reducing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.
"This antibody goes seeking out the tumor cells, gets internalized and then explodes them from within. So it's very kind and gentle on the patients — there's no hair loss, no nausea, no vomiting," said Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. "It's a revolutionary way of treating cancer."
Cobleigh helped conduct the key studies of the drug at the Chicago facility.
The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that overproduce a protein known as HER-2. Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in U.S. women, and is expected to kill more than 39,000 Americans this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The approval will help Roche's Genentech unit build on the blockbuster success of Herceptin, which has long dominated the breast cancer marketplace. The drug had sales of roughly $6 billion last year.
Genentech said Friday that Kadcyla will cost $9,800 per month, compared to $4,500 per month for regular Herceptin. The company estimates a full course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.
FDA scientists said they approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Researchers reported last year that patients treated with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease, compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two other standard drugs, Tykerb and Xeloda.
Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs.
FDA specifically approved the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already been treated with Herceptin and taxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Doctors are not required to follow FDA prescribing guidelines, and cancer researchers say the drug could have great potential in patients with earlier forms of breast cancer
Kadcyla will carry a boxed warning, the most severe type, alerting doctors and patients that the drug can cause liver toxicity, heart problems and potentially death. The drug can also cause severe birth defects and should not be used by pregnant women.
Kadcyla was developed by South San Francisco-based Genentech using drug-binding technology licensed from Waltham, Mass.-based ImmunoGen. The company developed the chemical that keeps the drug cocktail together and is scheduled to receive a $10.5 million payment from Genentech on the FDA decision. The company will also receive additional royalties on the drug's sales.
Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. rose 2 cents to $14.32 in afternoon trading. The stock has ttraded in a 52-wek range of $10.85 to $18.10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Copyright © News repugnant. All rights reserved.
Design 
And Business Directories
