In the largest and longest head-to-head comparison of two anti-clotting medications, warfarin and aspirin were similar in preventing deaths and strokes in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to late-breaking research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2012.

A new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety reveals that internet sites selling prescription statins directly to consumers are widespread, and that most websites advertising statins for sale to the general public contain very poor levels of information relevant to safe use of the medicine and side effects.

Using some of the most powerful nuclear magnetic resonance equipment available, researchers at the University of California, Davis, are making discoveries about the shape and structure of biological molecules - potentially leading to new ways to treat or prevent diseases such as breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Increasingly, big pharma is viewing the outsourcing of pharmaceutical manufacturing as a strategic move that would enable them to focus on their core competencies such as R&D. At the same time, the patent expiry of key blockbuster drugs worth $45 billion and biologics worth $30 billion is expected to reduce the capacity utilisation rates of their manufacturing facilities,

Analyzing all the genes of dozens of people suffering from a rare form of hypertension, Yale University researchers have discovered a new mechanism that regulates the blood pressure of all humans.

They are the Robinson Crusoes of the intracellular world - lone chromosomes, whole and hardy, stranded outside the nucleus where their fellow chromosomes reside. Such castaways, each confined to its own "micronucleus," are often found in cancer cells, but scientists haven't known what role, if any, they play in the cancer process.

Incomplete availability of data has hampered a thorough assessment of the evidence for using the anti-influenza drug oseltamivir, a Cochrane Review has found. However, after piecing together information from over 16,000 pages of clinical trial data and documents used in the process of licensing oseltamivir (Tamiflu) by national authorities, a team of researchers has raised critical questions about how well the drug works and about its reported safety profile.