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AstraZeneca's thyroid cancer drug launches
WILMINGTON, Del. — Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca has made the drug vandetanib available to certain thyroid cancer patients.
The drug maker announced Monday that the drug would be available to patients with medullary thyroid cancer that could not be removed surgically or that had spread to other parts of the body. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug on April 6, and it is available exclusively through the pharmacy business unit of Biologics Inc., an integrated cancer management company.
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Menactra approved for use in infants, toddlers
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first vaccine for preventing meningococcal disease in children as young as 9 months old, the agency said.
The FDA announced the approval of Menactra, made by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines arm of French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis. Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria that infect the bloodstream and the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord.