Novartis and its partners invested heavily in expanding production capacity at their facilities in China, and Suffern, New York. This increase in production capacity ensured that supplies of Coartem met demand which enabled Novartis to further decrease the price of Coartem. In April 2008, Novartis further reduced the public sector price of Coartem by approximately 20%, to an average of US$0.80 (or US$0.37 for a childs treatment pack). This price reduction was made possible through production efficiency gains. Prior to this program, Novartis was criticised for a court case they launched against India, seeking to prohibit the marketing of cheap generic drugs. An Indian court ruled against Novartis, saying that the case was a "threat to people suffering from cancer [...] and other diseases who are too poor to pay for them". Approval in the United States
On April 8, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that Coartem was approved for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated malaria infections in adults and children weighing at least five kilograms (approximately 11 pounds) becoming the first artemisinin-based combination therapy approved in the United States. Dispersible
In January 2009, Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) launched Coartem Dispersible, an artemisinin-based combination therapy developed specifically for children with malaria. Coartem Dispersible contains the same ratio of artemether and lumefantrine as Coartem. It works as well as other formulations. The sweet-tasting Coartem Dispersible tablets disperse quickly in small amounts of water, easing administration and ensuring effective dosing. == References ==
Primitive neuroectodermal tumor is a malignant (cancerous) neural crest tumor. It is a rare tumor, usually occurring in children and young adults under 25 years of age. The overall 5 year survival rate is about 53%.It gets its name because the majority of the cells in the tumor are derived from neuroectoderm, but have not developed and differentiated in the way a normal neuron would, and so the cells appear "primitive".PNET belongs to the Ewing family of tumors. Genetics
Using gene transfer of SV40 large T-antigen in neuronal precursor cells of rats, a brain tumor model was established. The PNETs were histologically indistinguishable from the human counterparts and have been used to identify new genes involved in human brain tumor carcinogenesis. The model was used to confirm p53 as one of the genes involved in human medulloblastomas, but since only about 10% of the human tumors showed mutations in that gene, the model can be used to identify the other binding partners of SV40 Large T- antigen, other than p53. Diagnosis
Classification
It is classified into two types, based on location in the body: peripheral PNET and CNS PNET. Peripheral PNET
The peripheral PNET (pPNET) is now thought to be virtually identical to Ewing sarcoma:
"Current evidence indicates that both Ewings sarcoma and PNET have a similar neural phenotype and, because they share an identical chromosome translocation, they should be viewed as the same tumor, differing only in their degree of neural differentiation.