Asia is the largest and most populous continent or region, depending on the definition. It covers 8.7 percent of the Earth's total surface area, or 29.8 percent of its land area, and it contains more than 60 percent of the world's human population.

Asia is traditionally defined as part of the landmass of Africa-Eurasia – with the western portion of the latter occupied by Europe – lying east of the Suez Canal, east of the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian and Black Seas.

Etymology

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The word Asia entered English, via Latin, from Ancient Greek Ασία (Asia; see also List of traditional Greek place names). This name is first attested in Herodotus (about 440 BC), where it refers to Asia Minor; or, for the purposes of describing the Persian Wars, to the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three different women's names are used to describe a single land mass (Europa, Asia and Libya, referring to Africa), stating that most Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus but that the Lydians say it was named after Asias, son of Cotys who passed the name on to a tribe in Sardis.

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Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry News From Medical News Today

MarkMonitor Reports Continuing Rise In Online Abuse Of Top Drug Brands
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0700
MarkMonitor®, the global leader in enterprise brand protection, released the Summer 2008 Brandjacking Index™, reporting that brandjackers increasingly abuse top-ranked pharmaceutical brands, endangering consumers via a supply chain compromised by the sale of questionable prescription drugs through dubious online pharmacies and exchange sites.
US College Students Needing TB Testing Now Have The Benefit Of QFT(TM)
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700
Students attending US colleges that require tuberculosis (TB) testing will now benefit from interferon-gamma release assays (IGRA) such as QuantiFERON(R)-TB Gold (QFT(TM)), with the release of update TB testing guidelines from the American College Health Association (ACHA).
Stanford Medical School Severely Restricts Industry Funding Of Continuing Education For Physicians
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700
The Stanford University School of Medicine will no longer accept support from pharmaceutical or device companies for specific programs in continuing medical education, as industry-directed funding may compromise the integrity of these education programs for practicing physicians, officials said. The action on CME builds on a 2006 policy that banned gifts, including free meals, and industry marketing at the Stanford University Medical Center. Stanford is one of the few U.
New England Journal Of Medicine Publishes Phase III Results Of VELCADE(R) (Bortezomib) For Injection In Previously Untreated Multiple Myeloma Patients
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700
Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company announced the publication of results from the 682 patient, randomized, Phase III VISTA(1) trial in this week's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The results showed a significant survival benefit and a 30 percent complete remission (CR) rate with VELCADE, melphalan and prednisone (VcMP) compared to 4 percent for melaphalan and prednisone (MP) alone in previously untreated multiple myeloma patients.
DURECT Announces The IND Submission For A Third Abuse-Resistant Opioid Pain Medication Based On Its ORADUR(TM) Technology
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0700
DURECT Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX) reported that Pain Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTIE), its licensee, has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an abuse-resistant opioid pain drug candidate based on DURECT's patented ORADUR(TM) technology.
'The Future Delivery Of Medicine: 2020' To Be Forecast At London Conference
Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:00:00 -0700
New technologies will force fundamental change in the way healthcare systems operate. Low-cost gene sequencing and biopharmaceuticals will make personalized medicine a reality - tailoring the treatment to the patient. The spread of broadband networks makes telemedicine feasible for many, and computerized patient records will transform medical research. New imaging and diagnostics technologies open the door to more preventative medicine.

The Seattle Times: Biotech


News on biotechnology pharmaceutical from BioPortfolio.com

An Analysis Of Best Strategies For Western Pharmaceutical And Biotech Companies To Partner With Chinese Pharma
Pharmaceutical Online:
VC Funding for Biotech Companies Withering
Genetic Engineering News:
VC Funding for Biotech Companies Withering
Genetic Engineering News:

The Economist: Biotechnology

Pharmaceuticals:
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:36 -0000
Drug giants’ recent attempts to buy big biotech firms have provoked a backlashDALLIANCES between conventional pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms are nothing new. Big Pharma, eager to refill its emptying drug pipelines, has in recent years looked hopefully to biotech’s upstarts. The drugs giants have pursued all sorts of tie-ups, from alliances to licensing deals to outright purchases of a few smallish companies. But mindful of the sharp cultural differences between the two sorts of firms, they have generally avoided big acquisitions.Until now, that is. In recent weeks Roche, a Swiss pharmaceuticals giant, has made a surprise $44 billion bid for the 44% of Genentech, the world’s biggest biotech firm by stockmarket value, that it does not already own; and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), an American drugs company, has offered $4.5 billion for the 83% of ImClone, an American biotech firm, that it does not already control. These attempts came on the heels of earlier deals in which AstraZeneca, a British drugs giant, bought MedImmune for $15.6 billion, and Takeda of Japan paid $8.8 billion for Millennium. ...
Gene doping:
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
What athletes may or may not do ought to be decided on grounds of safety, not fairnessANOTHER Olympics, another doping debate. And this time it is a fervent one, as recent advances in medical science have had the side-effect of providing athletes with new ways of enhancing performance, and thus of putting an even greater strain on people’s ethical sensibilities. This is especially true of gene therapy. Replacing defective genes holds out great promise for people suffering from diseases such as muscular dystrophy and cancer. But administered to sprightly sportsmen, the treatment may allow them to heave greater weights, swim faster and jump farther (see article). And that would be cheating, wouldn’t it? ...
Gene doping:
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:10:21 -0000
On the eve of the Beijing Olympics, we examine the prospect of athletes using gene therapy to enhance their performance—and of catching them if they tryFOR as long as people have vied for sporting glory, they have also sought shortcuts to the champion’s rostrum. Often, those shortcuts have relied on the assistance of doctors. After all, most doping involves little more than applying existing therapies to healthy bodies. These days, however, the competition is so intense that existing therapies are not enough. Now, athletes in search of the physiological enhancement they need to take them a stride ahead of their opponents are scanning medicine’s future, as well as its present. In particular, they are interested in a field known as gene therapy. Gene therapy works by inserting extra copies of particular genes into the body. These extra copies, known as “transgenes”, may cover for a broken gene or regulate gene activity. Though gene therapy has yet to yield a reliable medical treatment, more than 1,300 clinical trials are now under way. As that number suggests, the field is reckoned to be full of promise. ...

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