Purpose: The renin-angiotensin system may play a role in carcinogenesis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of angiotensin system inhibitors (ASI) on outcomes in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated in the targeted therapy era.Experimental Design: We conducted a pooled analysis of mRCC patients treated on phase II and III clinical trials. Statistical analyses were performed using Cox regression adjusted for several risk factors and the Kaplan-Meier method.Results Conclusions: In the largest analysis to date, we demonstrate that ASI use improved survival in mRCC patients treated in the targeted therapy era. Further studies are warranted to investigate the mechanism underlying this interaction and verify our observations to inform clinical practice.

I study sequential second price auctions with multi-unit demands in a complete information setting, focusing on cases in which payoffs are non-separable as a consequence of decreasing marginal values. At the equilibrium outcome a buyer behaves as a monopsonist with respect to the residual supply, which raises the possibility of inefficiency. Moreover, I construct an equilibrium that exhibits declining prices, a fact that has been empirically observed.

This paper studies sequential auctions of licences to operate in a market where those rms that obtain at least one licence then engage in a symmetric market game. I employ a new re nement of Nash equilibrium, the concept of Markovian recursively undominated e quilibrium. The unique solution satis es the following properties: (i) when several rms own licences before the auction (incumbents), new entrants buy licences in each stage, and (ii) when there is no more than one incumbent, either the single rm preempts entry altogether or entry occurs in every stage, depending on the parameter con guration.

No abstract

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Priority Review, Accelerated Approval, Fast Track, and Breakthrough Therapy programs have been successful in facilitating the drug approval process and getting medications to patients quicker. To qualify for one or more of these FDA programs, a sponsor must meet specific criteria. Once a drug is given one or more designations, benefits can range from frequent meetings with FDA representatives to appointed FDA senior managers to facilitate the approval process. This paper will review the major guidelines set forth by the FDA, highlight advantages to the patient and health care community as a result of receiving specific designations, and provide several examples for illustration. As a result of these designations, many patients with rare diseases or life-threatening conditions have been afforded earlier access to effective therapies. As the pharmacist's role continues to expand, it is crucial to understand the nature of these accelerated programs and to advocate for increased access to new drug therapies.