We may be winning the war on death from infectious diseases but we now face a greater threat from non-communicable diseases, writes Steve Davis

Damien Shaw was the toast of Irish cycling this weekend after he was crowned national elite road race champion for the very first time, beating many of the the country’s best amateur and professional riders on a memorable afternoon in Omagh.

Dublin: Last month saw Aer Lingus Regional — the airline’s secondary destination service, operated by Stobart Air (Aer Arann) — have up its 12th consecutive month of growth, with more than 130,000 passengers carried.

One of the country’s most exciting prospects, Ryan Mullen, took the biggest road race victory of his young career when he soloed to a stunning win at the National Championships at Multyfarnham, Co. Westmeath yesterday.

Ireland could have up to six riders on the Giro d’Italia start line in Belfast on May 9 after the shortlist for wildcard entries for the three-week race was unveiled yesterday.

Shares in Irish drug development company Merrion Pharmaceuticals jumped by 25% yesterday on the back of news that the firm has moved a step closer to playing a pivotal role in transforming diabetes medication.

Directors’ pay levels at Dublin-based drug development company, Merrion Pharmaceuticals increased by almost €700,000 last year, despite the company’s net losses doubling.

MERRION Pharmaceuticals is shedding 20 jobs at its headquarters in Citywest, Dublin, to reduce annual cash expenditures by 32%, following losses of €2.04m for the first half of the year.

IRISH drug development company Merrion Pharmaceuticals has announced a new collaboration agreement with Danish healthcare firm, Novo Nordisk, that will evaluate the capabilities of Merrion’s GIPET technology to improve the delivery of an unnamed compound.

MERRION Pharmaceuticals has slashed its annual losses and boosted its revenues by €5 million.

Almost one third of Irish people think they are overweight, a new survey revealed today

MERRION Pharmaceuticals, the Dublin-based drug-maker, has benefited from falling values in the commercial property market by expanding its manufacturing facilities here in a bid to accelerate the development of its product pipeline.

DUBLIN-based drug-making firm, Merrion Pharmaceuticals has reported a solid set of results for 2008; showing a marked reduction in net losses and a 186% surge in revenue to €1.34 million.

MORE than 60 calls a day were logged by a national helpline set up to deal with concerns about the organ retention controversy in its first week of operation.

TWO more hospitals have revealed they supplied pituitary glands from deceased patients to pharmaceutical companies, bringing to 22 the number of hospitals that have admitted their involvement so far.

International pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk, has confirmed that it received 7,500 glands from Irish hospitals.

THE number of deceased patients whose pituitary glands were supplied to a Danish pharmaceutical firm was three times greater than revealed earlier this week.

IT is impossible for those of us not affected by the almost Burke and Hare-type deception carried out by so many hospitals, in collusion with pharmaceutical companies, to understand the anguish of those parents.

THE organ retention controversy continued last night after the second company named as using pituitary glands from dead children for drug manufacturing said it was supplied by a large number of Irish hospitals.

The Southern Health Board has confirmed that Cork University Hospital and Tralee General Hospital gave pituitary glands to two pharmaceutical companies.