Feature Channels: Pharmaceuticals

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Bacteria—especially Gram-negative strains—are becoming increasingly resistant to current antibiotic drugs, and the development of new classes of antibiotics has slowed. Faced with these challenges, investigators are studying the potential of combination therapy, in which two or more drugs are used together to increase or restore the efficacy of both drugs against a resistant bacterial pathogen. Now new research indicates that such synergy may work even when bacteria become resistant to colistin, which is considered a treatment agent of last resort.

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At its Aug. 10 meeting, the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents approved a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree to be offered by the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine (WLHSDM) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (TTUHSC El Paso).

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A class of cancer drugs called PARP inhibitors could be useful for treating and preventing brain disorders, including ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and some forms of frontotemporal degeneration, by halting the misplacement of specific proteins that affect nerve cells.

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In the first such clinical trial in the United States, physician-scientists with the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) are investigating the use of MRI-guided focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier. The trial will be conducted with patients undergoing brain cancer surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).

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Investigators have discovered that arsenic in combination with an existing leukemia drug work together to target a master cancer regulator. The team, led by researchers at the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is hopeful that the discovery could lead to new treatment strategies for diverse types of cancer.

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New research provides details of how the structure of the HIV-1 virus is assembled, findings that offer potential new targets for treatment.

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The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a $2 million gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to establish the Blavatnik Family Fellowship in Biomedical Research in the Penn Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) program.

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“Safe consumption sites,” where people can use pre-obtained drugs with medically trained personnel on hand to treat overdoses, garner higher public support when they are called “overdose prevention sites,” according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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A comprehensive RNA and DNA sequencing platform benefits late-stage and drug-resistant multiple myeloma patients by determining which drugs would work best for them, according to results from a clinical trial published in JCO Precision Oncology in August.

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Exercise can help prevent relapses into cocaine addiction, according to new research led by the University at Buffalo’s Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, PhD.

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Scientists identify a safe drug that for the first time could treat – and possibly reverse – the thickening of lung artery walls in pulmonary arterial hypertension; clinical trial is expected in 2019

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Researchers at University of Utah Health developed a proof-of-concept technology using nanoparticles that could offer a new approach for oral medications.

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In the past three decades, more than 15 new drugs have been approved to treat seizures. Yet data from a longitudinal, single-center study show that people with epilepsy are no more likely to find success with new drugs as they did with older ones.

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Virtually all functions in our bodies require precise interactions between radically different types of molecules. Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas are pursuing what differentiates a fruitful encounter from a dud.

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Not only can your smartphone serve as your wallet, watch and map, it can also be your digital security blanket. In a new study led by the University of California, Irvine, researchers found that when people are in awkward social situations, having their phones with them offers comfort and helps relieve feelings of isolation.

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"In humans, being able to tweak levels of TTR degradation could act as a means of stopping TTR toxicity."

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The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) announced that for a second consecutive year, it has been named a winner in the 2018 Chicago Best and Brightest Companies to Work For® in the Medium Business, 101-300 Employees category. Only companies that distinguish themselves as having the most innovative and thoughtful human resources approach receive this honor.

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Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics and University of Louisville collaborate to offer a new CAR T immunotherapy to treat patients.

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- Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U), in collaboration with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, have generated the first single cell resolution atlas of genes that control the formation of breast tissue. The atlas provides a comprehensive molecular map that will be used to help researchers understand how breast cancers form and to pinpoint new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease.

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Seattle Children’s has opened a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy trial for children and young adults with relapsed or refractory non-central nervous system EGFR-expressing solid tumors. In the phase 1 trial, STRIvE-01, cancer-fighting CAR T cells will target the EGFR protein expressed in many childhood sarcoma, kidney and neuroblastoma tumors.

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The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) has announced the 15 late-breaking trials and 12 late-breaking clinical science presentations that will be reported at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2018 scientific symposium. TCT, the world’s premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine, will take place September 21 – 25, 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

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An in-depth study of retired football and hockey players—including cognitive, psychological, and brain imaging techniques—finds no increase in the rate of early-onset dementia, reports the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR). The official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America, JHTR is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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UPMC Presbyterian Hospital has been designated an Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA).

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Johns Hopkins scientists report they have identified two potential new drug targets for the treatment of HIV. The finding is from results of a small, preliminary study of 19 people infected with both HIV—the virus that causes AIDS—and the hepatitis C virus. The study revealed that two genes—CMPK2 and BCLG, are selectively activated in the presence of type 1 interferon, a drug once used as the first line of treatment against hepatitis C.

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The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine welcomes Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD, to the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology and the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, effective September 2018.

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have developed a new imaging technique to better understand the mechanisms that lead to hearing loss when aminoglycosides are introduced to the body. Using the lab’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray laser and Stanford Synchrotron Lightsource (SSRL), SLAC researchers, in collaboration with researchers at Stanford University, were able to observe interactions between the drugs and bacterial ribosomes at both extremely low and room temperatures, revealing never-before-seen details.

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The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc today announced a five-year collaboration agreement with a goal of evaluating therapies for multiple hematologic malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndromes.

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Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that they have successfully created spinal cord neural stem cells (NSCs) from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) that differentiate into a diverse population of cells capable of dispersing throughout the spinal cord and can be maintained for long periods of time.

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Researchers have identified a gene that when inhibited or reduced, in turn, reduced or prevented human non-small cell lung cancer tumors from growing.

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Cleveland Clinic researchers have designed a potential new class of drugs that may reduce cardiovascular risk by targeting a specific microbial pathway in the gut. The research, published in the September issue of Nature Medicine, was led by Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D.

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ISPOR, the professional society for health economics and outcomes research, , announced that CEO and Executive Director Nancy S. Berg has been named a 2018 PharmaVOICE 100 honoree by PharmaVOICE magazine.

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Program Will Benefit Patients

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ROCHESTER, Minn. – Despite increased attention to opioid abuse, prescriptions have remained relatively unchanged for many U.S. patients, research led by Mayo Clinic finds. The research, published in The BMJ, shows that opioid prescription rates have remained flat for commercially insured patients over the past decade. Rates for some Medicare patients are leveling but remain above where they were 10 years ago.

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The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy and the UIC/National Institutes of Health Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research will host an open-to-the-public garden walk and lecture to celebrate the first and only urban medicinal plant garden in Chicago.

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• When opioids are prescribed following surgery, approximately four percent of the general patient population will continue using opioids for an extended time period • Race and household income were not significant risk factors for prolonged opioid use • Physicians’ prescribing practices may influence patient risk • Patients in the worker’s compensation setting experienced the highest rates of prolonged opioid use

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Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences announced Aug. 1 the renaming of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) to Cornell AgriTech.

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Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that certain drug cocktails help targeted therapies attack cancer more efficiently while lessening common side effects, according to a study published today in Cancer Research.

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A new drug-delivery technology which uses red blood cells to shuttle nano-scale drug carriers, called RBC-hitchhiking, has been found in animal models to dramatically increase the concentration of drugs ferried precisely to selected organs.

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Healthcare teams in patient care settings can develop policies and procedures to minimize the impact of drug shortages by incorporating new guidelines published today by ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists). The ASHP Guidelines on Managing Drug Product Shortages provide a framework for responding to drug shortages and outline best practices to improve quality of patient care.

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Ramnath Subbaraman, a Tufts University School of Medicine assistant professor of public health and community medicine, has been selected to receive a 2018 Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The award supports his research to improve tuberculosis care in India.

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Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say their small survey of nearly 100 health care practitioners who are members of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America revealed that only half routinely ask their patients directly about their sexual orientation. In addition, the survey found, of those who do not ask, more than 40 percent say that sexual orientation is irrelevant to patients’ care, a position contrary to longstanding clinical evidence.

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"HIV/AIDS is a known killer. Today, we could wipe it off the face of the earth if we simply shared. That’s a priceless opportunity that we can’t afford … to miss." Patricia Davidson, nursing expert and dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing explains why stigma, lack of awareness, and over-the-top pricing prevent people from being able to use Truvada, also known as PrEP, which is 99 percent effective at preventing HIV infection.

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Fujirebio Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of Miraca Holdings Inc., (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Yoshihiro Ashihara, hereinafter “Fujirebio” or “the Company”) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with US-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (hereinafter “Janssen”) to develop and commercialize an AMYLOID β 42/40 RATIO assay.

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MedTest Holdings, the solution provider of choice offering integrated products and services for decentralized clinical diagnostic testing, today announced the debut of its new corporate name—MedTest Dx—at the upcoming 2018 American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Scientific Meeting.

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Communication breakdown among nurses and doctors is one of the primary reasons for patient care mistakes in the hospital.

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Seriously, does anyone really like peas? More importantly, should parents pressure kids to eat them anyway, and does it hurt or help the child?

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In a series of experiments with mice, Johns Hopkins investigators have used an experimental compound to successfully reverse hair loss, hair whitening and skin inflammation linked by previous studies to human diets heavy in fat and cholesterol.

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PHILADELPHIA— The United States Congressional Budget Office estimates that 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on medical tests and procedures that do not improve patient outcomes. In an effort to reduce unnecessary testing, procedures and related spending, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has named Penn Medicine and two other organizations among a select few health care organizations in the country designated as a “qualified provider-led entity” (QPLE).

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Pairing an online patient dashboard with “nudges” to doctors tripled statin prescribing rates in a clinical trial led by Penn Medicine researchers. The study used two nudges, active choice framing to prompt physicians to make a decision on prescriptions, and peer comparison feedback which provided physicians with information on their performance relative to other physicians.