Feature Channels: Pharmaceuticals

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

UCLA researchers have found that chemotherapy is not commonly used when treating adults with localized sarcoma, a rare type of cancer of the soft tissues or bone. In a nationwide analysis of nearly 20,000 patients whose cancer had not yet spread to other organs, the scientists learned that only 22% were treated with some form of chemotherapy.

• share
• favorite_border

Penn Medicine researchers found that when an “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery” protocol was employed—which optimizes patients’ surgical care before, during, and after surgery—the majority of patients did not need opioids for pain management at one, three, and six months after elective spinal and peripheral nerve surgery.

• share
• favorite_border

Taking vitamin D and calcium twice a day may reduce your chances of getting vertigo again, according to a study published in the August 5, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

• share
• favorite_border

Genetic modifier HDAC6 was found to control tumor growth and halt metastasis in triple-negative breast cancer in vivo, according to a new study published in the journal Cancer Research by investigators at the GW Cancer Center.

• share
• favorite_border

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 5, 2020 – When the coronavirus pandemic hit, almost everyone at the University of California, Irvine – and colleges across the nation – had to abandon campus. But James Nowick, professor of chemistry, was not a part of that exodus. That’s because his lab, which designs and constructs chemical molecules, had the right equipment to help in the global push to find treatments for COVID-19.

• share
• favorite_border

The National Institutes of Health will soon launch a phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics for COVID-19, including the use of investigational synthetic monoclonal antibodies. Davey Smith of UC San Diego is the protocol chair and answers questions.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have uncovered a novel drug target, a protein called PPP1R1B, that stops the deadly spread of pancreatic cancer, called metastasis, when inhibited in mice. Published in Gastroenterology, the findings are a first step toward a potential treatment for one of the deadliest cancers known today.

• share
• favorite_border

A notable characteristic of several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, is the formation of harmful plaques that contain aggregates--also known as fibrils--of amyloid proteins.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the University of Alberta say a protease in SARS-CoV-2 can be targeted with a drug that is also used to treat feline infectious peritonitis, a fatal infection in cats caused by a coronavirus. The drugs, dipeptide-based protein inhibitors, could be used to slow or stop replication of the COVID-19 virus in humans. During the 70th annual meeting of the American Crystallographic Association, Joanne Lemieux will outline how the drugs are strong candidates for the treatment of human coronavirus infections.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah report today the development of new models to study molecular characteristics of tumors of the lung and pancreas that are driven by mutations in a gene named NTRK1. The findings were published today in the journal Cell Reports.

• share
• favorite_border

Within a month following a heart attack, people are at increased risk for a second one. As a result, physicians treat these patients with medications to rapidly reduce cardiovascular risk factors for another event. Although statins are designed to reduce the risk from one underlying problem, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol, they often aren’t able drop it to recommended levels within 30 days. Now, testing a next-generation cholesterol-lowering drug known as a PCSK9 inhibitor, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers showed they could lower blood cholesterol to safer levels faster when it is added to traditional therapies.

• share
• favorite_border

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 4, 2020 — As part of a prescription to reshape 21st-century healthcare, the University of California, Irvine is announcing the establishment of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the first public pharmacy school in the Los Angeles-Orange County region and a pillar of UCI’s expanding Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine used a novel genetic sequencing technology to identify the genetic cause of—and a treatment for—a previously unknown severe auto inflammatory syndrome affecting an 18-year-old girl since infancy.

• share
• favorite_border

Novel Chromatinase™ platform could rapidly and systemically removes NETs associated with exacerbation of COVID-19

• share
• favorite_border

The PhRMA Foundation has released its 2019 annual report, highlighting a year of activity that included updating its mission and priorities, the launch of new funding programs and an expansion of its efforts to improve the effectiveness of value assessment in health care.

• share
• favorite_border

Cannabinoid-containing products may alter the effects of some prescription drugs, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

Coriell Life Sciences case study: A DNA analysis and precision medicine algorithm generates a detailed personalized medicine report for participants of the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Kentucky.

• share
• favorite_border

A new analysis by University of Chicago Medicine faculty, staff and collaborators around the world found remdesivir appears to be equally beneficial to patients regardless of race, supporting the need for early intervention and aggressive care for all patients in the fight against COVID-19.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center report that an investigational drug candidate called tipifarnib showed promise in treating key recurring mutation in head and neck cancers.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Laboratory research paves the way for a clinical trial to see if an FDA-approved drug used to prevent organ transplant rejection can work against glioblastoma, a type of aggressive brain tumor.

• share
• favorite_border

By analyzing the FDA database of adverse drug effects, UC San Diego researchers discovered that people who received Botox injections — not just in the forehead — reported depression significantly less often than patients undergoing different treatments for the same conditions.

• share
• favorite_border

UPTON, NY—On July 29, 2020 the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory opened a new cryo-electron microscopy center, the Laboratory for BioMolecular Structure (LBMS), with an initial focus on COVID-19-related research. This state-of-the-art research center for life sciences imaging offers researchers access to advanced cryo-electron microscopes (cryo-EM)—funded by NY State—for studying complex proteins, as well as the architecture of cells and tissues.

• share
• favorite_border

A multi-institution phase 1b/2a clinical trial found good tolerability and encouraging efficacy data for a pan-BET bromodomain inhibitor in combination with enzalutamide.

• share
• favorite_border

In a pilot study of people living with HIV or high levels of cholesterol, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that a six-week course of a cholesterol-lowering medication improved the function of the coronary arteries that provide oxygen to the heart.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study by researchers at the University of Kentucky identifies a novel function of the enzyme spermine synthase to facilitate colorectal cancer growth.

• share
• favorite_border

Even short, single antibiotic courses given to young animals can predispose them to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) when they are older, according to Rutgers researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

They are used by 150 million women worldwide and have been around for over 60 years. Oral contraceptives - like birth control pills - are part of many women's lives, often starting during puberty and early adolescence.

• share
• favorite_border

BioMed Valley Discoveries (BVD), a clinical stage biotechnology company, announces the receipt of Fast Track designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for investigation of the ERK inhibitor ulixertinib (BVD-523) as a treatment for patients with non-colorectal, solid tumors that harbor BRAF mutations G469A/V, L485W, or L597Q. BVD has launched a Phase II multi-center study of ulixertinib for patients with advanced malignancies harboring these atypical (non-V600) BRAF alterations or a MEK alteration.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers have discovered a new drug candidate that offers a major advance to treat diabetes. Tested on human and mouse pancreatic islets, mouse and rat cell cultures and animal models of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, the drug significantly improved four detrimental characteristics of diabetes.

• share
• favorite_border

To fight antibiotic resistance more antimicrobials are needed to treat bacterial biofilms, which protect an infection from antibiotics

• share
• favorite_border

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for brexucabtagene autoleucel (TECARTUS™, formerly KTE-X19) as the first and only CAR T-cell therapy for patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) relapsed or refractory to prior treatments. Investigators from Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center (JTCC) at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey participated in the pivotal trial which the approval was based: the ZUMA-2 clinical trial, which assessed the safety and effectiveness of brexucabtagene autoleucel in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL who had received up to five prior regimens of treatment and had exhausted all other therapies. That transformative study showed that 93% of patients responded to treatment, with 67% achieving a complete response (no evidence of disease). The data were published in the April 2, 2020 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of UCLA neurologists have uncovered new potential drug targets in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, after testing more than a thousand patient samples

• share
• favorite_border

A Ludwig Cancer Research study has identified a new instance in which the simultaneous mutation of two nonessential genes—neither of which is on its own vital to cell survival—can cause cancer cell death.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have long been concerned that the common practice of medical journals accepting commercial payments from pharmaceutical companies may lead to pro-industry bias in published articles. According to new research at The University of Texas at Austin, scientists were right to be concerned, but they were focusing on the wrong type of payments. In a new article published by PLOS ONE, researchers reviewed 128,781 articles published in 159 different medical journals for markers of pro-industry bias, evaluating whether accepting advertising revenue, fulfilling reprint contracts or being owned by a large multinational publishing firm made a journal more likely to publish articles favorable to industry. They found that articles published in journals that accept reprint fees are nearly three times more likely to be written by authors who receive industry payments. “I was honestly surprised by the findings here,” said S. Scott Graham, lead author of the study and assistant professor of

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital analyzed 549,807 calls made to Poison Control Centers in the U.S. for suicide-related cases involving OTC analgesics from 2000-2018 and found that both the overall number and rate of these cases increased by 57% and 34%, respectively, during this period.

• share
• favorite_border

A Nature study authored by a global team of scientists and led by Sumit Chanda, Ph.D., professor at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, has identified 21 existing drugs that stop the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

• share
• favorite_border

Today’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first CAR T-cell therapy for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) represents a key advance for patients with relapsed or treatment-resistant forms of the disease, say Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators who helped conduct the decisive clinical trial of the therapy.

• share
• favorite_border

As the global response to the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 approaches 200 days, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the research and development arm of Baylor Scott & White Health, is accelerating its pace of bringing clinical trials online. Baylor Scott & White Research Institute continues to mobilize staff and resources, including components needed to integrate critical patient-safety measures at every participating site within the Baylor Scott & White system for industry sponsored drug trials, investigator-initiated drug trials and research studies, and observational and data studies designed to help increase knowledge around case trends, viral epidemiology, and care best practices.

• share
• favorite_border

In a test of antiviral effectiveness against the virus that causes COVID-19, an extract from edible seaweeds substantially outperformed remdesivir, the current standard antiviral used to combat the disease. The research is the latest example of a decoy strategy researchers at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute are developing against viruses like the novel coronavirus that spawned the current global health crisis.

• share
• favorite_border

A new cell profiling technology combines high throughput imaging and machine learning to provide a rapid, cost-effective way to determine how specific compounds act to destroy the bacterium that causes tuberculosis. It could speed discovery of anti-TB drugs and be applied to other pathogens.

• share
• favorite_border

The NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP) today announced four projects selected to receive funding for clinical and pre-clinical evaluation of futibatinib (TAS-120) in collaboration with Taiho Oncology.

• share
• favorite_border

PDE5 inhibitors, such as sildenafil, activate protein quality-control systems and improve cells’ ability to dispose of misfolded proteins. Researchers find lowered accumulation of mutant proteins and reduced cell death and anatomical defects in zebrafish models of neurodegeneration after treatment.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study led by Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System confirms the findings of the large scale British trial of steroid use for COVID-19 patients and advances the research by answering several key questions: Which patients are most likely to benefit from steroid therapy? Could some of them be harmed? Can other formulations of steroids substitute for the agent studied in the British trial? The research was published today in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

• share
• favorite_border

Published in this month’s edition of Toxicological Sciences are articles on biotransformation, toxicokinetics, and pharmacokinetics; developmental and reproductive toxicology; nanotoxicology; and more.

• share
• favorite_border

New instructions for using nasal sprays may help deliver at least eight times more inflammation-reducing medicine to diseased sinus tissues.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the George Washington University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine published a review in the journal Nitric Oxide suggesting that nitric oxide treatment can be pivotal in the fight against SARS-CoV-2.