Feature Channels: Pharmaceuticals

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National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Department of Policy and Advocacy calls on Federal Government, pharmaceutical industry, providers, and payers to work together on solutions, as 93% of cancer centers surveyed report a shortage of carboplatin and 70% report shortages for cisplatin; two medications that are used in combination to cure many types of cancer.

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Study by IIT-Kanpur researchers published in the prestigious international journal Molecular Cell unravels a previously unknown mechanism that regulates an important class of drug targets known as G protein-coupled receptors

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Researchers at the University at Albany’s RNA Institute have demonstrated a new approach to DNA nanostructure assembly that does not require magnesium. The method improves the biostability of the structures, making them more useful and reliable in a range of applications.

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Research shows that the natural peptide, called drosocin, protects fruit flies from bacterial infections by binding to ribosomes in bacteria. Once bound, drosocin prevents the ribosome from making new proteins.

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A new study from researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys and Eli Lilly and Company describes the science behind an autoimmune disease treatment in a Phase 2 clinical trial.

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Patients receiving neuromuscular blocking medications as part of their anesthetic regimen should be carefully monitored to ensure the best care and outcomes, according to recent—and independently developed—guidelines from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC). Today, the organizations published a joint letter in Anesthesiology, ASA’s peer-reviewed medical journal, encouraging widespread implementation of the recommendations in the guidelines.

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The June issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology includes a new joint society guideline on pharmacological management of chronic idiopathic constipation and consumption of kiwifruit to relieve constipation.

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Three clinical trials led by MD Anderson researchers showed positive results with the targeted therapy erdafitinib for patients with FGFR-altered tumors. The data were presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.

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In a new study of trastuzumab deruxtecan, a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate, researchers observed encouraging responses and long-lasting clinical benefit in several tumor types. These data from an interim analysis of the Phase II DESTINY-PanTumor02 study, led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, were presented today at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

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A new study from Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center suggests that it’s reasonable for patients with advanced lung cancer to stop immunotherapy treatment at two years, as long as their cancer hasn’t progressed.

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Research to improve the detection of Salmonella and to speed up the development of new medicines received funding from a Florida State University program that supports faculty moving their work from the lab to the marketplace.

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A study involving UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers found when ribociclib, a targeted therapy drug, is added to hormone therapy there are significant survival benefits for patients with early hormone-receptor (HR) positive/HER2 negative breast cancer.

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The results of a new clinical trial suggest that the first drug therapy to slow the progression of nearsightedness in kids could be on the horizon.

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Anti-obesity medications, including semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy), can effectively help patients manage weight regained after bariatric surgery, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers shows.

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A drug combination that shows little overall survival benefit in white men with advanced prostate cancer has a far greater effect in Black men with the disease, according to interim results from a study led by the Duke Cancer Institute.

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The SLAS Technology Editor’s Top 10 for 2023 highlights technologies that address a broad range of unmet needs in both the laboratory and the clinic.

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While it can take years for the pharmaceutical industry to create medicines capable of treating or curing human disease, a new study suggests that using generative artificial intelligence could vastly accelerate the drug-development process.

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A ground-breaking study by Loughborough University and the University of Oxford has led to the development of a small molecule probe that could deepen our understanding of a crucial cellular messenger and lead to the development of new therapeutic drugs.

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Plasma engineers and chemists at the University of Illinois demonstrated a sustainable way of forming carbon-carbon bonds — the bedrock of all organic compounds — without expensive rare metals that are typically required as catalysts.

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For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a combination of intravenous and periarticular corticosteroids does not improve pain control – but, may improve key indicators of functional recovery in the days after surgery, reports a trial in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio in partnership with Wolters Kluwer.

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In aerobic organisms, reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydroxide (OH), singlet oxygen (1O2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and superoxide (O2–) ions are produced during aerobic respiration, which causes serious oxidative damage to biomolecules in the body.

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Taking a daily multivitamin may help slow age-related memory decline, a study has found.

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Chunyu Wang, Ph.D., professor of biological sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has added to his body of research on Alzheimer’s disease with significant findings in Angewandte Chemie.Together with his team, which includes first author and Rensselaer doctoral student Dylan Mah, Wang performed the most comprehensive study to date of the interactions between ApoE, or Apolipoprotein E, and heparan sulfate (HS).

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Weed killers of the future could soon be based on failed antibiotics. A molecule which was initially developed to treat tuberculosis but failed to progress out of the lab as an antibiotic is now showing promise as a powerful foe for weeds that invade our gardens and cost farmers billions of dollars each year. While the failed antibiotic wasn’t fit for its original purpose, scientists at the University of Adelaide discovered that by tweaking its structure, the molecule became effective at killing two of the most problematic weeds in Australia, annual ryegrass and wild radish, without harming bacterial and human cells.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients newly prescribed non-benzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonists (NBZRAs) such as zolpidem (Ambien, Intermezzo and other brands), a class of hypnotic drugs prescribed for insomnia, did not have an increased risk of exacerbations requiring hospitalizations or of death than those prescribed other types of hypnotics, according to research published at the ATS 2023 International Conference.

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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and ordered to stop transferring data collected from Facebook users in Europe to the United States. Find the latest research and expert commentary on privacy issues and controversial business practices in the Business Ethics channel.

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The drug valbenazine statistically improves chorea, a movement disorder commonly associated with Huntington’s disease, when compared to a placebo, according to a recent international study led by UTHealth Houston researcher Erin Furr Stimming, MD, who served as principal investigator on behalf of the KINECT-HD Huntington Study Group.

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Researchers from Rice University have created drug-filled microparticles that can be engineered to degrade and release their therapeutic cargo days or weeks after administration. By combining multiple microparticles with different degradation times into a single injection, the researchers could develop a drug formulation that delivers many doses over time.

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Skin cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer in the United States, with over 5 million cases diagnosed annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that melanoma alone accounts for more than 8,000 deaths each year. Thankfully, skin cancer is highly preventable, making it crucial to prioritize protection. Below are some of the latest headlines in the Dermatology channel.

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An old antibiotic may provide much-needed protection against multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, according to a new study publishing May 16th in the open access journal PLOS Biology by James Kirby of Harvard Medical School, US, and colleagues.

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Dr. Sarah Prager looks at the impacts of recent federal court rulings on Washington state and nearby states, as well as the impact of rulings on miscarriage care.

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In the medicine market, most newly introduced drugs and drug candidates show poor water solubility, which prevents their absorption in the body. This, in turn, limits their therapeutic efficiency.

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The anti-dementia medication lecanemab and its ancillary costs could add $2 billion to $5 billion in annual Medicare spending if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revise their coverage decision. Currently, the medication is covered only for patients who are enrolled in clinical trials.

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Get your mental health news here.