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Zepbound injectable remains doctors’ favourite, despite oral options
A recent survey in the United States has found that injected weight loss drugs are still preferred by physicians over newer oral treatments –...
Debate over anti-depressants in pregnancy is shifting, say experts
Researchers are pushing for a focus on shared structured decision-making processes when it comes to pregnant women and the treatment prescription of selective serotonin...
Experts unpack unanticipated benefits of GLP-1 drugs
GLP-1 receptor agonists and dual agonists, which have transformed the treatment of obesity and other metabolic diseases, have also led to additional benefits which...
Germany mulls reimbursing weight-loss drugs costs
In June, France became the first country in the European Union to start reimbursing the costs of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for...
Big Pharma in SA hits out against cheaper imports and job losses
SA's pharmacy giants and government have come head to head over the state’s alleged preference for cheaper imports over medicines made locally, a situation...
Shortened duration of penicillin treatment effective, study finds
A recent study provides strong evidence that just one or two days of intravenous penicillin, followed by a short oral course of amoxicillin, is...
How new cholesterol drug compares against statins
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Merck’s Lipfendra (enlicitide), the first ever oral treatment for high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) and heterozygous familial...
Drug trial flop raises doubts about inflammation link to heart attacks
The recently announced failure of a promising heart drug targeting inflammation, and which was expected to be a blockbuster, has experts questioning whether inflammation...
Why there’s a shortage of chemotherapy drugs
The global shortage of vital drugs – including for cancer – has alarmed experts, with recent investigations showing that the average duration of stockouts...
Pfizer’s drug shows promise in vitiligo trials
Pfizer has announced that two late-stage trials showed that its oral drug Litfulo helped restore skin colour in patients with a common form of vitiligo,...
Illicit weight-loss drug market out of control in SA
The “deluge” of unregistered weight loss medication is spiralling, with compounding versions of the drug continuing to sell like hot cakes in gyms, beauty...
Man dies of drug toxicity after quitting smoking
A British patient on anti-psychotic drugs died in October 2025 from fatal clozapine toxicity after he suddenly stopped smoking, reports the BBC, with concerns...
Viagra may slow the spread of cancer – Israeli study
Research by a team of scientists in Israel has found that the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may be effective in slowing the spread of...
GLP-1 drugs may hold few benefits beyond physical health – US study
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have transformed the treatment of type 2 diabetes, helping millions of patients better control their blood sugar while reducing cardiovascular...
Better weight loss from bariatric surgery than Ozempic, Zepbound – US study
A real-world study recently published in Obesity found that bariatric surgery may confer greater long-term weight loss than semaglutide or tirzepatide for adults with...
Low overall risk of vision loss with GLP-1 RA use – large Swedish cohort study
A nationwide study in Sweden has suggested only a slightly higher risk for non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) among users of glucagon-like peptide-1...
Low, but real risk of alopecia with obesity drugs, three studies find
Scientists have found that the chances of hair loss in patients taking GLP-1 drugs for obesity or diabetes, while low, are higher than with...
Cheaper weight loss generics on the way for South Africa
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority is reviewing 12 applications for generic versions of semaglutide, with an Indian pharma giant being the first to get...
Cholesterol-busting pill gets go-ahead from FDA
A new daily pill – which slashes cholesterol levels far below what can be achieved with statins, according to clinical trials, and which is also...
Prison and hefty fines for fraudster US pharmacist and assistant
A pharmacy owner and his technician were sentenced last week to hefty fines and imprisonment for fraudulent medical claims, and after admitting that they...
Sanofi fires more arrows at Pfizer, Moderna in mRNA legal wars
Despite Pfizer and Moderna having resolved and tied off certain threads in their separate webs of mRNA patent litigation, they now face more legal...
Alzheimer’s drug helped people remain stable, improve – real world study
A real-world study found that most patients receiving the anti-amyloid therapy Leqembi (lecanemab) remained clinically stable after 17 months, with 75.9% remaining at the...
SA company plans Ebola treatment trial, and vaccines enter human trials
Research by a South African pharmaceutical company has identified a drug that prevents the Ebola virus from replicating, with a team now planning a...
Kidney disease drug gets FDA thumbs-up
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved California-headquartered Vera Therapeutics’ drug to treat patients with a potentially life-threatening kidney disease, reports Reuters.
The drug, Trutakna,...
How to kickstart stuck pharmacy ARV roll-out
Eight months after the Supreme Court of Appeal gave the green light for specially trained pharmacists to dispense antiretrovirals without a script from a...
AstraZeneca coughs up $34m to settle ‘kickback’ lawsuit
AstraZeneca will pay $34m to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company used illegal kickbacks, including free nursing services, to induce providers to write prescriptions...
NEJM retracts pivotal data for Amgen’s controversial Tavneos
Pivotal data for Amgen’s Tavneos have been retracted from the New England Journal of Medicine, creating another obstacle for the beleaguered autoimmune drug, reports...
Public health threat as South Africa battles illegal weight loss drugs
Costly new generation weight loss drugs are unaffordable for most people, which has opened up a black market for cheaper, unregistered and untested versions...
iDexis seeks legal advice after court halts compounding
Pretoria pharmacy iDexis has said it will be taking legal advice after the High Court order to stop producing weight-loss medicines containing semaglutide –...
New drug shows promise for chronic heart failure – small Swedish trial
An early clinical study suggests that a new oral drug is safe and well-tolerated in patients with chronic heart failure, say researchers at Sweden’s...
Novo wins round one to block compounded Ozempic by local pharmacy
South African pharmacy iDexis has been temporarily barred from distributing and marketing its compounded weight loss injectable pens, with the Gauteng High Court issuing...
UK regulator issues ACE inhibitor warning
Doctors in Britain have been warned about a rare side effect of ACE inhibitors that may affect patients and might even appear after weeks...
Conundrum of how compounding should be regulated
The recent court case in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) in which Novo Nordisk challenged local pharmacy iDexis has highlighted the complex issue of...
First oral carbapenem approved for complicated UTIs
The FDA has approved tebipenem pivoxil (Utebzi) tablets as the first oral carbapenem antibiotic to treat complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), reports MedPage Today.
Tebipenem pivoxil...
Pretoria pharmacy denies infringing Novo Nordisk patent rights
A Gauteng High Court judge has reserved judgment in the case between Novo Nordisk and iDexis in which the pharmaceutical giant seeks to prevent...
Dis-Chem chooses ‘bold’ over ‘safe’ in multi-million rand investments
Dis-Chem says its R300m investment in its innovation hub – X, bigly labs – among other projects last year, was intended to force an...
Experts warn of dangers with teleheath shopping for GLP-1s
Weight loss drugs may be easy to buy online, but growing overdose and safety concerns have prompted health professionals to issue fresh warnings and...
Third of adults confused by script instructions – US study
While doctors and pharmacists always think that the directions they provide with prescription medications are as clear as daylight to patients, this isn’t always...
South Africa must slash its reliance on imported drugs – Pharmisa
The Health Department’s growing dependence on medicines from outside South Africa is jeopardising local jobs and the country’s security of supply, say pharmaceutical companies...
Japan orders warning for vasculitis drug after fatalities
Japanese drugmaker Kissei Pharmaceutical has been ordered by the country’s Health Ministry to add a warning to the package insert of Tavneos (avacopan), a...