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Pharmaceutical
Acne drug not linked to higher suicide risk – meta-analysis
Users of the acne drug isotretinoin do not experience an increased risk of suicide, according to a recent meta-analysis, but may actually have a...
Large study shows ALS drug failures
The maker of a much-debated drug for Lou Gehrig’s disease said last week that its therapy had failed to help patients in a large...
UK reviews asthma drug after traumatic side effects in children
Activists are demanding stricter controls and more prominent warnings on the commonly prescribed asthma and allergy drug montelukast, which has seen children as young...
Alzheimer’s drug beset by various challenges
Neurologists are voicing “frustration” at core elements of the Alzheimer's drug Leqembi, produced by Eisai and Biogen and which was supposed to be the...
SA urges Pepfar to buy more African HIV/Aids drugs
South African pharmaceutical companies have urged the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar) to shift 2m patients to made-in-Africa HIV/Aids medicines by...
Safety update on medicines containing pseudoephedrine
Britain’s MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) has reviewed the latest evidence relating to the very rare risk of side effects associated with...
ADHD drug shortage continues in USA
More than a year after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a shortage of the ADHD medication Adderall, doctors and patients say...
US drug companies defend high prices at Senate meeting
In an escalating verbal battle, the CEOs of three major pharmaceutical companies defended the high prices of their drugs in front of the US...
British fatalities in Spain prompt call for inquiry into painkiller
There have been growing calls for a comprehensive national study in Spain to establish the adverse side-effects of the controversial painkiller metamizole, linked to...
Big Pharma under pressure over drugs shortages and high costs
Amid a global shortage of key drugs, Big Pharma is coming under pressure in the US where the CEOs of two major firms have...
FDA inaction despite asthma drug link to suicide
It took the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 12 years after launching a safety review of the allergy-and-asthma drug Singulair before it required a black-box...
No causal link between suicidal thoughts and obesity meds – FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says its preliminary review of reports related to suicidal thoughts or actions in patients treated with glucagon-like...
Two studies find inappropriate use of aspirin
Some patients may still be taking aspirin inappropriately, according to the findings of two single-centre retrospective studies, presented at the recent American Society of...
Patients sue Spanish government over banned painkiller
A patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish Government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the...
How the state is working to reduce stockouts
Over the past 10 years, the National Health Department has rolled out a range of electronic surveillance systems to monitor medicine stocks throughout healthcare...
US study finds serious side effects from weight-loss drugs
Diabetes drugs now popular for their serendipitous by-product – weight loss – have also been linked to increased risk of gastrointestinal side effects, including...
Needle-free anaphylaxis drug thwarted by FDA
A US drug company – ARS Pharma – which had been hoping for FDA approval last week of its flagship product, a needle-free treatment...
J&J probed for high TB drug prices and patent law 'abuse'
Just weeks after Johnson & Johnson, among other pharmaceutical giants, was exposed for charging South Africa 15% more than what it charged the European...
FDA approves rare bone disorder drug
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved French drugmaker Ipsen’s drug for a rare bone disorder, making it the first treatment available to...
US drug approval policy could be harming patients worldwide
While the US Food & Drug Administration’s accelerated-approval process was designed to ease access to life-saving drugs, communication gaps could mean people are undergoing...
New blood cancer therapy from Pfizer approved
Accelerated approval has been granted to a new therapy from Pfizer for a specific type of blood cancer that is difficult to treat, said...
FDA approves first postpartum depression pill
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Biogen and Sage Therapeutics’ postpartum depression pill (PPD), reports Reuters.
The companies had also sought approval for the...
Priciest cancer drugs bumped off WHO’s medicines list
Several exorbitantly priced medicines, including some breast and lung cancer drugs, have been excluded from the updated Essentials Medicines List (EML) and Essential Medicines...
J&J patent deal allows for cheaper generic TB drugs, but SA may lose out
Johnson & Johnson has struck a deal to allow generic versions of its TB drug to be supplied to low-income countries – but critics...
Experts hail latest results for Alzheimer’s drug, despite side effects
Eli Lilly’s experimental drug donanemab slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by 60% for patients in the earliest stages of the brain-wasting disease, according to...
Approval sought for two paediatric antibiotics for MDR infections
US pharmaceutical company Melinta Therapeutics is to receive funding from the government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance two antibiotics targeting...
Full FDA approval for Alzheimer’s drug
The first treatment targeting Alzheimer’s disease has been given full FDA approval, the agency announced last week, giving the green light to the anti-amyloid...
Infant RSV drug gets green light from FDA panel
AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s drug to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been given approval by a US regulatory panel, for use in infants, potentially...
Government shuns local vaccine-maker and switches to imports
While Ministers are punting South Africa as a biopharmaceutical investment destination and government has bemoaned the lack of vaccine manufacturing capacity in the country,...
COVID-vaccine market gets crowded as demand wanes and sales flatten
After the initial frenzy to produce effective global COVID-19 vaccines, sales have flattened and demand has contracted, writes STATNews. The target of vaccinating 70%...
Oops! So sorry about that, Zantac…
An influential study linking a popular heartburn drug to cancer has been retracted after the authors concluded that their finding was a testing error,...
NICE approves enzalutamide for advanced prostate cancer
The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended enzalutamide (Xtandi) as an option for treating advanced prostate cancer, writes MedicalBrief.
Enzalutamide,...
FDA authorises Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody treatment for injection
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a lower dose of Regeneron’s coronavirus treatment for injection, reports Axios.
The update to the company's emergency...
FDA's fiercely contested decision on new Alzheimer drug
The US Food & Drug Administration is under unparalleled pressure over its decision on novel Alzheimer's drug aducanumab, writes Medicalbrief. Advocacy groups, desperate for...
Insulin price illustrates global web of patent laws protecting Big Pharma
The high price of insulin, which has reached as much as $450 per month has raised outrage across the US, writes Faisal Chaudhry, professor...
Rwanda's cheap, generic morphine production model
By putting morphine production and distribution under government control a, Rwanda has become a model for Africa.
As thousands die from addiction in rich countries...
Global study reveals relatively low cost of SA medicines
In a finding that may surprise many, South Africa ranked among the lowest on the cost of 13 common medicines in a 50-nation study by UK digital healthcare...
Unaffordable breast cancer medicines are killing SA women
Breast cancer remains the leading cancer affecting South Africa women. It is not only under-diagnosed but many will die needlessly because the most...
Health Compact 'waters down' access to affordable medicine
In May 2018, the Trade and Industry Department finally unveiled a new policy that would help to rein in pharmaceutical industry profiteering, but the...
Use of generics rises to a new high in SA's private sector
The use of cheaper generic alternatives rose to an all-time high of 62% in the private sector in 2018, while the top five chronic...