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Pharmaceutical
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An influential study linking a popular heartburn drug to cancer has been retracted after the authors concluded that their finding was a testing error,...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...
The high cost rare diseases: R54m for one-off injection
The Sunday Times reports on one SA family's journey with their daughter, who has spinal muscular atrophy, trying to access hugely expensive new breakthrough...
SA pharmacies 'knowingly stock dangerous and ineffective products'
The US Food and Drug Administration's Tainted Products Marketed as Dietary Supplements database lists hundreds of products with hidden active ingredients that are unsafe...
Running out of antibiotics under development — WHO report
A World Health Organisation (WHO) report shows a serious lack of antibiotics under development to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. Most of...
Health activists embrace IP policy draft, IPSA says it fuels misconceptions
Health activists have welcomed the SA Department of Trade and Industry’s latest draft intellectual property policy saying it contains important reforms that will make life-saving...
Amgen's cholesterol drug cuts cardiovascular risk – trial
Amgen said its cholesterol fighter Repatha significantly reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death in patients with heart disease, according to initial...
Increases in drug prices puts pressure on European healthcare
Increases in cancer medicine prices in the UK, despite many medicines going off-patent, suggest that in many cases NHS price negotiations are failing to...
OECD: Many new drugs are bad value for money
An Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development report has criticised the pricing strategy of the pharmaceutical industry, claiming that many new drugs are simply bad value for...
SA medicine price increase off to an early start
Aspen Pharmacare has welcomed both the 7.5% increase in the single exit price for medicines and scheduled substances announced by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi...
Treatment hope for ALCL patients
Stunning ‘before’ and ‘after’ scans of cancer patient Ian Brooks released by the Christie Hospital in Manchester, looked almost too good to be true,...