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SA company poised to make key TB drug ingredients
Though several South African companies are producing HIV and TB medicines, the active ingredients that go into these medicines are usually imported from India...
UK regulator probes anti-depressants safety alerts after suicide link
The UK’s medicines regulator is reviewing dozens of safety alerts for 30 common antidepressants, it has been revealed, after the recent suicide of a...
UK man calls for guideline changes after near death linked to tooth extraction
A Welshman who survived two bouts of endocarditis after having a tooth pulled out – without prior antibiotic treatment – is calling for changes...
No link between doxycycline and suicide – EMA
The European Medical Agency’s safety assessment committee (PRAC) has concluded that the currently available evidence is not sufficient to establish a causal relationship between...
New pill cuts genetic cholesterol by nearly 86%, finds mid-stage trial
The highest dose of an experimental pill has dramatically lowered an inherited form of high cholesterol in a mid-stage trial.
Eli Lilly announced that, according...
Study finds two treatments osteoarthritis ineffective
Negative studies of colchicine and a herbal-supplement cocktail have dashed hopes of non-surgical treatments – with fewer side effects than ordinary painkillers - for...
British NHS offers pill to help smokers quit
NHS England is to offer hundreds of thousands of smokers a once-a-day pill that increases their likelihood of quitting, and which, say the experts, could save...
SAHPRA and drug companies flag risks of compounded weight-loss drugs
Compounded versions of hugely popular weight-loss and obesity drugs have led to the deaths of at least 10 people and 100 hospitalisations overseas, prompting...
Watching and waiting vs antibiotic treatment for paediatric patients
A team of physicians describe a baby’s symptoms from a recent case, and proffer two treatment scenarios, the options and the supporting evidence for...
Drugmaker recalls anxiety medicines over cancer concerns
A recall has been issued for thousands of bottles of the medicine duloxetine because they may contain a potentially cancer-causing agent, according to the US...
Novo seeks FDA ban on compounded Ozempic
Novo Nordisk has asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent compounding pharmacies from manufacturing their own versions of the company’s weight...
Fake medicines trade flourishing in KZN
Organised crime networks are continuing to do a roaring trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products smuggled into South Africa and into the hands of desperate...
UK blocks Alzheimer’s ‘wonder drug’ over costs
The most effective drug for Alzheimer’s has been blocked for use on the NHS, banned – despite regulators declaring it safe – because of...
EMA withdraws authorisation for Duchenne MD treatment drug
After re-examining available data, the European Medicine Agency’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has confirmed its previous recommendation to not renew the conditional marketing authorisation...
Zealand, Boehringer get FDA ‘breakthrough’ status to treat MASH
Denmark’s Zealand Pharma and German partner Boehringer Ingelheim have won the US Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Therapy status for the review of their...
FDA green lights Pfizer’s drug for haemophilia A, B
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Hympavzi (marstacimab, Pfizer) as routine prophylaxis to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in patients...
Gilead inks deal for generic HIV drug supply to low-income nations
Gilead Sciences has granted royalty-free licences to six generic drug manufacturers to make and sell cheaper copycat versions of its HIV prevention medicine in...
Slow progress on Pfizer’s plan to sell cheap drugs to poor nations
Two years after launching a plan to make its medicines available to 45 low-income countries at not-for-profit prices, Pfizer has only signed up 10...
Lupus drug meets main goal of late-stage trial
An experimental lupus treatment has met the main goal of a late-stage trial in patients with the chronic disease, a surprise result after the...
EMA extends mpox jab to youngsters
The European Medicines Authority has recommended extending the indication of the smallpox/mpox vaccine Imvanex (also know as Jynneos) to adolescents aged 12 to 17, the drug...
Prescription amphetamine tied to higher psychosis risk – US study
Amphetamine use has risen steadily in the US over the past few years – up 70% between 2011 and 2021 – with a recent...
Mpox drug SAE only in compromised patients – CDC study
An analysis by the US Centres for Disease Control & Infection on the use of Tpoxx – the antiviral drug tecovirimat prescribed to more...
FDA alert on menopausal drug
The FDA has issued an alert warning women about menopausal medicine for hot flushes, saying fezolinetant (Veozah), a hormone-free pill, could cause rare but...
Liraglutide reduces six-year-olds’ weight in nine-country study
Researchers say that liraglutide (Saxenda), in combination with lifestyle intervention, helped reduce the body mass index (BMI) in obese children as young as six.
In...
Aspen urges co-operation for local production of mpox vaccines
With Africa under immense pressure to curb an outbreak of the mpox, Aspen Pharmacare is “in talks” with partners to manufacture vaccines at its...
Price of lifesaving drug deliberately hiked – UK court
British taxpayers were forced to pay millions of pounds for a lifesaving drug after a pharmaceutical company deliberately inflated the cost, pushing it up...
US boosts allowance for Japanese ADHD drug to alleviate shortage
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has increased the production limit for Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ ADHD drug Vyvanse and its generic versions by about 24%...
Global counterfeit scheme likely behind Fake Ozempic spread
Forged drug batch numbers, which are being used by criminals to sell dangerous lookalike weight loss products, could be linked to a massive global...
What time is best to take daily BP pills?
Based on data from five trials and nearly 50 000 patients, researchers have found “conclusive evidence” that taking medicine for blood pressure (BP) in...
Experts flag rise of drug-resistant contagious fungus
A newly named fungal species has global scientists worried about its stubborn resistance to usually effective first-line drugs, the fact that it can be...
Doctors flag painkiller prescribed ‘for everything’
Huge numbers of older people are taking the non-opioid pain medication gabapentin for a variety of conditions, including itching, alcohol dependence and sciatica, with...
EMA rejects US-approved Alzheimer’s drug
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has rejected a licence for the Alzheimer’s treatment lecanemab (Leqembi), saying the benefits did not counterbalance the risk of serious side...
SA woman drops case against US firm for cystic fibrosis drug
Johannesburg investment banker Cheri Nel has dropped a potentially landmark court case against Vertex Pharmaceutical in which she sought to secure access to lifesaving...
US to buy African-made ARVs for Pepfar programme
America is throwing its weight behind African production of antiretrovirals, with the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme (Pepfar) committing to buying...
Acne antibiotics trigger rare, fatal chain reaction
A deadly reaction to antibiotics often used to treat acne, gout and seizures is flying under the radar because it’s so rare, but experts,...
Daily antibiotic wards off STIs – Canadian study
Scientists from Vancouver say their recent small study suggests a daily dose of a common antibiotic may prevent some infections with syphilis, gonorrhoea and...
Sackler family faces rash of lawsuits for OxyContin crisis
Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of highly addictive opioid OxyContin, is being pursued by a mass of creditors as well as more than 40 states...
J&J price probe dropped after TB drug costs slashed
Health NGOs have hailed the agreement reached between the Competition Commission and Johnson and Johnson (J&J) and its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals over the termination...
Draft codeine guideline now out for comment
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has released its new draft guideline it hopes will help stem the misuse of codeine, and...
How effective are analgesics for non-specific low back pain?
Experts have warned that analgesics have limited effect on low back pain – the world’s leading cause of disability, with half a billion (9%)...