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Pharmacology
Pfizer discontinues costly haemophilia B gene therapy
Less than a year after approval, Pfizer is planning to discontinue its haemophilia B gene therapy fidanacogene elaparvovec (Beqvez) across all global markets, citing...
Some hormonal contraceptives linked to clots – Danish study
A team of researchers has suggested that some progesterone-only hormonal contraceptives may carry similar clot risk to certain combined pills, according to their study.
The Danish...
How your environment is linked to efficacy of medications
Never underestimate the vital role environment could play in how well certain medications and drug therapies could work, say experts.
Figuring out how your genes...
Chemotherapy link to chronic nerve pain in 40% of patients – US study
A pooled analysis of all available evidence has suggested that worldwide, cancer chemotherapy is linked to persistent severe peripheral nerve pain (neuropathy) for around...
Vision problems flagged after GLP-1 agonists – Utah survey
Though it was not possible to determine causality, a retrospective case series identified nine patients who developed ophthalmic complications during treatment with semaglutide (Ozempic,...
Green light from FDA for breast cancer treatment
The Food & Drug Administration has approved a new treatment for American patients with a common form of breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the...
FDA flags anaphylaxis risk with MS drug
Patients taking multiple sclerosis (MS) medication have been alerted to rare cases of anaphylaxis, with the US Food & Drug Administration having now added...
Antibiotic for MDR-TB halves risk – SA, Vietnamese trial
Two recent simultaneous trials – one conducted in South Africa among children, the other involving Vietnamese adults – found that levofloxacin reduced the risk of...
J&J’s ketamine nasal spray approved by FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration has expanded approval for Johnson & Johnson’s ketamine-derived nasal spray, Spravato, to allow it to be used as a...
SA women allege Pfizer knew about contraceptive tumour risk
Four South African women who used Pfizer’s Depo-Provera for decades blame the injectable contraceptive for causing them to develop brain tumours, but the company...
UK may reclassify ketamine as illegal use soars
Britain is considering reclassifying the anaesthetic ketamine as a class A drug as illegal use skyrockets to record levels, officials say.
Ketamine, taken by billionaire...
World’s largest protein study to revolutionise cancer, dementia tests
The world’s largest study of proteins circulating the human body will launch in the UK this month, with tens of millions of pounds in...
Journal retracts study punting hydroxychloroquine for Covid
A controversial study that promoted the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 has officially been withdrawn, with several of the authors themselves...
Blockbuster diabetic drug now in SA
Aspen Pharmacare has announced the local availability of Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, marketed globally as Mounjaro.
Mounjaro, the once-weekly glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor and glucagon-like peptide-1...
Aspirin for secondary prevention of atherosclerosis – evidence or dogma?
Decades of recommendations to give aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events, based on over-optimistic interpretation of inconclusive data, were recently overturned after a...
AMR could overtake cancer as top disease killer by 2050
Concerned experts say that if antimicrobial resistance continues to grow, in 25 years’, some antibiotics will become useless, certain bacterial infections will be much...
Health Department plans medical strategy to tackle heroin crisis
The government is preparing to trial a medically-assisted treatment programme to help heroin users who want to quit the drug – this after long...
EMA reverses decision over early Alzheimer’s treatment
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) human medicines committee (CHMP), after re-examining its initial opinion, has recommended granting a marketing authorisation to Leqembi (lecanemab) for...
FDA plans decongestant ingredient removal
Nearly two decades after an initial expert recommendation, the US Food and Drug Administration has proposed starting the process of removing a common ingredient...
FDA approves new oral drug for UTIs, despite concerns
A new oral antibiotic has cracked the nod from the FDA for the treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections, despite the agency’s reviewers voicing...
The power of repurposing old drugs
As Covid-19 evolved from an outbreak to a pandemic, researchers, clinicians, governments, and the public were all desperately seeking solutions – and from this,...
Doctor blames US politics for unpublished puberty blocker study
An influential doctor and advocate of adolescent gender treatments said she had not published a long-awaited study of puberty-blocking drugs because of the charged...
SAHPRA approves bid for unregistered cancer drug
Umhlanga cancer patient Ina Requilet finally has access to potentially life-saving medication after the health regulator approved a treatment not yet registered in South...
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...
‘Almost untreatable’ superbug tied to common antibiotic – Australian study
After an eight-year study, scientists recently made a surprising finding in the first recorded instance of one antibiotic causing resistance to another in a...
Doctors reminded to flag side effects of GLP-1 agonists
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reminding healthcare professionals to ensure patients are aware of the known side effects of glucagon-like...
Global review identifies drug with best outcomes for stroke recovery
A recent study to find which medications work best in improving overall outcomes for ischaemic stroke patients saw European researchers comparing the effectiveness of...
Gilead in talks with SAHPRA to register twice-yearly anti-HIV jab
Gilead Sciences, which makes the six-monthly anti-HIV injection, has approached the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to discuss how to get the shot registered...
Covid jabs linked to temporary facial palsy – South Korean study
A large-scale study in South Korea has found a small but notable increase in facial palsy cases within 28 days of Covid-19 vaccination, highlighting...
Metformin for fathers not linked to birth defects – joint study
A large study, which tracked 3m pregnancies in Norway and Taiwan, found that men can take the commonly prescribed diabetes drug metformin without worrying...
GLP-1 drugs may protect brain health – US review
Drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) may offer benefits that go beyond weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes or...
Lupus treatment trial paused after deaths
The US Food and Drug Administration has placed a clinical hold on Kezar Life Sciences’ mid-stage trial of experimental drug for lupus, after the company...
Novo, Lilly sued by patients for gastroparesis
Swedish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has denied that its diabetic drug Ozempic is responsible for causing stomach paralysis in patients, and has vowed to “vigorously...
Call for access to new antibiotics in SA as AMR rises
There is a desperate need for improved access to new antibiotics to treat infections caused by drug-resistant organisms, to be able to limit side...
SAHPRA rejects woman’s bid for cancer drug not yet registered in SA
An Umhlanga woman (53) is battling cancer and bureaucracy in attempts to acquire medication that might save her life.
Ina Requilet has an aggressive mutation...
Pfizer withdraws sickle cell treatment after deaths
Pfizer is withdrawing its sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta from all markets where it has been approved, citing risks of a painful complication and deaths.
Pfizer...
World leaders pledge to slash AMR by 10%
A UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) last week has pledged to reduce – by 10% – deaths from drug-resistant bacteria over...
US senator accuses Novo Nordisk of greed
More than 40 000 Americans risk dying if Novo Nordisk doesn’t lower the prices of its diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, according...
Colon cancer therapy fails late-stage trial
A combination of Merck’s experimental drug and blockbuster therapy Keytruda had failed a late-stage trial testing it in previously treated patients with a type...
Experimental drug signals hope for Fragile X syndrome
A new, experimental drug is helping to the change the lives of people with the genetic condition Fragile X – which often causes autism...