Pharma News

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found evidence that specific immune cells may play a key role in the devastating effects of cerebral malaria, a severe form of malaria that mainly affects young children. The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that drugs targeting T cells may be effective in treating the disease. The study was supported by the NIH Intramural Research Program.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) found in breastmilk may influence a child’s growth from infancy through early childhood, according to a study supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study also suggested that maternal obesity may affect HMO composition in breastmilk. The study was led by Lars Bode, Ph.D., at the University of California, San Diego. It appears in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Favipiravir has shown potential in treating the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Drug Regulatory Body in China announced that they have approved clinical trials of the antiviral favilavir for use in the treatment of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, reported by UPI.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved three drugs for nonprescription, or over-the-counter (OTC), use through a process called a prescription (Rx)-to-OTC switch. The FDA approved Voltaren Arthritis Pain (diclofenac sodium topical gel, 1%) for the temporary relief of arthritis pain;  Pataday Twice Daily Relief (olopatadine HCl ophthalmic solution/drops, 0.1%) for the temporary relief of itchy and red eyes due to pollen, ragweed, grass, animal hair or dander; and Pataday Once Daily Relief (olopatadine HCl ophthalmic solution/drops, 0.2%) for the temporary relief of itchy eyes due to pollen, ragweed, grass, animal hair or dander, for nonprescription use.

Leading health experts from around the world have been meeting at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters to assess the current level of knowledge about the new COVID-19 disease, identify gaps and work together to accelerate and fund priority research needed to help stop this outbreak and prepare for any future outbreaks.

Following a review of the risk of meningioma (a rare tumour of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord) in patients taking cyproterone, EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) has recommended that medicines containing 10 mg or more of cyproterone should only be used for hirsutism (excessive hair growth), androgenic alopecia (hair loss), acne and seborrhoea (excessively oily skin) once other treatment options, including treatment with lower doses, have failed.

Less than one in four adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM) ever get tested for HIV, research funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health, has reported. The study, led by Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, appeared today in the journal Pediatrics.

In September 2018, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, issued its Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Research, which outlined research priorities to reduce and ultimately end the burden of tuberculosis (TB). TB is a bacterial disease that has claimed the lives of more than a billion people in the past two centuries. Now, a new “Perspective” in The Journal of Infectious Diseases by NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and other Institute officials summarizes recent progress in improved TB diagnostics, therapeutic regimens and prevention approaches that made 2019 a “banner year” for TB research.

Here glioblastoma cells from a human brain are growing. Addition of the Ebola-VSV oncolytic virus results in tumor infection and cell death, seen here as black cells. Over time the infection spreads to other glioblastoma cells.

Glioblastomas are relentless, hard-to-treat, and often lethal brain tumors. Yale scientists have enlisted a most unlikely ally in efforts to treat this form of cancer — elements of the Ebola virus.

A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered, making it a promising clinical candidate in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.