Pharma News

Research topic preference accounts for more than 20% of a persistent funding gap for black scientists applying for National Institutes of Health research project (R01) grants compared to white scientists, according to a new study by NIH scientists. Researchers examined each step in the application submission and review process for R01 applications submitted between 2011-2015. The study confirms previous findings that career stage and institutional resources influence the gap in the number of submissions by black and white researchers. However, the finding that black applicants as a group are more likely to propose research topics that are less likely to be funded was new. The study published today in the journal Science Advances.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval to Scenesse (afamelanotide) to increase pain-free light exposure in adult patients with a history of phototoxic reactions (damage to skin) from erythropoietic protoporphyria.

New evidence from a WHO-led study, published in the Lancet, shows that more than one-third of women in four lower-income countries experienced mistreatment during childbirth in health facilities. Younger, less-educated women were found to be the most at risk of mistreatment, which can include physical and verbal abuse, stigmatization and discrimination, medical procedures conducted without their consent, use of force during procedures, and abandonment or neglect by health care workers.

Ensuring patient safety by improving medicine use and reducing medication errors is the crucial role of today’s pharmacists. “Safe and effective medicine for all”, the theme for this year’s world pharmacists day emphasises this crucial intervention and assistance of pharmacists sought by the healthcare delivery system. Achieving this noble objective of better patient health is next to impossible without the expert advice and assistance of pharmacists.

A UK wide collaboration led by the University of Exeter, Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, has demonstrated that a genetic variant carried by 40% of the population explains why some patients develop antibodies against the anti-TNF drugs, infliximab and adalimumab and lose response. The authors conclude that a further trial is required to confirm that genetic testing prior to treatment will reduce the rate of treatment failure by facilitating the most effective choice of therapy for individual patients. The research, part-funded by Wellcome, Crohn’s & Colitis UK, Guts UK, Cure Crohn’s Colitis and supported by the NIHR, is part of a programme of work committed to finding the right drug for the right patient first time.

Many drugs, especially those made of proteins, cannot be taken orally because they are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract before they can take effect. One example is insulin, which patients with diabetes have to inject daily or even more frequently.

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award  the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine  jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

In 2015, EPFL researchers led by Melanie Blokesch published a seminal paper in Science showing that the bacterium responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholerae, uses a spring-loaded spear to literally stab neighboring bacteria and steal their DNA. They identified the spear mechanism to be the so-called “type VI secretion system” or T6SS, also used for interbacterial competition by many other bacteria.

The cause of Non-communicable diseases has risen to a fervent pace, pushing the growth goals of the nation to a standstill, while creating significant hurdles on the way, especially when it comes to diabetes. To create an impressionable counter, awareness needs to be generated and keeping that in mind, IIHMR University has celebrated its 35th Foundation day with a discourse on diabetes. Held on the 5th of October 2019, the day witnessed a zeal of a new level as apart from the much-awaited cultural program and alumni meet, IIHMR U channeled in a sage-like approach to dispersing knowledge as it moved towards desensitizing and waking up young minds up to the perils of Diabetes.