News • Additive manufacturing
3D printed medication activated by smartphone screen
The light from a smartphone screen can be used to print medications, in a new 3D printing technique developed by UCL researchers.
Medication
News • Drug delivery research
Nanoparticles to help cross the blood-brain barrier
Treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s is a challenge because drugs have to be able to cross the blood–brain barrier. As a result, the doses administered must be high and only a small fraction reaches the brain, which can lead to significant systemic side effects.
News • Tumor growth stopped in mice
Antidepressants show promise in cancer growth inhibition
Classic antidepressants could help improve modern cancer treatments. They slowed the growth of pancreatic and colon cancers in mice, and when combined with immunotherapy, they even stopped the cancer growth long-term. In some cases the tumors disappeared completely, researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) and University Hospital Zurich (USZ) have found. Their findings will now be tested in…
News • High risk patients
WHO recommends antibody treatment for Covid-19 patients
A treatment combining two antibodies is recommended for two specific groups of patients with Covid-19 by a WHO Guideline Development Group panel of international experts and patients.
Eye health
FDA Approves biosimilar to treat macular degeneration disease
The FDA approved Byooviz (ranibizumab-nuna) as the first biosimilar to Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) for the treatment of several eye diseases and conditions.
News • Altered bacterial function
Accumulation of drugs in the gut may reduce their effectiveness
Common medications can accumulate in gut bacteria, a new study has found, altering bacterial function and potentially reducing the medications’ effectiveness. These interactions - seen for many drugs including those used to treat depression, diabetes, and asthma - could help researchers to better understand how drug effectiveness and side-effects differ between individuals. The study is…
News • Resource management
Automated filling machine could stave off Covid-19 vaccine shortage
Researchers in Thailand have developed a device to get the most out of vaccine supplies: The automated vaccine filling machine from the Faculty of Engineering at Chulalongkorn University can fill AstraZeneca vaccine into syringes with precision, speed, and safety, helping to increase the number of vaccinated people by 20 percent. The prototype is now operating at Chula Vaccination Center and more…
News • Coronavirus prevention
Double vaccination cuts risk of Long Covid in half
Adults who have received a double vaccination are 49% less likely to have Long Covid should they contract a Covid-19 infection, according to new research from King's College London. The scientists analysed data from participants logging their symptoms, tests and vaccines on the UK ZOE COVID Symptom Study app between 8th December 2020 and 4 July 2021, including 1,240,009 (first dose) and 971,504…
News • Medication combination
'4-in-1' blood pressure pill shows great promise
The first large-scale, long-term trial of a new strategy using combinations of very low-doses in one capsule, has demonstrated significantly improved control of high blood pressure - the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. This first large-scale, randomised controlled clinical trial of starting this novel combination blood pressure medication brought blood pressure under control in 80…
News • Heart-related hospitalisations
Drug danger: opioid use linked to steep rise in cardiac arrests
A nationwide US study has shown that the rate of opioid-related cardiac arrests has steeply risen and is now on par with the rate of cardiac arrest from other causes. The research is presented at ESC Congress 2021. Opioid use disorder, which includes dependence and addiction, affects more than two million people in the US, while opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for those aged 25 to…
News • Rethinking recommendations
Delay between Covid-19 vaccine doses improves antibody response
A novel study published in AACC’s The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine shows that delaying the second Covid-19 vaccine dose for more than the recommended 3-4 weeks results in higher antibody levels. This finding could play a vital role in shaping vaccine distribution strategies that increase access to the vaccine around the globe.
News • Antisense therapy update
Huntington's disease: setback for study of promising agent
Roche announced the decision to discontinue dosing in the Phase III GENERATION HD1 study of tominersen (previously IONIS-HTTRx and RG6042) in manifest Huntington’s disease (HD). The decision was based on the results of a pre-planned review of the data from the Phase III study conducted by an unblinded Independent Data Monitoring Committee (iDMC). The iDMC made its recommendation based on the…
Sponsored • Adapting to the Coronavirus pandemic
Re-evaluating the value of generics to European hospitals
David Johnson, Global Director Commercial Excellence at ADVANZ PHARMA, explains the value of off-patent medicines to hospitals and healthcare systems, as the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic are still having a significant impact on resources.
News • TB drug development cooperation
Unite4TB: A new era in Tuberculosis treatment development
To advance anti-tuberculosis (TB) science and enable the progression of new, safe, and affordable treatment solutions for TB patients worldwide, a new consortium of 30 partners from 13 countries has officially launched. The 7-year, €185 million project called Unite4TB, aims to accelerate and improve the clinical evaluation of combinations of existing and novel drugs, with the goal of developing…
News • Medication development platform
Smart biomarkers to find new drugs against brain diseases
Dr. Hayder Amin and Dr. Caghan Kizil from the DZNE’s Dresden site aim to speed up developing drugs against brain diseases through cutting-edge technology. To this end, they are generating an innovative technology platform, termed “i3D-Markers”, based on high-density microelectrode arrays and 3-dimensional networks of human neurons. Compounds to be tested will be dripped onto this setup, and…
News • Cardiology research
Statins could reduce risk of cancer among heart failure patients
Statin use among patients with heart failure is associated with a 16% lower risk of developing cancer compared with non-statin users during an average of four years of follow-up. This is according to new research published in the European Heart Journal. In addition, the study found that statin use was associated with a 26% reduced risk of dying from cancer over the same period.
News • Unexpected find
Anti-tapeworm drug shows promise against Covid-19
Researchers from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Bonn have examined the way in which SARS-CoV-2 reprograms the metabolism of the host cell in order to gain an overall advantage. According to their report in Nature Communications, the researchers were able to identify four substances which inhibit SARS-CoV-2…
News • Kirigami
Stents can deliver drugs to the GI tract
Inspired by kirigami, the Japanese art of folding and cutting paper to create three-dimensional structures, MIT engineers and their collaborators have designed a new type of stent that could be used to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract, or other tubular organs in the body.
Aducanumab
FDA grants accelerated approval for Alzheimers drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm (aducanumab) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, a debilitating disease affecting 6.2 million Americans. Aduhelm was approved using the accelerated approval pathway, which can be used for a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness that provides a meaningful therapeutic advantage over existing treatments.
News • Fighting the pandemic
90 drugs against Covid-19
Mining the world's most comprehensive drug repurposing collection for Covid-19 therapies, scientists have identified 90 existing drugs or drug candidates with antiviral activity against the coronavirus that's driving the ongoing global pandemic.
Article • Drug repurposing
Social impact bonds leverage private investment
Identifying new uses for approved therapeutic drugs continues to drive academics and clinicians to provide safe, affordable and rapid development of new treatment options for patients with common or rare diseases.
News • Public health strategy
Covid-19: Delay in second vaccine dose may prevent deaths under certain conditions
Delaying the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines, at least for people aged under 65, could result in up to 20% lower mortality, but only under certain conditions, finds a US study published by The BMJ. These conditions include a one dose vaccine effectiveness (efficacy) of 80% or higher and vaccination rates of 0.1% to 0.3% of the population per day. If these conditions apply, the researchers say…
News • SARS-CoV-2 medication
Remdesivir: additional mechanism against Covid-19 discovered
When a cell is infected, SARS-CoV-2 not only causes the host cell to produce new virus particles. The virus also suppresses host cell defence mechanisms. The virus protein nsP3 plays a central role in this. Using structural analyses, researchers at Goethe University in cooperation with the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute have now discovered that a decomposition product of the virostatic agent…
News • Medication issues
Finding better ways to determine safe drug doses for children
Determining safe yet effective drug dosages for children is an ongoing challenge for pharmaceutical companies and medical doctors alike. To make drugs and their development safer for children, researchers at Aalto University and the pharmaceutical company Novartis have developed a method that makes better use of available data.
News • Aggressive brain tumour
Glioblastoma can be tricked into 'repairing' itself
Scientists at the University College London (UCL) have made a ‘surprising’ discovery that glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, mimics normal brain repair in white matter, which leads to the tumour becoming less malignant. In the study on mice, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Nature Communications, researchers used these novel findings to identify drugs which could be used,…
