Antisense Drug Trial Provides Key Insights About Huntington’s Disease
The halted GENERATION HD1 (GENHD1) study of the investigational antisense drug tominersen provided insights about Huntington’s disease staging and informed future clinical trials, researchers said. The phase III study involved 791 manifest Huntington’s disease patients who received intrathecal tominersen 120 mg either every 8 weeks or every 16 weeks, or placebo. Based on an overall […]
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Active in Heavily Treated Renal Cell Carcinoma
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An investigational multitargeted drug produced objective responses in clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), irrespective of prior exposure to cabozantinib (Cabometyx), a small clinical trial showed. Overall, 12 of 32 patients responded to zanzalintinib, including four of 17 evaluable patients with prior exposure to cabozantinib and eight of 14 without. All but one […]
Exercise-mimicking drug sheds weight, boosts muscle activity in mice
A brand-new kind of drug, tested in mice, shows promising new results that could lead to the development of a new weight-loss drug that mimics exercise. The new compound, developed and tested by a University of Florida professor of pharmacy and his colleagues, leads obese mice to lose weight by convincing the body’s muscles that […]
No ‘Silver Bullet’ for Generic Drug Shortage, House Members Told
From the beginning of Thursday’s House hearing on ways to solve the generic drug shortage, it appeared obvious that little agreement was going to be reached on the best solutions to the problem. “After months of pleading by the Democratic members of this subcommittee, we’re finally having a legislative hearing on drug shortages in our […]
My Incurable Condition Is A Potential Ozempic Side Effect. Trust Me — Weight Loss Isn’t Worth This.
Boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter on April 17 in Los Angeles. Mario Tama via Getty Images In case you’ve been living under a rock and missed the hype, Ozempic is an injectable diabetes drug that’s become popular as an off-label medication for weight loss. It mimics GLP-1, a naturally […]
Recreational Drug Use More Common in Intensive Cardiac Care Than Many Admit
Many recreational drug users suffering acute cardiovascular events ended up in cardiac intensive care units (ICUs) without disclosing their drug use, according to the ADDICT-ICCU study conducted across France. The incidence of a positive drug screen was 11% among 1,499 consecutive patients admitted for acute cardiovascular events, with systematic urine testing revealing use of cannabis […]
Opinion | ‘We Cannot Treat Dead People’: What We Heard This Week
“We cannot treat dead people.” — White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, discussing whether to focus on opioid treatment or trafficking. “Thank you for reminding me why I do this.” — Stuart Bloom, MD, regarding feedback he hears from physicians who see his musical show “How to Avoid […]
Novel Turmeric Derivative Drug Shows Promise in Head and Neck Cancer
MONTREAL – An investigational drug derived from turmeric (Curcuma longa) appeared to have activity in patients being evaluated for head and neck cancer therapy, at least in an early phase trial. All nine oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients treated in the phase II trial had their disease under control after 4 to 6 weeks of […]
CDC: ‘Drastic’ Rise in Tranq-Related Overdose Deaths
Drug overdose deaths with xylazine involvement have multiplied, with age-adjusted death rates 35 times higher in 2021 than in 2018, the CDC reported. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving the animal sedative, also known as “tranq,” rose from 0.03 per 100,000 people to 1.06 per 100,000, Merianne Rose Spencer, PhD, MPH, a researcher […]
Ukraine’s Mobile Medical Teams Duck Rockets
VIENNA — After 20 years of battling an epidemic of HIV and hepatitis fueled by injection drug use, Tetiana Deshko, PhD, woke up February 24, 2022, to a whole new challenge as director of the Kyiv-based Alliance for Public Health, Ukraine — providing services to a country torn apart by invading Russian forces and bombers. […]