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In axing mRNA contract, Trump delivers another blow to US biosecurity, former officials say

The Trump administration's cancellation of $766 million in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines against potential pandemic flu viruses is the latest blow to national defense, former health security officials said.

6 Jun 2025

Nicotinamide riboside shows promise in treating Werner syndrome symptoms

Werner syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder that causes premature aging and serious complications. In the first clinical trial of its kind, researchers from Japan with the company Niagen Bioscience, investigated the effects of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a vitamin B3 derivative, in patients with WS.

5 Jun 2025

Type 2 diabetes drug shows improvements for patients with progressive liver disease

The sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor drug dapagliflozin, widely used to treat type 2 diabetes, also shows improvements for patients with progressive liver disease, finds a clinical trial from China published by The BMJ today.

5 Jun 2025

Common antibiotic shows promise in reducing preterm births

A study of almost 1000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe found that a daily dose of a commonly used, safe and inexpensive antibiotic may have led to fewer babies being born early.

5 Jun 2025

Statins show no additional benefit for depression treatment

Lipid-lowering medicines, known as statins, are prescribed in cases of high cholesterol levels, to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke.

4 Jun 2025

Mass treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin may lead to increased drug resistance

Efforts to reduce child mortality in Africa via mass treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin (AZM) may lead to increased drug resistance in bacteria that frequently cause pneumonia and meningitis, highlighting the need for careful monitoring, finds a new study led by UCL.

4 Jun 2025

AI-designed drug shows early promise for lung fibrosis patients in clinical trial

Researchers report that rentosertib, an AI-discovered TNIK inhibitor, showed promising safety and potential to improve lung function in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in a 12-week phase 2a clinical trial. The highest dose group demonstrated a trend toward increased forced vital capacity, especially among patients not receiving standard antifibrotic therapy, supporting further clinical investigation.

4 Jun 2025

Does lithium offer hope for long COVID brain fog and fatigue? New trial gives mixed results

A randomized clinical trial found that low-dose lithium aspartate did not improve cognitive dysfunction or fatigue in long COVID patients. Higher doses showed possible benefits in a small exploratory substudy, but larger trials are needed.

4 Jun 2025

PfSPZ-LARC2 malaria vaccine advances to new age groups after successful safety review

Physician-scientists at Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé (GRAS) in Burkina Faso have successfully completed initial safety evaluations in 30 adult Burkinabés as the first phase of a clinical trial of Sanaria PfSPZ-LARC2 Vaccine, which is designed to prevent infection with Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

3 Jun 2025

Asthma drug once hoped to treat alcohol use disorder fails to meet expectations in UCLA trial

A drug that once showed promise as a treatment for alcohol use disorder did not work as expected, a new UCLA clinical trial found.

3 Jun 2025

Interactive brainwave game shows promise for treating chronic nerve pain

A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain – offering hope for a new generation of drug-free treatments.

2 Jun 2025

Leading health organizations release guidance on nutrition support for GLP-1 obesity therapies

Four leading organizations in lifestyle medicine, obesity medicine, and nutrition-the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), the American Society for Nutrition (ASN), the Obesity Medicine Association (OMA), and The Obesity Society (TOS)-have jointly released a clinical advisory titled "Nutritional Priorities to Support GLP-1 Therapy for Obesity."

31 May 2025

Men with common genetic variant twice as likely to develop dementia

New research has found that men who carry a common genetic variant are twice as likely to develop dementia in their lifetime compared to women.

31 May 2025

Early allergen introduction reduces childhood food allergy risk

Investigating allergy prevention, this research highlights early intervention strategies and the promise of biologic treatments in managing allergic conditions.

29 May 2025

New therapy shows dramatic survival benefits in advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension

A relatively new therapy used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension in those with mild to moderate disease was found to be effective at preventing death in those with more advanced disease.

29 May 2025

Therapeutic plasma exchange combined with intravenous immunoglobin reduces biological age

A first-of-its-kind clinical trial clinical trial shows that therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) combined with intravenous immunoglobin reduced biological age on average by 2.6 years, as measured by multi-omic biomarkers.

28 May 2025

Study sheds new light on how caffeine can impair sleep and memory recovery

Caffeine is not only found in coffee, but also in tea, chocolate, energy drinks and many soft drinks, making it one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances in the world.

28 May 2025

Affordable HIV drug shows promise in improving vision for diabetic eye disease

An inexpensive, long-approved HIV drug can improve vision in patients with a blinding complication of diabetes more effectively and a much lower cost than many existing treatments, an initial clinical trial suggests.

27 May 2025

Aldosterone synthase inhibitor offers hope for treatment of uncontrolled hypertension

Lorundrostat, a novel therapy which blocks the production of aldosterone from the adrenal glands, demonstrated clinically meaningful and sustained reductions in blood pressure in 1,083 patients with uncontrolled or resistant hypertension, according to the results of a phase 3 trial announced today.

24 May 2025

Vagus nerve stimulation shows unprecedented recovery rates in spinal cord injuries

In a new clinical study, researchers from the Texas Biomedical Device Center (TxBDC) at The University of Texas at Dallas demonstrated unprecedented rates of recovery for spinal cord injuries.

21 May 2025

Placebo News and Research

In axing mRNA contract, Trump delivers another blow to US biosecurity, former officials say

Nicotinamide riboside shows promise in treating Werner syndrome symptoms

Type 2 diabetes drug shows improvements for patients with progressive liver disease

Common antibiotic shows promise in reducing preterm births

Statins show no additional benefit for depression treatment

Mass treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin may lead to increased drug resistance

AI-designed drug shows early promise for lung fibrosis patients in clinical trial

Does lithium offer hope for long COVID brain fog and fatigue? New trial gives mixed results

PfSPZ-LARC2 malaria vaccine advances to new age groups after successful safety review

Asthma drug once hoped to treat alcohol use disorder fails to meet expectations in UCLA trial

Interactive brainwave game shows promise for treating chronic nerve pain

Leading health organizations release guidance on nutrition support for GLP-1 obesity therapies

Men with common genetic variant twice as likely to develop dementia

Early allergen introduction reduces childhood food allergy risk

New therapy shows dramatic survival benefits in advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension

Therapeutic plasma exchange combined with intravenous immunoglobin reduces biological age

Study sheds new light on how caffeine can impair sleep and memory recovery

Affordable HIV drug shows promise in improving vision for diabetic eye disease

Aldosterone synthase inhibitor offers hope for treatment of uncontrolled hypertension

Vagus nerve stimulation shows unprecedented recovery rates in spinal cord injuries

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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