Drugs News and Research

RSS

AI used to define the cytokine storm implicated in fatal COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020 reports the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to identify an invariant or universal host immune response found in all viral pandemics so far. The association of this response with severe COVID-19 phenotypes indicates a new understanding of the human immune response in viral pandemics.

24 Sep 2020

FDA finalizes molluscan shellfish equivalence determination for two EU Member States

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized a molluscan shellfish equivalence determination for two European Union (EU) Member States, Spain and the Netherlands.

24 Sep 2020

Molecular insights may foster effective therapies for COVID-19 patients

Viral and bacterial pathogens wield pathogenic or virulent proteins that interact with high-value targets inside human cells, attacking what is known as the host interactome. The host interactome is the network map of all the protein-protein interactions inside cells.

24 Sep 2020

Researchers investigate molecular mechanism responsible for hypnotic effects of thalidomide

Thalidomide is a medication with several different effects, one of which is promoting sleep in the context of insomnia.

24 Sep 2020

FDA issues emergency use authorization for first serology point-of-care test for COVID-19

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first serology (antibody) point-of-care (POC) test for COVID-19.

24 Sep 2020

SMART program helps patients make more informed decisions about health

Researchers at Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, collaborated with scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to examine whether the Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) program affects people's abilities to make informed decisions about their medical treatment options.

24 Sep 2020

Maternal gut microbiota can promote healthy fetal brain development

During pregnancy in mice, the billions of bacteria and other microbes that live in a mother's intestines regulate key metabolites, small molecules that are important for healthy fetal brain development, UCLA biologists report Sept. 23 in the journal Nature.

24 Sep 2020

Gruthan Bioscience to develop new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs

Gruthan Bioscience, LLC, a Medical University of South Carolina startup based in Charleston, South Carolina, received a Small Business technology Transfer (STTR) award from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute in August to take the next step in developing a novel class of cholesterol-lowering drugs to treat familial hypercholesterolemia.

24 Sep 2020

Fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating COVID-19 vaccine begins in the U.S.

A fourth Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating an investigational vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun enrolling adult volunteers.

23 Sep 2020

Researchers develop 'Trojan horse' approach to destroy cancer cells

Cancer cells are killed in lab experiments and tumour growth reduced in mice, using a new approach that turns a nanoparticle into a 'Trojan horse' that causes cancer cells to self-destruct, a research team at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found.

23 Sep 2020

Quantum simulators could help create tomorrow's pharmaceuticals

Trial and error define today's approach to developing new pharmaceutical drugs. But with their enormous computing power, quantum computers are expected to solve important and complex problems in medicine, biology and chemistry, while speeding up the discovery of effective medications.

23 Sep 2020

FDA announces requirement of class-wide labeling changes for benzodiazepines

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today in a Drug Safety Communication that it is requiring an update to the Boxed Warning, the agency's most prominent safety warning, and requiring class-wide labeling changes for benzodiazepines to include the risks of abuse, misuse, addiction, physical dependence and withdrawal reactions to help improve their safe use.

23 Sep 2020

Drugs used to treat HIV and hepatitis B could be repurposed to prevent type 2 diabetes

A group of drugs used to treat HIV and hepatitis B could be repurposed to prevent type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.

23 Sep 2020

Cardiovascular adverse events linked to hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine

As the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have drawn attention as potential therapies for COVID-19 and are being widely used off-label, it's now more important than ever to have a thorough assessment of the safety of these medications.

23 Sep 2020

Owlstone Medical releases positive study results on use of breath biopsy for better liver disease diagnosis

Owlstone Medical, the global leader in Breath Biopsy for applications in early disease detection and precision medicine, today announced the results of a patient study that successfully demonstrates the use of exhaled limonene as a breath biomarker to measure liver function and stage liver disease.

From Owlstone Medical Ltd 23 Sep 2020

HIV drugs cause immune-system changes that can improve resistance to viral infections

Drugs currently used to keep the HIV virus in check also cause immune-system changes that might make humans better able to resist viral infections – but might also cause harmful inflammation, according to a study published today in Cell Reports Medicine.

23 Sep 2020

New book sheds light on addiction to psychoactive drugs

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP) announced the publication of Addiction, 2e, now available on its website in ebook and hardcover formats.

23 Sep 2020

Common genetic variants may influence susceptibility to COVID-19

Researchers in the United States and Japan have conducted a study suggesting that a commonly occurring genetic variant influences susceptibility to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

23 Sep 2020

Baseline T cell signatures predict clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV infection

In a recent bioRxiv preprint paper, researchers from the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, and Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, discuss their study in mice that undergo detailed immunophenotyping before getting infected with SARS-CoV.

22 Sep 2020

Research explains why flu is dangerous for pregnant women

A team of researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University explains why flu can lead to potentially fatal complications during pregnancy, suggesting that the virus does not only stay in the respiratory tract but spreads throughout the body.

22 Sep 2020