Author: healthadmin

Idorsia’s insomnia drug Kuvivik (dalidrexant) moves one step closer to becoming a first-in-class treatment for children with a victory in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The drug, a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA), was studied in insomniac children aged 10 to 17 with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Idorsia reported Monday that 165 patients who received doses of 10, 25, or 50 mg of Quviviq showed a dose-dependent improvement in total sleep time from baseline, as measured through a two-week polysomnographic sleep study. “These positive results demonstrate for the first time that dalidorexant…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 100 of the nation’s most contaminated toxic waste dumps are located in areas prone to flooding and wildfires, posing a potential public health threat to millions of Americans in the surrounding areas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog has found.The EPA’s Office of Inspector General has issued two new reports. report These are part of a series assessing the weather-related vulnerabilities of 157 federal Superfund sites that are prioritized for cleanup because they pose significant risks to public health and the environment. Approximately 3 million Americans live within 1 mile of a Superfund site, and…

Lead may be gone from our gasoline and paint, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone from our hearts. Doctors and patients alike may think that lead poisoning is a thing of the past, with the notable exception of contaminated water that has afflicted people in Flint and Milwaukee in recent years. A new study analyzing lead levels in bones is a reminder that lead remains in the body throughout life, including in the heart’s vital arteries, where it can raise blood pressure, damage the lining of blood vessels and increase the risk of death from a heart attack. The new…

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has begun cutting jobs in the United States, aiming to cut costs by more than 200 billion yen ($1.26 billion) annually. Approximately 634 roles at the company’s U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are affected, according to a warning notice (PDF) filed with the state. These include 247 positions currently located in the Bay State and 387 positions located in other states. The move marks the first major public layoffs since Takeda announced on March 25 the outline of a $1.26 billion, multi-year restructuring program aimed at streamlining operations and improving efficiency. In a WARN notice filed on…

In a surprising discovery that could reshape fluid mechanics, Drexel University researchers have shown that under certain conditions, simple liquids can behave like solids and fracture. This research physical review letterindicating that a viscous liquid can suddenly break if stretched with enough force. The discovery suggests that viscosity, or resistance to fluid flow, plays a much larger role in mechanical behavior than scientists previously thought. It also opens the door to new ways to control fluids in a variety of applications, from hydraulics and 3D printing to blood flow in the body. “Our results show that when pulled apart with…

Booming Samsung Biologics is facing rare public turmoil after the CDMO’s union secured the votes needed to strike, signaling a potential further escalation of the impasse over what the union describes as the company’s “unresolved governance failures and rigid labor policies.” More than 95% of members of the Samsung Biologics labor union have voted in favor of strike action and are threatening to hold an “offline rally” on April 22 and potentially a general strike on May 1 if the South Korean manufacturer does not address their concerns, the union said in a March 30 press release. The union represents…

Daily exposure to the popular herbicide glyphosate at levels deemed safe by government regulators increases anxiety and alters the gut microbiome in animal models. Researchers observed that rats that drank the chemical became hypersensitive to harmless objects and sounds. This change in behavior was accompanied by abnormal changes in specific areas of the brain that caused fear. The new study was published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in many commercial herbicides used around the world. It destroys weeds by blocking specific chemical pathways found in plants and bacteria. Because human and animal cells lack…

Since FDA approval of Spinraza nearly a decade ago, Biogen’s spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treatment has gained rapid momentum, achieving blockbuster-level sales in its second year on the market. Since then, Spinraza has been a reliable revenue contributor, but rival drugs from Roche and Novartis have taken away some of Spinraza’s momentum over the years. Biogen is poised to have an answer, as the FDA has approved a higher-dose version of its SMA blockbuster. The new version features an “accelerated loading phase” of two 50 mg doses administered 14 days apart, followed by a maintenance dose of 28 mg every…

To survive in the human bloodstream, African trypanosome parasites wear a “cloak” made of a protein known as variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). This research natural microbiologyidentify proteins that allow the parasite to fine-tune this “mantle.” The newly discovered ESB2 protein acts as a ‘molecular shredder’, allowing parasites to evade detection by destroying specific parts of their genetic instructions with surgical precision during production. Understanding how the parasite does this with such precision has allowed researchers to identify new vulnerabilities in its life cycle. This opens the door to future treatments for sleeping sickness, which continues to have a devastating impact…

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is an autoimmune disease characterized by the deposition of circulating IgA-containing immune complexes (IgA-ICs) in the glomerular mesangium, leading to mesangial cell proliferation, increased extracellular matrix production, and variable infiltration of inflammatory cells. IgA nephropathy carries a lifelong risk of progressing to end-stage renal disease and requires optimal treatment strategies to arrest kidney deterioration. According to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) guidelines for IgA nephropathy and IgA vasculitis, treatment strategies are divided into two groups. One targets IgAN-specific drivers of nephron loss, and the other addresses the host genetic response to IgAN-induced nephron loss.…