Author: healthadmin

When Gilead Sciences released its first sales forecast for its twice-yearly pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) treatment Eztugo (lenakapivir) earlier this year, analysts called the company’s $800 million outlook “likely” conservative and “very doable.” Now that Eztugo’s launch trends have become more clear over the past few months, the company has edited its forecasts to favor the billion-dollar opportunity the drug has in 2026. Through the first quarter, the long-acting injectable drug generated sales of $166 million. This is an “unprecedented launch trajectory” and has so far “exceeded our expectations,” explained Chief Commercial Officer Johanna Mercier on the company’s first quarter earnings…

The Supreme Court is expected to take further action in the case by the end of Monday, after ordering a one-week stay on a federal appeals court’s decision blocking the mail-order sale of the abortion drug mifepristone. How the court proceeds could have major implications for Food and Drug Administration regulators, as well as abortion providers and patients. “The fundamental question is: Who can regulate mifepristone?” said Laurie Sobel, associate director of women’s health policy at KFF. “Can states act beyond the FDA? Is the FDA the floor or the ceiling?” While states have clear legal authority to regulate abortion,…

Daiichi Sankyo expects full-year profit to decline significantly in fiscal 2025 due to a 95 billion yen ($610 million) hit, primarily related to its prophylactic antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) manufacturing strategy. The Japanese pharmaceutical company said on Friday that although sales exceeded previous forecasts and are on track to reach new highs, two major costs due to changes in ADC supply plans are expected to result in an extraordinary loss of 149.4 billion yen ($950 million) in the company’s 2025 non-consolidated financial results (PDF). Daiichi recently postponed its annual report to unravel the specific impact of changes in supply, a move…

Infectious H5N1 viruses detected in the air and wastewater of dairy farms, along with evidence of covert infection of cattle, suggest that the outbreak may be spreading in more ways than previously recognized. Research: Surveillance of California dairy farms reveals multiple possible sources of H5N1 influenza virus infection. Image credit: Parilov/Shutterstock.com In a recent study published in PLOS Biologyresearchers conducted a comprehensive surveillance study of California dairy farms to assess the current status of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in California. The study tested multiple transmission routes (air, wastewater, etc.)., and cow breath) at 14 H5N1-positive dairy farms, revealing…

Recent research published in Journal of Sex Research provide evidence that how couples divide household chores is associated with women’s sexual desire, but this association is highly dependent on personal beliefs about gender roles. The findings suggest that women who prefer equal partnerships tend to have lower sexual desire when they take on more household chores, while women who embrace traditional gender roles do not. These insights highlight how societal expectations about gender shape the dynamics of intimate relationships. Decreased sexual desire is frequently reported among women in long-term relationships with men. Historically, scientists often treated this as an individual…

Scientists have developed an AI-powered MRI body composition calculator using data from more than 66,000 adults to uncover how hidden age-related changes in fat and muscle can indicate future risk of diabetes, heart disease, and premature death. Research: Body Composition in the General Population: A Reference Curve from Whole-body MRI of More than 66,000 People. Image credit: Radiology Imaging/Shutterstock.com In a recent study published in RadiologyResearchers estimated body composition (BC) indicators from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the general population. MRI body composition reveals hidden risk of cardiometabolic diseases Computed tomography (CT) and MRI are critical in supporting diagnosis,…

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is one of the leading causes of kidney failure. As the disease progresses, many patients eventually require dialysis to survive. Although current treatments can slow the damage, there are still no approved drugs that directly restore kidney function. Researchers at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine have discovered an unexpected possibility related to a drug long used to treat constipation. A clinical trial found that the drug lubiprostone slows the decline in kidney function in patients with moderate CKD, raising hopes for an entirely new approach to treating…

Analyzing around 10,000 UK news articles, researchers found that while type 1 diabetes is often depicted through medical and biological narratives, coverage of type 2 diabetes often emphasizes lifestyle and personal responsibility, ignoring the broader social and economic factors that shape disease risk and management. Research: Type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the UK press: A diachronic corpus-based analysis. Image credit: Maya Kruchankova / Shutterstock.com In a recent study published in pro swanresearchers investigated how diabetes is represented in the UK news media and whether this representation leads to misconceptions and stigma. How the media affects diabetes awareness Current…

A Hiroshima University study of more than 31,000 patients found that pneumonia occurred more frequently after breathing tubes were removed than during mechanical ventilation, with most cases occurring within one to two weeks after surgery. This finding suggests that this underrecognized condition may be a distinct clinical entity associated with swallowing dysfunction and that early assessment and intervention, including identification of high-risk patients, may be key to prevention and improved outcomes. Pneumonia that develops after endotracheal tube removal can have a significant impact on recovery and quality of life. Ventilators to assist with breathing are a common life-saving procedure during…

Advanced inference-based AI systems have shown physician-level performance in selected diagnostic tasks, but researchers warn that real-world safety, bias, and clinical liability remain major barriers to medical deployment. Study: AI can reason like a doctor – what happens next? Image credit: Thandon88 / Shutterstock.com Recently published Perspective articles science We investigate whether advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems are approaching physician-level reasoning and consider the implications and safety of their integration into clinical practice. Advances in AI and diagnostic reasoning Large-scale language models (LLMs) are AI algorithms trained on large amounts of data to learn patterns used to generate human-like responses.…