Key medical challenges, such as disease diagnosis, identification of the right treatments and improving the health of ageing populations will be tackled UK-wide by the official opening of the Phenome Centre Birmingham. The £8 million facility, funded by the Medical Research Council, University of Birmingham and industry partners, will allow scientists at the University of Birmingham [...]
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has published advice accepting three new medicines for routine use in NHS Scotland. Bevacizumab (Avastin) for advanced cervical cancer, elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (Genvoya) for HIV, and adalimumab (Humira) for severe hidradenitis suppurativa (a chronic, inflammatory skin disease) were all accepted. The committee was unable to accept ivacaftor (Kalydeco) and lumacaftor-ivacaftor [...]
According to Dr Amir Attaran’s recent commentary in the Harvard Public Health Review, by going ahead this summer, the Rio-based Olympics Games face the risk of speeding up the spread of the Zika Virus. The Professor in the School of Public Health and the School of Law at the University of Ottawa explained, ‘Rio de [...]
‘Vertex is disappointed that the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has not recommended ORKAMBI for people with cystic fibrosis ages 12 and older who have two copies of the F508del mutation or KALYDECO for children with cystic fibrosis (CF) ages two to five who have gating mutations for use within NHS Scotland,’ said Simon Bedson, Senior [...]
Baby boomers who have experimented with drugs in their youth, had a blood transfusion or a tattoo, are being advised to consider having a test for hepatitis C. Around 1,000 people in Forth Valley are thought to be unaware they have the virus, with the highest number believed to be in the 50 to 60 [...]
Pharmacists are advised to be aware of recommendations made regarding the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in children infected with varicella-zoster virus (chickenpox). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) guidance on treating chickenpox recommends that NSAIDs are avoided in children with chickenpox. This is because of concerns that using [...]
Public Health England (PHE) has reported a continued increase in cases of scarlet fever across England, with 1,319 new cases between 21st to 27th March, the highest weekly total recorded in recent decades (data available from 1982 onwards). A total of 10,570 cases of scarlet fever have now been reported since the season began in [...]
Sanofi Pasteur MSD announced that the European Commission has approved a two-dose schedule for adolescent girls and boys aged 9 to 14 for GARDASIL®9, its 9-valent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, for use in the 31 countries regulated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This new schedule brings the label for GARDASIL®9 in line with recommendations [...]
An international public-private consortium of researchers brought together by the University of Dundee and led by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research has identified and validated for the first time the cellular role of a primary Parkinson’s disease drug target. In work published in eLife, the team comprising investigators from the University of Dundee, Max [...]
Millions of pounds have been invested in a drug development programme to help boys with a rare life-limiting disease. The John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre at Newcastle University has received £4.6 million from the European Commission for a pioneering clinical trial into the new drug, vamorolone. The European project, called VISION-DMD, involves 10 countries [...]
