Category: Pharmaceuticals
Male contraceptive injection might be available by 2017
Researchers are developing a male birth control injection that will provide long-acting reversible contraception – and it is expected to be available as early as 2017. The injection, containing a substance called Vasalgel, temporarily blocks the tubes which transport sperm […]
Doctors hail new drug for heart failure
A drug that has yet to hit the market, and does not even have a proper name, is likely to be included in Singapore’s newest heart failure treatment guidelines. Cardiologists revising the guidelines, which are for all doctors, are in […]
Taiwan, China reach consensus on new drug clinical tests: MAC
TAIPEI -Taiwan and China reached a “concrete consensus” on clinical tests for new drugs, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan’s top China policy maker, said Thursday. The apparent breakthrough came during a recent visit by Vice Health Minister Shiu Ming-neng […]
Novartis Japan admits concealing drug side effects
TOKYO – The Japanese unit of Swiss pharma giant Novartis has admitted it did not report more than 2,500 cases of serious side effects in patients using its leukaemia and other cancer drugs, reportedly including some fatalities. The revelations, which […]
Fujifilm to supply drug to combat ebola
Fujifilm will be making a new drug to help combat the deadly Ebola virus. The company synonymous with cameras and photobooths said it could start producing Avigan, which has been approved in Japan to treat the flu but which scientists […]
New drug promises relief for inflammatory pain
Researchers have developed a compound that could potentially serve as a painkiller, with particular utility for East Asians with an alcohol-metabolizing enzyme mutation. Pain from inflammation sidelines thousands of people each year. Many face a tough choice: deal with the […]
New antibiotic mixes to fight superbugs
SINGAPORE – Researchers in Singapore have come up with a way to fight superbug infections by combining antibiotics into more effective cocktails. They have developed three antibiotic combinations to not only kill the drug-resistant bacteria but also slow down its […]
Hormones and cancer
Although hormone therapy (HT) was started for women aged 55 years or more in 89% of subjects, who were largely without menopausal symptoms, in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) trial reported in 2002, its findings were directly generalised to younger […]
Roche refuse to make breast cancer drug affordable
The drugs giant Roche has been accused of blocking hundreds of terminal cancer patients from receiving a life-extending drug, by refusing to cut costs to make it affordable for the NHS. Roche’s drug Kadcyla can extend life by six months […]
Ebola drug from Japan may emerge among key candidates
US government researchers are racing to get an experimental flu drug from Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings approved to treat Ebola, as the death toll rises in West Africa amid the worst outbreak on record. Fujifilm’s US partner MediVector in Boston is […]
