Medicine

As families struggle with medicine shortages, EU revamps drug laws

The EU is revamping laws governing the 136 billion euro ($148 billion) pharmaceuticals industry aimed at reviving investment and boosting access to affordable drugs at a time when health budgets…

Read More Here

Why Europe’s drug shortages may get worse

Most European countries reporting shortages of antibiotics Low generic drug prices mean razor-thin margins for firms Companies say they cannot boost output enough due to costs Some say making generics…

Read More Here

EU draws up plans to stockpile scarce medicines

Brussels is seeking to end a Europe-wide medicine shortage by stockpiling drugs and obliging manufacturers to guarantee supplies. The EU will also try to reduce reliance on China and increase…

Read More Here

MEPs call for a future-proof EU pharmaceutical policy

MEPs call for national and EU measures to guarantee all patients have safe and timely access to essential and innovative medicines. The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food…

Read More Here

Pandemic prompts EU drugs watchdog EMA to simplify non-COVID processes

Europe's medicines watchdog said it will simplify some of its review procedures to focus on COVID-19 treatments and vaccines as it faces a pandemic-driven surge in new drug applications. The…

Read More Here

Malta: Medicines Authority recommends no change in AstraZeneca vaccine roll-out

The authority is encouraging vaccinated people and healthcare professionals to be aware of potential side effects of any vaccine. Source MaltaToday Updated 1745

Read More Here

India to continue export of medicines, including vaccines – PM Modi

NEW DELHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday the nation would continue to export medicines, including vaccines, as companies have ramped up production. The…

Read More Here

Commission fines pharmaceutical firms Teva and Cephalon for delaying of cheaper generic medicine

The European Commission has fined the pharmaceutical companies Teva and Cephalon €60.5 million for agreeing to delay for several years the market entry of a cheaper generic version of Cephalon's…

Read More Here

Antiviral remdesivir reported as effective in limiting disease progression in monkeys with COVID-19

US government scientists reported Friday that the antiviral drug remdesivir was effective in treating monkeys infected with COVID-19. "Early treatment with the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir significantly reduced clinical disease…

Read More Here

Polish chemist reported to have made breakthrough discovery in CoVid19 treatment

A Polish chemist from the Wrocław University of Technology, Prof. Maciej Drąg and his team of researchers, together with their counterparts at Lubeck University in Germany have made a breakthrough…

Read More Here

Doubts raised on quarantine conditions imposed on Coronavirus stricken cruise liner in Japan

Quarantine conditions imposed on a stricken ship in Japan are both morally dubious and appear counterproductive, according to health experts who fear the vessel has become an incubator for the…

Read More Here

Revolutionary new cancer drug granted European marketing authorisation

Bayer has announced that the European Commission has granted conditional marketing authorisation in the European Union (EU) for a "revolutionary" new class of cancer drug that can treat a wide range…

Read More Here

Malta: Government to offer cancer drugs currently funded by Community Chest Fund – MaltaToday

MaltaToday leads with the story that cancer drugs currently funded by the Community Chest Fund will gradually be absorbed into the government medicines formulary as the President’s charity embarks on a…

Read More Here

French doctor suspected of poisoning over 50 patients

A French doctor already charged with poisoning seven patients was taken into custody for questioning over the suspected poisoning of around 50 other patients. Frederic Pechier worked as an anaesthesiologist…

Read More Here

Pig’s brain function restored hours after death

Scientists at Yale University in the US have restored activity in a pig’s brain hours after its death. The findings challenge assumptions about the irreversible ending of brain function after…

Read More Here

In a world first… kidney transplanted from one HIV-positive patient to another

For the first time ever US doctors at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, have transplanted a kidney from one HIV-positive patient to another. Both patients are now reported to be…

Read More Here

On this day, in 1929 Sir Alexander Fleming discovers Penicilin

Sir Alexander Fleming was a young bacteriologist when an accidental discovery led to one of the great developments of modern medicine on this day in 1929. Having left a plate…

Read More Here

New EU rules to combat fake medicines enter into force

The falsification of medicines has remained a serious threat to public health in the EU for too long. As of tomorrow, the new rules on safety features for prescription medicines…

Read More Here

Inventor of ibuprofen dies at 95

A British chemist who helped invent the painkiller ibuprofen after he took it to cure his own hangover has died at the age of 95. Dr Stewart Adams, who was…

Read More Here

Prospects of no-Deal Brexit leads to medicine stockpiling

Ministers have been urged by top doctors to reveal the extent of national drug stocks, amid growing evidence patients are stockpiling medication in preparation for a no-deal Brexit. The Royal College…

Read More Here

International operation leads to 859 arrests and seizure of USD 14 million of potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals

Fake cancer medication. Counterfeit pain pills. Illicit medical syringes. These are just some of the potentially life-threatening medicines and goods seized during INTERPOL’s Operation Pangea XI. Police, customs and health…

Read More Here

James Allison and Tasuku Honjo win the 2018 Nobel Prize for game-changing discoveries to harness to fight cancer

American James Allison and Japanese Tasuku Honjo won the 2018 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine on Monday for game-changing discoveries about how to harness and manipulate the immune system…

Read More Here

Eleven babies die after Dutch women given Viagra in drug trial

The Guardian reports that Dutch women who were given Viagra to increase the growth of their unborn child as part of a major drug trial face an anxious wait after the deaths of 11…

Read More Here