Doctors explain misconceptions about penicillin allergy
(Reuters Health) – Most patients who report having a penicillin allergy are not really allergic to this highly effective antibiotic,…
Family behind Purdue Pharma pushed opioid marketing, Massachusetts says
BOSTON (Reuters) – Members of the wealthy Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma LP pushed it to boost sales of OxyContin…
J&J raises U.S. prices on around two dozen drugs
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson raised U.S. prices on around two dozen prescription drugs on Thursday, including the…
U.S. FDA approves Alexion Pharma’s blood disorder drug
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s blood disorder drug Ultomiris, the pharma regulator’s…
FDA panel backs prescribing opioid overdose reversal drug along with painkillers
(Reuters) – An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended prescribing the opioid overdose reversal…
BrainStorm gets FDA okay for stem cell trial in MS patients
TEL AVIV (Reuters) – BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin…
Evofem shares surge as contraceptive gel meets late-stage trial goal
(Reuters) – Shares of Evofem Biosciences Inc jumped as much as 38 percent on Monday after its birth control gel…
Physician assistant faces U.S. trial over Insys opioid kickbacks
(Reuters) – A former physician assistant is set to face trial in New Hampshire on Wednesday over charges he accepted…
Bug business: Cockroaches corralled by the millions in China to crunch waste
JINAN, China (Reuters) – In the near pitch-dark, you can hear them before you see them – millions of cockroaches…
South Sudan health workers to get Ebola shots as Congo outbreak grows
(Reuters) – Some 2,000 healthcare and frontline workers in South Sudan are to be offered Ebola vaccines to try to…
Breast cancer survivors may have lingering mental health effects
(Reuters Health) – – Breast cancer survivors may be more likely to experience anxiety, depression, sleep troubles and other mental…
Johnson & Johnson’s multiple myeloma drug reduces risk of death in late-stage study
FILE PHOTO: A Johnson & Johnson building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake (Reuters) –…
JNJ-AbbVie cancer drug Imbruvica succeeds in late-stage trial
FILE PHOTO: The Johnson and Johnson logo is seen at an office building in Singapore January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas White…
Racial disparities seen in U.S. heart rhythm treatment
(Reuters Health) – Black patients in the U.S. with atrial fibrillation – an irregular heart rhythm – are less likely…
Congo approves clinical trials for Ebola treatments
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Congolese authorities have authorized clinical trials for four experimental Ebola treatments, which will allow researchers to collect…
BioMarin sets stage early for hemophilia cure off-Broadway
(This version of the November 21st story has been refiled to show in paragraph 23 that Sangamo Therapeutics has six…
Two studies find probiotic therapy ineffective against stomach flu, diarrhea
(Reuters Health) – A widely-used probiotic therapy is ineffective against the diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain of gastroenteritis, two large…
Doctors still advise against marijuana for pregnant and breastfeeding women
(Reuters Health) – Even though there are still a lot of unknowns about the effects of marijuana exposure in the…
Many U.S. drugstores fail to provide naloxone for opioid overdoses
(Reuters Health) – Despite state laws expanding access to the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone without a prescription, two U.S. studies suggest…
U.S. regulators snip red tape for medical devices to curb opioid crisis
(Reuters) – Laura Perryman expected her medical company, Stimwave Technologies Inc, would have to wait several years for its painkilling…
J&J makes $2.1 billion offer to buy out Japan cosmetics firm Ci:z
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) said on Tuesday it is acquiring all outstanding shares of…
Sanofi drug Dupixent wins FDA approval to treat asthma
(Reuters) – France’s Sanofi SA said on Friday eczema drug Dupixent was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration…
AbbVie CFO Chase stepping down, to retire by mid-year 2019
(Reuters) – AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N) said on Friday that Chief Financial Officer William Chase is retiring in mid-2019 and named…
EMA committee recommends restrictions on fluoroquinolone, quinolone antibiotics
(Reuters) – The European Medicines Agency’s risk assessment committee has recommended restrictions on the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics fluoroquinolone and…
Lilly’s diabetes drug data impresses, hurts rival Novo’s shares
(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) said on Thursday its new two-in-one diabetes drug was successful in lowering blood…
Insmed’s treatment-resistant lung disease drug gets FDA approval
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Insmed Inc’s lead drug to treat a rare, chronic…
Drug shortages may add $230 million to annual U.S. drug costs
(Reuters Health) – Prescription drug shortages may drive up prices twice as much as they would rise with medicines in…
Diabetes drugs less affordable, less available in lower income countries
(Reuters Health) – People who live in low-income and middle-income countries may have a harder time finding and affording essential…
EU approves fifth copy of AbbVie’s $18 billion drug Humira
LONDON (Reuters) – Europe has approved a fifth copy of AbbVie’s $18-billion-a-year biologic drug Humira – the world’s best-selling prescription…
AstraZeneca plots China robot offensive to counter price cuts
WUXI, China/LONDON (Reuters) – With smart cancer diagnostics, one-stop-shop diabetes kits and AI systems to improve ambulance pick-ups for patients…
U.S. regulator approves Teva migraine drug, shares rise
(Reuters) – Shares of Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries rose over 5 percent in after-hours trading on Friday after the…
Merck KGaA, Pfizer’s immuno-drug shown to alleviate kidney cancer
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Merck KGaA said that its immunotherapy Bavencio, jointly developed with Pfizer, delayed the progression of kidney cancer…
Ebola fight has new science but faces old hurdles in restive Congo
BENI, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – When Esperance Nzavaki heard she was cured of Ebola after three weeks of…
Congo records first Ebola case in major eastern city of Butembo
GOMA, Congo (Reuters) – Congo has recorded its first case of Ebola in the eastern trading hub of Butembo, a…
Congo Republic confirms yellow fever near Angolan enclave
BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) – Congo Republic has confirmed a case of yellow fever near the border with an Angolan enclave, the…
UK rejects Gilead’s CAR-T cancer cell therapy as too expensive
LONDON (Reuters) – A cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy for otherwise untreatable forms of blood cancer is too expensive to justify…
Bayer, J&J’s heart drug Xarelto fails trial to widen use
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Bayer and Johnson & Johnson’s campaign to widen the market for its heart drug Xarelto hit a…
West Nile virus cases in Greece jump in 2018
ATHENS (Reuters) – Eleven people have died and 107 infected by the mosquito-borne West Nile virus in Greece so far…
Doctor in eastern Congo contracts Ebola in ‘dreaded’ scenario: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – A doctor has become the first probable Ebola case in one of the eastern Democratic Republic of…
U.S. health secretary says agency can eliminate drug rebates
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said it was within his agency’s power to eliminate…
China sacks six senior officials at food and drug regulator over vaccine scandal
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China said on Saturday it has sacked six senior officials at its food and drug regulator after…
Pfizer bets on biotech flu vaccine in $425 million BioNTech alliance
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Pfizer has agreed to pay German biotech firm BioNTech up to $425 million in an alliance to…
Long-acting injection a shot in the arm for GSK’s HIV business
LONDON (Reuters) – A long-acting injection developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and given once a month has proved as effective as…
Doctors may not explain pros, cons of lung cancer screening
(Reuters) – Many U.S. doctors don’t discuss the harms of lung cancer screening or the potential for overdiagnosis in conversations…
Biogen’s pricey muscle drug Spinraza too costly for Britain
LONDON (Reuters) – Biogen’s muscle disease treatment Spinraza has been deemed too expensive for use on Britain’s state-run health service,…
Perrigo plans to separate prescription pharma business
(Reuters) – Perrigo Co Plc (PRGO.N) said on Thursday it would separate its generics prescription business, which has been a…
Health workers in Congo being vaccinated against Ebola: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – Vaccination of health workers against the deadly Ebola virus has begun in the Democratic Republic of Congo…
Latest Congo Ebola outbreak is Zaire strain, vaccinations to start
GENEVA (Reuters) – An Ebola outbreak in Congo has been confirmed as the Zaire strain of the virus and vaccinations…
Ebola vaccinations in eastern Congo due to begin on Wednesday
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Vaccinations against a new outbreak of Ebola virus in eastern Democratic Republic of…
China to add more cancer drugs to reimbursement list, talks end in Sept: Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China plans to add a range of cancer drugs to medicines eligible for reimbursement from the government,…
Eastern Congo Ebola outbreak believed to have killed 33: health ministry
DAKAR (Reuters) – An outbreak of the Ebola virus declared this week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is believed…
WHO warns there may be no vaccine option for new Ebola outbreak
GENEVA (Reuters) – It may be impossible to use a vaccine to tackle Democratic Republic of Congo’s new Ebola outbreak,…
Allergan sues Pfizer over costs of opioid litigation
(Reuters) – Allergan Plc (AGN.N) on Thursday sued Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) to force its larger rival to cover any damages…
Experts arrive in region of Congo’s new Ebola outbreak
GENEVA/GOMA (Reuters) – An international delegation has arrived in the town of Beni in Democratic Republic of Congo, 30 km…
Congo declares new Ebola outbreak in eastern province
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Four people have tested positive for Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo…
More drugmakers build Brexit stockpiles as EU agency faces exodus
PARIS/ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Novartis (NOVN.S) said on Wednesday they planned to increase stockpiles of medicines in Britain…
Methadone programs for ex-criminals tied to fewer premature deaths
(Reuters Health) – Opioid addicts with criminal histories may be less likely to die of overdoses or other causes during…
Bayer hits back at new Netflix medical device documentary
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bayer AG disputed accusations in a new Netflix documentary that claims medical device makers and the…
FDA declines to approve Insys Therapeutic’s opioid painkiller
(Reuters) – Insys Therapeutics Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its opioid painkiller,…