This year’s European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) focuses on the targets outlined in the 2023 Council Recommendation to step up efforts in the European Union (EU) against antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach. Those recommendations formulate the 2023 goal to reduce total antibiotic consumption (community and hospital sectors combined) by 20%, using consumption data from 2019 as baseline. Consumption of antibiotics in the community accounts for around 90% of the total use. This means, that a substantial and consistent decline in the use of antibiotics in this sector will be key on the way towards reaching the set goals for 2030 which aim at preventing and reducing antimicrobial resistance overall. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) showed an unprecedented 18.5% decrease in community consumption of antibiotics in 2020 compared with the 2019 baseline. This drop has been related ...
By Tyler Patchen Pictured: AstraZeneca office in Gothenburg, Sweden AstraZeneca announced Friday that its adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-competitive inhibitor Truqap (capivasertib), in combination with its endocrine therapy Faslodex (fulvestrant), has been approved by the FDA to treat adults with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. According to AstraZeneca, the first-in-class inhibitor of all three AKT isoforms (AKT1/2/3) “has potential to reshape treatment for breast cancer patients” with specific biomarker alterations (PIK3CA, AKT1 or PTEN). The company also announced that the FDA has approved a “companion” diagnostic test meant to detect the “relevant” alterations. The FDA approval was based on the CAPItello-291 Phase III trial, which showed that the combination of Faslodex and Truqap reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50%, compared to Faslodex alone, in patients with tumors having PI3K/AKT pathway biomarker alterations. “The combination of capivasertib and fulvestrant, a first-of-its-kind combination, provides a much-needed ...
By Tristan Manalac Pictured: Merck Research Laboratories building in California The FDA on Thursday approved Merck’s anti-PD-1 blockbuster Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Thursday’s label expansion is Keytruda’s seventh approval in gastrointestinal cancer and its 38th indication overall in the U.S., according to Merck’s announcement. This latest approval covers patients with HER2-negative cancers and authorizes the use of the PD-1 blocker in combination with fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy. Previously, Keytruda was indicated for gastric cancer only in patients who had progressed after at least two prior lines of systemic therapy, including fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of late-stage oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement called Keytruda’s label expansion an “important milestone” in the care of gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Data from the Phase ...
New York Governor Kathy Hochul released a proposed set of cybersecurity regulations that require hospitals to establish new policies and procedures to protect themselves from ever-intensifying cyber threats. The state also put aside $500 million in funding to help hospitals upgrade their technology systems to comply with these new rules. By KATIE ADAMS If newly proposed regulations are finalized in New York, hospitals in the state will soon have to beef up their cybersecurity measures. This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul released a proposed set of cybersecurity regulations that require hospitals to establish new policies and procedures to protect themselves from ever-intensifying cyber threats. The governor’s budget for next year includes $500 million in funding to help hospitals upgrade their technology systems to comply with these new rules. Some experts think the proposed rules will serve as a blueprint for other states to draft similar sets of regulations. New ...
The German manufacturing site is the latest capital infrastructure move for Eli Lilly, which has already made $11 billion in investments in its global manufacturing capabilities in the past three years. The new site will help Lilly meet strong demand for its diabetes and obesity drugs. By FRANK VINLUAN Eli Lilly’s cardiometabolic drug portfolio is expanding with newly approved therapies. To meet demand for those therapies and additional products to come, the company is building a new $2.5 billion manufacturing site in Germany. Construction on the new plant is on track to begin next year. Lilly expects the site will start operations in 2027, becoming its sixth manufacturing site in Europe. The company said it has invested more than $11 billion in its global manufacturing capabilities in the past three years to support the production of medicines across its portfolio. Some of Lilly’s capital investments have been closer to the ...
AstraZeneca’s (AZ) AKT inhibitor Truqap (capivasertib) in combination with its endocrine therapy Faslodex (fulvestrant) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a subset of advanced breast cancer patients. The FDA’s decision specifically applies to adults with HR-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer with at least one of three biomarker alterations: PIK3CA, AKT1 or PTEN. The US regulator has also approved the use of a companion diagnostic test to detect the relevant alterations. Eligible patients will have progressed on at least one endocrine-based regimen in the metastatic setting or experienced recurrence on or within 12 months of completing adjuvant therapy. Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and more than 290,000 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. HR-positive breast cancer is the most common subtype, with over 65% of tumours considered HR-positive and HER2-low ...
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China granted conditional approval to biotech Apollomics for the commercialisation of its non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. Velbretinib (APL-101) is an orally bioavailable small molecule that treats NSCLC patients with MET exon 14 skipping alterations by inhibiting c-Met. This is a protein that is key in the tumour growth pathway. MET exon 14 skipping mutations occur in approximately 3% of cases of NSCLC. This condition is most diagnosed in adults aged over 70 with a smoking history. China’s NMPA grants conditional approvals to treatments for diseases that are severely life-threatening and there is no effective treatment method. Under the terms of an agreement, the company’s Chinese partner, Avistone, holds the drug’s exclusive rights in China, Hong Kong and Macau. Apollomics holds the rights for the US and all other countries. California-headquartered Apollomics is also in active discussions with the US Food and ...
In response to a supply squeeze for Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody Beyfortus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is fast-tracking tens of thousands of extra doses into circulation. More than 77,000 additional doses will be distributed “immediately” to physicians and hospitals through the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program and commercial routes, the agency said in a Thursday statement. Alongside the FDA, the CDC plans to maintain “close contact” with manufacturers to secure availability of extra supply through the end of this year and early 2024, the CDC added. The supply strain began last month despite Sanofi’s “aggressive” plan that was designed to “outperform past pediatric vaccine launches,” the company said at the time. The company said it was working with AstraZeneca to “explore a number of actions” to extend the manufacturing network. AZ handles manufacturing under the duo’s Beyfortus partnership. Sanofi previously noted ...
The FDA has signed off on label expansions for two of the world’s most important cancer medicines—Merck’s Keytruda and Pfizer and Astellas’ Xtandi. Keytruda’s expansion is in stomach cancer, allowing its use alongside chemotherapy to treat first-line patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Xtandi’s new indication expands its already deep portfolio in the treatment of prostate cancer. It now becomes the only androgen receptor inhibitor approved by the FDA for patients with nonmetastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (nmCSPC) with biochemical recurrence at high risk for metastasis (high-risk BCR). These patients can be treated with Xtandi with or without GnRH analog therapy. Of men who have had prostate cancer treatment, 20% to 40% will have BCR within 10 years. Of those with high-risk BCR, 90% will develop metastatic disease, with one in three dying. The nod was backed up by the phase 3 EMBARK ...
The most common type of breast cancer now has a new targeted treatment: an AstraZeneca drug that’s first in a new class of therapies addressing a certain genetic signature. But the new approval is narrower than expected, which limits the total addressable market for the therapy. The FDA approved the new drug, capivastertib, for use in combination with fulvestrant, an older AstraZeneca breast cancer therapy. The new drug will be marketed under the brand name Truqap. Approval of Truqap covers the treatment of adults with advanced cases of breast cancer classified as HR positive and HER2 negative. Those patients must also have disease that has either progressed after treatment with a hormone therapy or has come back after adjuvant therapy. Truqap joins a group of therapies already available for HR positive, HER2 negative breast cancer, including products from AstraZeneca. Truqap stands apart from them as the first AKT inhibitor. AKT ...
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