Pharmacology

Merck has received approval for Ervebo, the first F vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease (EVD), caused by Zaire ebolavirus in individuals 18 years of age and older. Cases of EVD are very rare in the U.S., only acquired by individuals in other countries who then traveled to the U.S., or health care workers who became ill after treating patients with EVD. “While the risk of Ebola virus disease in the U.S. remains low, the U.S. government remains deeply committed to fighting devastating Ebola outbreaks in Africa, including the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the…

The Trump administration has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow for the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada. In addition, the Administration is announcing the availability of a new draft guidance for industry that describes procedures drug manufacturers can follow to facilitate importation of prescription drugs, including biological products, that are FDA-approved, manufactured abroad, authorized for sale in any foreign country, and originally intended for sale in that foreign country. Yes, you can buy drugs cheaper from other countries - because…

More than 200 million people around the world suffered from malaria in 2017. Over 400,000 died. The vast majority – around 90% – were in Africa, where many are all too familiar with the devastating impact of the disease. Young children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable. Protective measures can help significantly to reduce the burden. This includes spraying with insecticides and using mosquito nets. But 100% coverage using these methods is impossible. Until the disease is eradicated, availability of effective treatments is critical. This is why drugs are critical to managing the…

Though cannabinoids in marijuana are touted by salespeople and supplement marketing as therapies for almost anything, anecdotes are not evidence, and the evidence from a meta-analysis of 83 studies (3,000 people) for six mental health conditions shows cannabinoids do not work. Not for depression, anxiety disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), or psychosis. And since there are known risks of cannabinoids they may be doing harm. Worse, even pharmaceutical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) claims have such poor evidence that…

Though a CBD supplement huckster was just convicted for selling synthetic marijuana and CBD oil is the culprit behind untold numbers of vaping illnesses and deaths, and a chiropractor was just lambasted by FDA for claiming his CBD supplement can fix everything from autism to Alzheimer's, if search engines are any indication, marijuana is not stopping. And that has to be worrying the rest of the $35 billion supplement industry. Prior to 2014, even with suspect claims of "medical" marijuana, searches from the United States that mentioned "CBD" or "cannabidiol" - 40 percent of extract and one of…

Fresh off poisoning thousands by introducing tainted, illegal additives into vaping devices (including dangerous synthetic marijuana, which just resulted in a conviction), the marijuana supplement industry (cannabidiol, CBD) is under scrutiny again. This time it is Rooted Apothecary LLC, of Naples, Florida, for illegally selling unapproved products containing cannabidiol with unsubstantiated claims that the products treat teething pain and ear aches in infants, autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, among other conditions…

There is a war on opioids and legitimate pain patients have been caught in the stigma of recreational abuse. High-profile class action lawsuits against drug manufacturers are going to create an "icy chill" for pain medication just as they ran antibiotics out of the country. But perhaps new approaches from other nations will fill that gap. A new paper discusses a fungus, a previously unknown Penicillium sp MST-MF667, sampled from an estuary in Tasmania's pristine Huon Valley, with a set of uniquely shaped (LDLD chirality) tetrapeptides mimicking endomophins. They developed it into a new opioid…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Eli Lilly and Company's Reyvow (lasmiditan) tablets for acute treatment of migraine headaches in adults. Though used colloquially by everyone who feels like their headache is bad, a clinical migraine is an intense throbbing or pulsing pain in one area of the head that often brings nausea and sensitivity to light and sound.  The effectiveness of Reyvow for the acute treatment of migraine was demonstrated in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. A total of 3,177 adult patients with a history of migraine with and without…

Though prebiotics are a fad outside the chemotherapy sector, there is little evidence they do anything positive or negative in humans. Except in horses, where they seem to do something negative. Before they can reach the intestines, commercially available supplements partially break down in the animals' stomachs, which can lead to inflammation of the stomach lining. So if you really feel the need to give a horse prebiotics, preparing  food supplements so that they don't take effect until they reach the large intestine.  In horses, prebiotics are are indigestible fibers…

Malaria is an infectious disease causing more than 400,000 deaths per year predominantly among children and pregnant women. While the disease originates in sub-Saharan Africa and various tropical environments it is by no means confined to these already extensive areas. Tourism and the deployment of diplomatic and/or military personnel to these same areas from around the world allow for the exposure of untold millions of additional people to this disease making it more and more a global health threat. The eradication of malaria has been impeded by the rise of resistance to current drugs.…