“Adding the GLP-1 receptor agonist drug tirzepatide (marketed as Mounjaro) to standard care for patients with type 2 diabetes and heart disease is associated with a lower risk of a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ today…

A total of 52,971 individuals were included in the analysis (average age 70 years; 51% female), of whom 35,353 started tirzepatide and 17,618 started sitagliptin.

At one year, the risk of MACE was 2.9% in the tirzepatide group and 4.4% in the sitagliptin group (a 32% relative reduction), and the researchers estimate that for every 70 patients starting tirzepatide, one case of MACE would be prevented.

For individual MACE components, tirzepatide was associated with a 33% lower risk of heart attack compared with sitagliptin, whereas ischemic stroke showed no meaningful difference.”

From Medical Xpress.

“Detailed phase 3 results suggest the two-drug combination of Gilead Sciences’ lenacapavir and Merck & Co.’s islatravir has what it takes to become the first complete weekly pill for the treatment of HIV.

Two Islend clinical trials confirmed that a once-weekly, single-tablet combination of islatravir and lenacapavir (ISL/LEN) matches daily treatments like Gilead’s Biktarvy at maintaining HIV viral suppression, according to data slated for presentation at the 26th International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.”

From Fierce Pharma.

“Researchers have developed a bioengineered chewing gum that may offer a new way to target microbes associated with head and neck cancer. In tests involving oral samples from patients, extracts from the gum sharply reduced one virus and two types of bacteria linked to the disease…

Tests showed that extracts from the bean gum lowered HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples. HPV levels also fell by 80% in oral rinse samples.

The researchers then engineered the bean gum to contain protegrin, an antimicrobial peptide capable of killing harmful bacteria. A single dose brought levels of Pg and Fn down to almost zero.

Importantly, the treatment did not appear to harm the beneficial bacteria that normally live in the mouth.”

From ScienceDaily.

“Research presented this week at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London suggests that the use of blood tests for Alzheimer’s could eventually transform the way the disease is diagnosed and even predict who might develop Alzheimer’s and when.

One study presented on Tuesday showed that, when primary care doctors had access to blood test results, their accuracy in diagnosing whether a patient’s cognitive symptoms were caused by Alzheimer’s improved considerably.

Another study, presented on Wednesday and published in the journal JAMA, suggested that the blood tests could help predict an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s-related cognitive impairment over two, five and 10 years’ time.

The findings signal that these tests — which detect forms of two proteins, amyloid and tau, that are biological markers of Alzheimer’s — have growing promise to help patients be diagnosed more easily and to inform healthy people, who do not have any symptoms of cognitive impairment, of their future risk.

The goal is to transform Alzheimer’s into a disease that can be treated at its earliest stages, and to ultimately find ways to delay and even prevent its devastating memory and thinking problems.”

From New York Times.