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01 / 05
New Malaria Drug Performs Strongly in Late-Stage Testing

Wall Street Journal | Noncommunicable Disease

New Malaria Drug Performs Strongly in Late-Stage Testing

“Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children annually, yet there hasn’t been a major new drug to fight it in more than 25 years. 

Now, Novartis says it has one.

The Swiss company said Wednesday that a potential new treatment cured more than 99% of malaria cases in a late-stage study. The drug candidate may also be able to prevent the spread of drug resistance, a growing threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Novartis said.  

The new drug, known as GanLum for its components ganaplacide and lumefantrine, promises the biggest innovation in malaria treatments since the introduction in 1999 of combination therapies using a compound called artemisinin. 

A new drug would provide a much-needed new weapon against malaria. Artemisinin-based medicines are still very effective, but resistance to them is spreading, particularly in East and Southern Africa, said David Fidock, professor of microbiology and immunology and medical sciences at Columbia University.”

From Wall Street Journal.

The New England Journal of Medicine | Noncommunicable Disease

Hospital-Acquired Infections Continue Decline Across US

“Prevalence surveys in U.S. hospitals showed that on any given day, 1 of 25 patients had a health care–associated infection in 2011, as compared with 1 of 31 patients in 2015. We repeated the survey in 2023 to assess changes in the prevalence of such infections…

The prevalence of health care–associated infections was lower in 2023 than in 2015, with 1 of 38 patients on any given day having such an infection; however, the burden of health care–associated infections in U.S. hospitals continued to be high.”

From The New England Journal of Medicine.

UCL | Noncommunicable Disease

Trial Shows Safer Antibiotic Option for Staph Blood Infection

“The SNAP trial, funded in the UK by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) found that a little used antibiotic, cefazolin, is as effective as and safer than the current UK standard therapy, flucloxacillin, for treating life-threatening staph blood infections. More than half of staph blood infections lead to sepsis and 15% to 25% of those who get these infections die within three months.

The researchers also found that a commonly used antibiotic, penicillin, can be used when the staph is treatable with this in the laboratory. And that similarly this is probably as effective as flucloxacillin, and safer.

The findings from the SNAP trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and The Lancet, challenge the long-held assumption that flucloxacillin should remain the default treatment and provide important new evidence to guide treatment strategy.”

From UCL.

Reuters | Noncommunicable Disease

Sickle Cell Gene Therapy Approved for Young Children

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved expanded use of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ gene therapy in children as ​young as two with inherited blood disorders, including ‌sickle cell disease, the first such treatment cleared for this age group.

Casgevy, a one-time treatment made from a patient’s own blood stem ​cells, was previously approved for patients aged 12 ​and older with sickle cell disease or transfusion-dependent ⁠beta thalassemia.”

From Reuters.

Reuters | Noncommunicable Disease

China Approves CARsgen’s CAR-T Treatment for Stomach Cancer

“China’s drug ​regulator said on Monday it has ‌approved a CARsgen Therapeutics treatment for stomach cancer, a new milestone for CAR-T therapies, which engineer patients’ ​immune cells to recognise and kill cancer ​cells.

The injection, also known as satri-cel, is ⁠globally the first approved CAR-T cell therapy ​for solid tumors, CARsgen CEO Li Zonghai ​told Reuters in an interview after the announcement.”

From Reuters.