Tag - pharmaceuticals

 
 

PHARMACEUTICALS

Eisai's Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2024
Eisai sees 'huge' growth potential for Alzheimer's drug in China
The Japanese pharmaceutical firm aims to roll out its groundbreaking Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi to 1,500 people in China later this year.
An employee looks at data on screens in the high-tech command center at the Novartis AG campus in Basel, Switzerland.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 10, 2024
Swiss pharma firms plot different paths to blockbuster drugs
Roche has doubled down on Alzheimer’s and boosted research and development spending across its portfolio.
Though ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, it was really in 2023 that we started to get a sense of what large language models could do, including diagnosing complex medical issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023
The 10 most intriguing science breakthroughs over the past year
As 2023 has drawn to a close, let’s look back on some of the astounding breakthroughs we’ve seen in the last 12 months.
Smart chemotherapy is in the spotlight again as Big Pharma invests billions in next-generation cancer drugs.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2023
Targeted cancer drugs finally live up to the hype
The newfound understanding of how these cancer drugs work could lead to broader applications in treating various tumors
Desi Permatasari, 32, comforts her daughter, Sheena Almaera Maryam, 5, who was prescribed contaminated cough syrup last year in their home in Bogor, Indonesia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2023
When children take toxic cough syrup — and live
In Indonesia, one of the places most impacted by the contamination, families struggle to care for survivors while taking action against those responsible.
Parents take their children for infusion treatment at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2023
China’s battle with child pneumonia shows risks of drug resistance
In China nearly 80% of child cases of mycoplasma pneumoniae are resistant to macrolides, compared with under 10% elsewhere.
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023
Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority
Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.
An area known as Toyoko in the Kabukicho entertainment district in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023
High school girl arrested for selling cough medicine illegally
The arrest coincides with a surge of young people in Japan abusing over-the-counter drugs, such as cold medicine.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2023
Japan to tighten regulations on over-the-counter drug sales
The plan comes in response to the spread of overdoses mainly among young people.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2023
Japan approves first domestically developed COVID-19 XBB vaccine
The XBB-adapted coronavirus vaccine will be available as a booster under the nation’s free COVID-19 vaccination program beginning next week.
A view inside of Sai Life Sciences' manufacturing facility in Bindar, Karnataka, India, in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 27, 2023
Indian drugmakers benefit from Big Pharma interest beyond China
Rising tensions with China have prompted more Western governments to recommend that firms "de-risk" supply chains from exposure to the Asian superpower.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2023
Japan to start trial of over-the-counter sales of morning-after pills
The health ministry will allow 145 stores nationwide to sell morning-after pills until the end of March.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 22, 2023
4 youths nabbed for unauthorized cough medicine sales
Reports indicate that more young people in Japan are overdosing on over-the-counter drugs such as cold pills and cough medicine.
A selection of injector pens for the Wegovy weight loss drug.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2023
New treatment for obesity to be covered by Japan's public insurance
The expansion of health care options comes amid concerns about the potential misuse of such drugs by healthy individuals for weight loss.
Japan’s policy came under scrutiny during the COVID-19 pandemic, when vaccines approved overseas needed additional testing prior to their approval in Japan.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2023
Japan set to scrap rule requiring testing of new drugs on Japanese
To sell a drug in Japan, pharmaceutical firms are required to conduct additional trials specifically targeting Japanese participants.
The shortage of a class of diabetes drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists is being driven in part by healthy people looking to use them for dieting purposes.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 14, 2023
Japan tackles surge in off-label diabetes drug use for weight loss
Officials are aiming to ensure that the medications are prescribed for people with diabetes, and not for those seeking weight loss.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 14, 2023
Bill to legalize cannabis-derived drugs clears Japan’s Lower House
The bill was sent to the Upper House the same day. If approved there, changes stipulated in the bill will likely go into effect by the end of next year.
Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and chairman of Insilico Medicine, poses at his research facility in Suzhou, China, on Oct. 31.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 14, 2023
Race for first drug discovered by AI nears key milestone
Insilico Medicine's AI-developed drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is in midstage trials in the U.S. and China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 9, 2023
Drug shortages create challenge for Japan as influenza cases rise
Amid an earlier-than-usual start of the flu season, a type of flu medicine for children is experiencing a supply shortage as cases rise.
A 23andMe DNA kit
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2023
Drugmakers are set to pay 23andMe millions to access consumer DNA
Under the new agreement, 23andMe will provide GSK with access to anonymized DNA data from customers who have agreed to share their information.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan