The FDA this week warned of serious flesh-eating bacterial infections, or necrotizing fasciitis, reported by patients taking sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors intended for treating type 2 diabetes. The federal watchdog said that between March 2013 and May 2018, 12 cases of Fournier’s gangrene, a rare but life-threatening bacterial infection of the tissue under the skin […]
Merck
GlucoMe, Merck ink Vietnamese diabetes study deal
GlucoMe said last week it inked a pilot collaboration deal with Merck (NYSE:MRK) looking to evaluate GlucoMe’s digital diabetes platform at several hospitals in Vietnam. Israel-based GlucoMe said that the project was scheduled to begin this month, and that it will compare GlucoMe’s digital diabetes care system against the current standard of care in the country. The […]
Study: Heat-stable drug formulation offers new option to prevent postpartum bleeding
Data from a collaboration between Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Merck (NYSE:MRK) and the World Health Organization showed that a heat-stable formulation of carbetocin is as effective as oxytocin for the prevention of excessive bleeding following vaginal birth. Millions of women are affected by postpartum hemorrhage every year, according to Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Traditionally, women are given oxytocin to prevent […]
OncoSec to combine ImmunoPulse device with Merck’s immunotherapy in breast cancer trial
OncoSec Medical (NSDQ:ONCS) expanded its relationship with Merck (NYSE:MRK) today, announcing a deal to combine its ImmunoPulse IL-12 device with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda, in a Phase II trial of patients with triple negative breast cancer. The trial is slated to study the drug-device combination in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic cancer who have failed […]
Report: Pharma companies ask Supremes to take eye-dropper case
A group of pharmaceutical companies, including Allergan (NYSE:AGN) and Merck (NYSE:MRK), have asked the Supreme Court to review a case between the industry players and patients regarding the design of the companies’ eye-droppers, according to a report from the AP. In the on-going legal debate, patient groups have claimed that the companies’ devices dispense large drops of medication […]
Myriad’s breast cancer diagnostic wins approval in Japan
Myriad Genetics (NSDQ:MYGN) subsidiary Myriad Genetics Laboratories said today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare approved its Bracanalysis Diagnostic System to be used with Lynparza – a breast cancer drug marketed by AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Merck (NYSE:MRK). Lynparza is a PARP inhibitor designed to target deficiencies in DNA damage response pathways. AstraZeneca and Merck […]
Mass. Supremes: Pharma Cos. liable for generic labeling issues
Merck (NYSE:MRK) and other large brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers could be legally liable for injuries resulting not from the use of their brand name products, but from generic versions of those drugs made by other companies, according to a new ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The court ruling could set the precedent that such brand-name […]
Mass Innovation Labs expands to give startups a better way to do research
At the 124,000-square foot Cambridge headquarters of Mass Innovation Labs, co-founder & CEO Amrit Chaudhuri points to a cluster of tables and identifies them one by one: This startup went public and did a massive deal with Merck (NYSE:MRK), he says, and sits shoulder-to-shoulder with a different company working on a Phase II clinical asset. More than a […]
Appeal board to review Sanofi’s Lantus insulin injection patents
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeal Board has instituted inter partes review on all claims against two patents owned by Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) for the company’s Lantus insulin glargine injection. Sanofi filed a patent infringement suit against Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) in October after the EpiPen-maker submitted an NDA for a pre-filled insulin glargine pen, challenging the patents listed for Sanofi’s Lantus […]
Lung cancer expert: Smoking stigma still hurting patients, families and research
A number of therapies designed to treat patients with lung cancer have been approved this year, including products from Novartis (NYSE:NVS), Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY). That progress is exciting for Dr. Fred Hirsch, the head of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. “We do have a lot of good things to tell the […]
