Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report: Clot Buster Linked To Patient Death In Alzheimer's Drug Trial
Stat: New Case Study Details Death In Closely Watched Alzhiemer's Trial
Investigators on Wednesday released the first detailed case report about a patient who died after receiving lecanemab, providing a new glimpse into safety concerns surrounding the closely watched experimental Alzheimer’s drug. (Mast, 1/4)
Reuters: Eisai Alzheimer's Drug And Clot Buster Seen As Cause Of Brain Hemorrhage Death -Analysis
Emergency treatment with a blood clot buster called tissue plasminogen activator for a patient who had a stroke while being treated with the experimental Alzheimer's drug lecanemab led to a fatal cascade of brain hemorrhage and burst blood vessels, an autopsy analysis published on Wednesday suggests. (Beasley, 1/4)
In other pharmaceutical science news —
Reuters: Geron Says Blood Cancer Drug Succeeds In Late-Stage Study, Shares Surge
Geron Corp (GERN.O) said on Wednesday its experimental drug helped more patients with a difficult-to-treat blood cancer achieve independence from routine transfusions in a late-stage trial, sending shares of the drug developer nearly 50% higher. The drug, imetelstat, was being studied in patients with types of lower risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), which requires frequent blood transfusions for patients to manage their anemia, the company said. (Roy, 1/4)
Stat: Roivant-Pfizer Inflammatory Bowel Drug Succeeds In Phase 2 Study
An experimental inflammatory bowel disease medicine that serves as the basis for a partnership between Roivant Sciences and Pfizer met high expectations for a Phase 2 clinical trial data released Wednesday. In a clinical study of 245 volunteers, the drug, called RVT-3101, helped 32% of trial participants with ulcerative colitis go into remission, compared to 12% in the placebo group. (DeAngelis, 1/4)
CIDRAP: Right Choice Of Antibiotic Linked To Lower Risk Of Death From Bloodstream Infections
The multicenter cross-sectional study, which included more than 32,000 patients who had been hospitalized with BSIs, found that receipt of appropriate initial empiric antibiotic therapy was associated with lower risk of in-hospital death for three pathogen groups compared with those whose initial antibiotic was inappropriate. For all three groups, the risk of in-hospital death was more than or nearly cut in half for patients who received the right antibiotic. (Dall, 1/4)
St. Louis Public Radio: The VA Is Studying Using Psychedelics To Help Treat Veterans
Jesse Gould, a retired Army Ranger mortar man who was deployed to Afghanistan three times, was diagnosed with PTSD and given all the usual treatments, but none of them worked. “The concussive forces over time can damage the brain. I was not diagnosed with that but had to figure that out for myself, being around all of these explosions,” Gould said. Then he discovered therapy using psychedelic drugs, and it changed his life. (Ahl, 1/5)
In research related to covid —
CIDRAP: Certain Symptoms Diminish Well-Being In Long-COVID Patients, Survey Shows
Among long-COVID patients in Israel, nonspecific emotional and cognitive symptoms such as fatigue, lack of concentration, and sleep disorders lowered subjective well-being (SWB) the most, according to a study published today in Epidemiology & Infection. (Van Beusekom, 1/4)
CIDRAP: COVID Shots, Previous Infection May Cut Risk Of Spread In Prisons
Recent COVID-19 vaccination and previous infections independently lowered the odds of Omicron variant transmission from infected California prison inmates to their cellmates, but the risk remained high, suggests a study published earlier this week in Nature Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 1/4)
