Pfizer to assess Akili game as Alzheimer's biomarker

Pfizer is launching a clinical study to assess the potential of Akili Interactive Labs’ Project EVO gaming platform as a biomarker or cognitive endpoint for people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Akili is a US-based company developing mobile video games as potential therapeutics for neurological disorders or as tools for remote monitoring of core cognition.

The Akili platform is designed to quantify and improve the ability of individuals to deal with cognitive interference affecting their ability to pay attention, plan or make decisions. These deficits are common symptoms of a number of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, as well as psychiatric conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and depression.

Researchers discover potential drug targets for early onset glaucoma

Using a novel high-throughput screening process, scientists have for the first time identified molecules with the potential to block the accumulation of a toxic eye protein that can lead to early onset of glaucoma. Researchers have implicated a mutant form of a protein called myocilin as a possible root cause of this increased eye pressure. Mutant myocilin is toxic to the cells in the part of the eye that regulates pressure.

Eisai's amatuximab gets orphan status in Europe 

European regulators have assigned Eisai's amatuximab with an orphan drug designation (ODD) for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma.

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, affecting around 1 in 50,000 people per year in Europe.

Although there has been a dramatic decline in the use of asbestos since the mid-1970s, incidence of the difficult-to-treat condition is expected to rise. 

Breakthrough announced in treatment of patient with rare type of leukemia 

A team of scientists from the University of Leicester has demonstrated a novel treatment for Hairy Cell Leukaemia (HCL), a rare type of blood cancer, using a drug administered to combat skin cancer. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicates Vemurafenib, a BRAF inhibitor that has been approved as a treatment for advanced melanomas, is also successful in treating leukaemia.

FDA Asks Doctors to Limit Acetaminophen in Prescription 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking healthcare professionals to stop prescribing combination prescription pain relievers that contain more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per tablet, capsule, or other dosage unit, citing the risk for liver damage.
The action targets prescription analgesics that contain both acetaminophen and another ingredient, typically opioids such as codeine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Some of these combination products now have as much as 750 mg of acetaminophen per dose.

Clever chemistry and a new class of antibiotics

As concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics grow, researchers are racing to find new kinds of drugs to replace ones that are no longer effective. One promising new class of molecules called acyldepsipeptides - ADEPs - kills bacteria in a way that no marketed antibacterial drug does - by altering the pathway through which cells rid themselves of harmful proteins.

ADEPs kill bacteria by a mechanism by that is distinct from all clinically available anti-bacterial drugs. They work by binding to a protein in bacterial cells that acts as a "cellular garbage disposal,”. This barrel-shaped protein, called ClpP, breaks down proteins that are misfolded or damaged and could be harmful to the cell. However, when ClpP is bound by an ADEP, it's no longer so selective about the proteins it degrades. In essence, the binding by ADEP causes the garbage disposal to run amok and devour healthy proteins throughout the cell. For bacteria, a runaway ClpP is deadly.

Chinese Herbs Reduce Progression to Diabetes by a Third

Tianqi, a capsule combination of 10 Chinese medicinal herbs, reduces progression from impaired glucose tolerance to type 2 diabetes by 32% over 12 months.