STAT (August 11, 2022) Novartis reports two children died from acute liver failure after treatment with Zolgensma gene therapy
The company this week began notifying physicians and payers about the deaths, which occurred over the past few months in Russia and Kazakhstan, The children passed away approximately five to six weeks after the one-time therapy was infused and between one and 10 days after corticosteroid tapering occurred, which is done to ensure proper liver function.
Fast Company (August 5, 2022) How human ‘organs on a chip’ can help replace animal testing
<i>Animal testing isn’t just ethically questionable—it’s actually not that effective. Several biotech firms are developing technology that could change that.</i>
NPR (August 4, 2022) Democrats may make some progress toward lowering high drug prices
The cost of prescription drugs have been a political issue for years. If Congress passes the Reduce Inflation Act, a provision would allow Medicare, for the first time, to negotiate drug prices. NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin has been looking into the provisions of the bill and why it’s getting so much attention.
C&EN (August 2, 2022) US FDA seeks to slash animal testing
The FDA is taking seriously requests to reduce animal testing. The agency is seeking advice from its Science Board—a panel of external scientists—on how to qualify non-animal methods for evaluating the safety of new products.