Drug

A new study from researchers in Japan offers the first direct investigation into the effects of caffeine on 100-meter sprint running. The findings revealed athletes who dose up on caffeine can run significantly faster sprint times.

Immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment, but getting it to work against solid tumors is difficult. A new study has not only identified a drug that’s effective against solid tumors, but may have uncovered a reason that immunotherapy often fails.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug that can delay the onset of type 1 diabetes. A recent trial has shown that the drug, named teplizumab, can give patients several extra disease-free years.

Drugs given to the whole body can be too much of a shotgun approach, damaging cells that aren’t meant to be targeted. A new study has found that cloaking drugs inside red blood cells could help guide powerful but toxic antibiotics to target bacteria.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common and treatable, but there can be complications, especially when the bacteria become drug resistant. Now, a new drug combo has shown promise in a Phase 3 clinical trial.

Scientists at the University of California San Francisco have found a way to fight one of the most common cancer-causing mutations. The new drug puts up an “eat me” marker that can help the immune system or other drugs find and kill the cancer.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the deadliest forms of the disease, but now scientists may have a promising new avenue for treatment. By combining a new drug with an outdated one, the team found that they could halt growth of tumors in mice.

It takes tons of plant matter to make each gram of the cancer drug vinblastine. To find an alternative source, scientists have engineered yeast to produce the precursors of vinblastine, which could help make this vital drug more available and affordable.

Scientists have identified two molecules that could help treat leukemia, in a way that’s far less damaging to healthy cells than existing chemotherapy. The compounds work using a different mechanism that’s more selective for cancerous cells.

Bacteria are fast developing resistance to our best drugs, leaving us poised on the edge of a major health crisis. But a new antibiotic has shown promise against several key “superbugs,” while minimizing damage against good bacteria in the body.

Asthma is usually managed by treating symptoms, but new research shows a potential way to target a root cause of the disease. A molecule prevented structural changes in the airways of asthmatic mice and eliminated their symptoms in weeks.

Most vaccines need to be refrigerated, so it's difficult and expensive to get them to remote areas where they’re often needed most. A new method for encapsulating vaccines in hydrogels lets them be transported and stored at much higher temperatures.