Drugs

An oral pill would be much easier for diabetics than daily insulin injections. An experimental new method for packing insulin into capsules helps it survive the trip through the stomach to the bloodstream, and releases its payload only when needed.

A striking new study testing a number of over-the-counter weight loss and sports supplements has found they contain many combinations of stimulants that have either previously been prohibited by the FDA or never approved for human consumption.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an urgent public health threat. A new single-dose drug has been developed that works on a different mechanism to most antibiotics, and tests in mice show that it can be used to treat multi-drug-resistant gonorrhea.

Antibiotic-resistant “superbugs" pose a serious public health threat. New antibiotics are needed to turn the tide, but developing them takes time. Now IBM Research has set AI on the task, producing two promising new drug candidates very quickly.

A landmark "self-blinded" trial testing the effect of psychedelic microdosing has found the practice may be an example of a strong placebo effect. The research suggests there is little difference in reported benefits between a microdose and a placebo.

New data submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is stable for two weeks in freezers around -15 °C (5 °F), allowing for significantly more flexibility in shipping and storage methods.

A new, small open-label trial is the first to test MDMA therapy as a treatment for addiction and the results suggest it is safe, well-tolerated and significantly more effective than any current treatment for alcoholism.

A broad reform bill has been proposed in California that would see the possession and use of a number of psychedelic drugs decriminalized. The bill proposes to expunge all psychedelic-related criminal convictions and allow “social sharing” of the drugs.

HIV can currently be managed with a lifelong daily drug regimen, but unfortunately the infection can’t be eliminated entirely. Now researchers may have found a way to trip a cellular “alarm” to alert the immune system to clear out infected cells.

A novel trial is set to investigate the popular yet still deeply unproven practice of microdosing psychedelics, and promises to be the first exploration of naturalistic psilocybin microdosing in a lab-setting using a cutting-edge neuroimaging technique.

A novel analytical technique has revealed undiscovered compounds in an ancient Maya drug container previously thought to only be used for tobacco. The findings offer the first clear evidence that the Maya mixed tobacco with other plant materials.

Although yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has announced promising results from one of its Phase 2 human trials testing an experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug designed to slow cognitive decline.