Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Blue skies and comfortable breezes are enveloping the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots are dozing after chasing varmints and keeping the neighbors honest. As for us, we are engaged in the usual rituals — firing up the coffee kettle in order to brew a cup of stimulation (the choice today is mint chocolate chip) and foraging for items of interest. On that note, here are a few tidbits to help you get started on your journey today, which we hope will be meaningful and productive. Meanwhile, do keep in touch. We always enjoy hearing from you. …
File this under “unintended consequences.” Over the past few months, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pursued new policies that its officials insist will preserve patents from unnecessary legal challenges and strengthen the system for protecting innovation, STAT explains. But critics — including some drug companies — argue the moves would undercut a valuable process for confirming whether patents remain valid and, therefore, make it much more difficult for companies to bring lower-cost medicines to consumers. As a result, in their view, the changes threaten to contradict — and undermine — a key goal of the Trump administration. At issue is an agency procedure called inter partes reviews, or IPRs, that have been used to address patent disputes and are supposed to be heard before a patent office appeals board.
Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children annually, yet there has not been a major new drug to fight it in more than 25 years. But now, Novartis says it has one, The Wall Street Journal says. The company said that a potential new treatment cured more than 99% of malaria cases in a late-stage study. The drug candidate may also be able to prevent the spread of drug resistance, a growing threat in sub-Saharan Africa. The new drug, known as GanLum, promises the biggest innovation in malaria since the introduction in 1999 of combination therapies using a compound called artemisnin. A new drug would provide a much-needed new weapon against malaria. Artemisinin-based medicines are still very effective, but resistance to them is spreading, particularly in East and Southern Africa, according to David Fidock, professor of microbiology and immunology and medical sciences at Columbia University.
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