Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Hold the Release

The European Medicines Agency has been moving toward making data submitted to it by drug companies seeking its approval more readily available, but two companies have sued to block the release of their clinical trial data, the Nature News Blog reports.

The EMA's move came after a number of "revelations that high-profile companies have hidden crucial data on safety and efficacy," as Nature News reported in March.

The companies, Illinois-based AbbVie and InterMune in California, took the EMA to court to stop the release of their data. An interim decision from the European General Court has blocked the EMA from releasing the documents, the Nature News Blog now says.

This, the Sense About Science advocacy group adds, may affect the release of other data and documents. "If AbbVie and InterMune win their cases, there is a real chance that EMA's revolution in data transparency will come to an abrupt end, returning us to the old status quo of data secrecy," Johns Hopkins University's Peter Doshi says in a statement from the group.

The Scan

Foxtail Millet Pangenome, Graph-Based Reference Genome

Researchers in Nature Genetics described their generation of a foxtail millet pangenome, which they say can help in crop trait improvement.

Protein Length Distribution Consistent Across Species

An analysis in Genome Biology compares the lengths of proteins across more than 2,300 species, finding similar length distributions.

Novel Genetic Loci Linked to Insulin Resistance in New Study

A team reports in Nature Genetics that it used glucose challenge test data to home in on candidate genes involved in GLUT4 expression or trafficking.

RNA Editing in Octopuses Seems to Help Acclimation to Shifts in Water Temperature

A paper in Cell reports that octopuses use RNA editing to help them adjust to different water temperatures.