Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

New Recommendations for Testing Diabetes Drugs

In the wake of safety questions over GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, FDA is recommending more rigorous testing of diabetes drugs for heart attack and stroke risk. The new recommendations are effective immediately, reports the Wall Street Journal, and they suggest that clinical trials should be redesigned with heart attack and stroke risk assessment in mind, and that any cardiovascular events that occur during the trial should be reviewed by independent, blinded cardiologists. Another recommendation is that the trials include older and sicker patients who should then be followed for a longer period of time.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.