2- Tuesday Pharmacy Practice News – 29th June

 1 – Study: COVID-19 Reinfection Rate Less Than 1% for Those Who Had Severe Illness

• A study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care found that among more than 9000 patients who had severe COVID-19, less than 1% contracted the illness again at approximately 3.5 months after an initial positive test.
• The findings showed that 63 of the 9119 patients with severe COVID-19 infection contracted the virus a second time, with an average reinfection period of 116 days.
• The findings also showed that among 63 patients reinfected, 2 of them died.

Source: Pharmacy Times

2 – Omega-3 Fatty Acids Could Reduce Depression Symptoms Through Anti-Inflammatory Effects

• Investigators have identified an important molecular mechanism that could help inform the development of potential new treatments using omega-3 fatty acids for patients with depression, according to a study published in Molecular Psychiatry.
• The omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were applied first in high doses to lab-grown neurons and then in patients to understand the mechanism by which they reduce inflammation and depression.

Source: Pharmacy Times

3 – FDA Approves New OTC Nasal Spray for Allergy Relief

• Officials with the FDA have approved azelastine hydrochloride 0.15% (Astepro Allergy; Bayer) as an OTC product for the temporary relief of nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and itchy nose associated with upper respiratory allergies such as hay fever.
• According to Bayer, the approval is the FDA’s first for a steroid-free, antihistamine nasal spray for allergies available OTC in the United States.
• The approved OTC formulation is full prescription strength and can provide relief from allergy nasal symptoms that will last up to 24 hours.

Source: Pharmacy Times

4- FDA Approves Avapritinib for Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis

• The FDA has approved avapritinib for adult patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis (AdvSM), including patients with aggressive systemic mastocytosis, systemic mastocytosis with an associated hematological neoplasm, and mast cell leukemia.
• The researchers anaylzed efficacy results from both the EXPLORER and PATHFINDER studies in patients with AdvSM.
• Duration of response (DoR), time to response, changes in individual measures of mast cell burden, and overall response rate (ORR) were looked at as additional efficacy measures.

Source: Pharmacy Times

5 – Study Suggests Some Patients Taking Anti-Inflammatory Drugs May Have Weaker Immune Response to COVID-19 Vaccines

• Nearly 25% of patients taking methotrexate for common immune system disorders exhibit a weaker immune response to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.
• Scientists have previously established that patients with rheumatoid arthritis who take methotrexate have a reduced response to seasonal flu vaccines.
• They found that more than 90% of healthy subjects and patients taking drugs other than methotrexate mounted strong antibody responses, whereas only 62% of people with immune-mediated inflammatory disorders who were taking methotrexate achieved an adequate response.
• Similarly, patients taking methotrexate did not show an increase in CD8 T cell activation after vaccination, unlike healthy patients and those taking anti-inflammatory drugs other than methotrexate.

Source: Pharmacy Times

6 – Researchers Identify Key Structure of Deadly Toxin in C. diff Bacteria That May Lead to Future Treatments

• Investigators were able to identify the structure of a lethal toxin produced by certain strains of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bacteria, which may help to map out the delivery and binding components of the toxin in order to support the development of drugs that can target and neutralize it.
• Currently, there is no drug approved by the FDA that specifically targets the C. diff toxin (CDT), or binary toxin, that has been found to be the most lethal. In light of this, the investigators focused on mapping the structure of this binary toxin, called CDTb, in order to better understand the molecular mechanism of the C. diff toxin, which may be beneficial to drug discovery

Source: Pharmacy Times

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