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[ad_1] A can of Diet Coke in a supermarket, as an artificial sweetener commonly used in thousands of products including diet fizzy drinks, ice cream and chewing gum is to be listed as posing a possible cancer risk to humans, according to reports. Yui Mok | Pa Images | Getty Images The World Health Organization on Thursday classified the soda sweetener aspartame as a possible carcinogen, but said it is safe for people to consume within the recommended daily limit. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a WHO body, identified a possible link between aspartame and a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma after reviewing three large human studies conducted in the U.S. and Europe that examined artificially sweetened beverages. related investing news Aspartame is used in Diet Coke, Pepsi Zero Sugar and other diet sodas , as well as some chewing gum and various Snapple drinks as a substitute for sugar. Artificially sweetened beverages have historically been the bi

[ad_1] An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021. Mike Segar | Reuters Uninsured Americans pay nearly $98 on average for a vial of Eli Lilly 's generic insulin, even after the company pledged to cut the product's list price to $25 per vial , according to a report released Thursday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren . Eli Lilly earlier this year vowed to slash the list price of its generic insulin, Lispro , from $82.42 per vial starting May 1. The Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company is one of the world's largest insulin manufacturers. The Massachusetts senator's report surveyed more than 300 chain and independent pharmacies in the U.S. between June 9 and June 28 to determine whether Eli Lilly's announced price cut "translated into real relief for patients." The survey found that a third of pharmacies charged uninsured patients $164 or more for a vial of Eli Lilly's Lispro. Seven p

[ad_1] A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic in the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Vanessa Leroy | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Biden administration on Thursday announced a program to provide free Covid vaccines to uninsured Americans through December 2024 after the federal government's supply of shots runs out this fall. Those free shots, which the government is purchasing at a discount, will be available to the uninsured at pharmacies and 64 state and local health departments. The Health and Human Services Department also is hoping that vaccine makers will donate shots to pharmacies as part of the program. There are between 25 to 30 million uninsured adults in the United States and other Americans whose insurance will not cover free Covid products this fall, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the government has an

[ad_1] HRA Pharma expects a final decision by the FDA this summer on its application for nonprescription sales of Opill, which is generically called norgestrel. Source: Perrigo The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill , a landmark decision that will allow more women and girls in the U.S. to prevent unintended pregnancies without a prescription .  The daily pill, called Opill, was first  approved  by the FDA as a prescription in 1973.  The pill's manufacturer, Paris-based HRA Pharma, said the contraceptive would most likely be available at drugstores, convenience stores, grocery stores and online retailers in the U.S. in early 2024. HRA Pharma, a unit of Dublin-based pharmaceutical company Perrigo , said there will be no age restrictions on sales of the pill. HRA Pharma has not announced the price of the pill, which will determine how affordable it will be to the public. But the company is committed to making the pill

[ad_1] The U.S. Chamber of Commerce seal is displayed during restoration at the headquarters in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday asked a federal judge in Ohio to block Medicare's new powers to negotiate drug prices before October 1. The motion for a preliminary injunction is a significant escalation in the pharmaceutical industry's legal battle that would halt the talks before they begin this fall. The U.S. Chamber, local chambers in Dayton, Ohio and Michigan, and the drugmaker Abbvie claim that the drug price negotiations violate the due process clause of the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC's latest health coverage: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. [ad_2] Source link https://worldnews2023.com/health/chamber-of-commerce-asks-judge-to-block-medicare-drug-price-negotiations-before-october-1/?feed_id=31615&_unique_id=64af1d2f

[ad_1] A man wearing a mask walks past a Nvidia logo in Taipei, Taiwan. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Chipmaker Nvidia will invest $50 million in Recursion Pharmaceuticals to speed up the development of the biotech firm's artificial intelligence models for drug discovery, the companies said Wednesday.  Recursion's stock soared 80% following the announcement. Shares of Nvidia, which have helped fuel stock market gains this year amid hopes about its AI computing chips , rose more than 2%.  Recursion uses AI-powered models to identify and design new therapies, and offers those models to other drugmakers, including Roche and Bayer. Salt Lake City, Utah-based Recursion will use its biological and chemical datasets exceeding 23,000 terabytes to train its AI models on Nvidia's cloud platform. AI models usually require vast amounts of data, typically measured in terabytes, to train them. Nvidia can then potentially license those AI models on BioNeMo, the compan

[ad_1] In this photo illustration, boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter in Los Angeles, April 17, 2023. Mario Tama | Getty Images The European Union's drug regulator on Tuesday said it has broadened an investigation into the risk of suicidal thoughts and self-injury among patients taking Novo Nordisk 's Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda drugs to include other weight loss and diabetes medications.  The European Medicines Agency didn't specify which additional drugs are now included in the investigation. But it could potentially include Eli Lilly 's diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is approved in the EU . Other companies such as Pfizer and Amgen are developing similar products.  The EMA said it is now evaluating about 150 reports of possible cases of self-injury and suicidal thoughts in patients taking weight loss and diabetes drugs. It's still unclear if the medicines caused the events or whether they are linked to patients' underlying

[ad_1] A selection of injector pens for the Wegovy weight loss drug are shown in this photo illustration in Chicago, Illinois, March 31, 2023. Jim Vondruska | Reuters Only around one-third of patients prescribed weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk 's blockbuster injection Wegovy continued to take it a year later — but total health-care costs for the entire group soared, according to an analysis shared with CNBC on Tuesday. The annual health-care cost for patients before they started a weight loss medication was $12,371 on average, said the analysis from Prime Therapeutics , one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the U.S.  That cost of care jumped by nearly 60% to $19,657 on average after patients started treatment, the analysis said. And a group of patients in the analysis who didn't take a weight loss drug saw their health-care costs decrease by 4% on average during the same time period.  The analysis reviewed U.S. pharmacy and medical claims data for more

[ad_1] Nikos Pekiaridis | Nurphoto | Getty Images Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Novavax shares jump on news of a settlement payment from the Canadian government. It's unclear how many doses of Novavax's jab – its only commercially available product after 35 years – went unused. Under the amended agreement, Novavax will also provide Canada with fewer doses of its vaccine on a revised delivery schedule.  However, Canada can terminate the contract if Novavax fails to receive regulatory approval for vaccine production at the Canadian government's biomanufacturing facility by Dec. 31, 2024, according to the agreement. The announcement is another sign of hope for investors after the cash-strapped company raised doubts about its ability to stay in business earlier this year.  CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC's latest health coverage: In May, Novavax adopted a more positive outlook and announced a sweeping cost-cutting plan alongside its first-quarter earnings repor

[ad_1] Jay Reinstein, who suffers from Alzheimer's, receives an injection so he can have a PET scan at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC on June 20, 2023. Michael Robinson Chávez | The Washington Post | Getty Images Sales of the Alzheimer's drug Leqembi may be slow initially due to logistical requirements but could pick up in 2024, analysts said after the groundbreaking treatment won approval in the U.S.  Wall Street is chewing over the Food and Drug Administration 's Thursday approval of Leqembi – a milestone in the treatment of the disease , even though the drug isn't a cure.  Leqembi, from drugmakers Eisai and Biogen , is the first medicine proven to slow the progression of Alzheimer's in people at the early stages of the memory-robbing disease.  Medicare on Thursday announced it is now covering the antibody treatment for patients enrolled in the insurance program for seniors, broadening access for those who can't afford the d

[ad_1] The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday fully approved the Alzheimer's treatment Leqembi, a pivotal decision that will expand access to the expensive drug for older Americans. Medicare announced shortly after the FDA approval that it is now covering the antibody treatment for patients enrolled in the insurance program for seniors, though several conditions apply. Leqembi is the first Alzheimer's antibody treatment to receive full FDA approval. It is also the first such drug that to receive broad coverage through Medicare. Leqembi is not a cure. The treatment slowed cognitive decline from early Alzheimer's disease by 27% over 18 months during Eisai's clinical trial. The antibody, administered twice monthly through intravenous infusion, targets a protein called amyloid that is associated with Alzheimer's disease. Medicare coverage is a crucial step to help older Americans with early Alzheimer's disease pay for the treatment. With a median income

[ad_1] Federal authorities charged a former Pfizer employee and his close friend Thursday with illegally trading shares based on non-public trial results on the pharmaceutical company's Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid . The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission both announced respective insider trading charges against Amit Dagar , a former senior statistical programming lead at Pfizer, and his friend Atul Bhiwapurkar. Dagar, who helped manage and analyze Paxlovid clinical trial data, and Bhiwapurkar "participated in an insider trading scheme to reap illicit profits from options trading based on inside information" about the then-unreleased Paxlovid results in November 2021, according to the DOJ. The two individuals sold their Pfizer call options at "significant profits" totaling more than $350,000, the DOJ said in a release . "The charges in this case relate to the personal conduct of a former Pfizer employee in violation of