Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Appendicitis Can Be Managed With Outpatient Antibiotics, Study Finds; FDA Takes Another Look At ALS Drug
A secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial suggests that outpatient antibiotic management for select patients with acute appendicitis is safe, researchers reported today in JAMA Network Open. The Comparison of Outcomes of Antibiotic Drugs and Appendectomy (CODA) trial, which involved 1,552 adults with image-confirmed appendicitis and was conducted from May 2016 through February 2020 at 25 US hospitals, found antibiotics to be non-inferior to appendectomy. (7/1)
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration is bringing together a panel of outside experts for a second time to review new data on the company’s experimental treatment for ALS. (Feuerstein, 7/5)
Anebulo Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that a single dose of its experimental pill blunted the effects of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, supporting further development of the medicine as a potential antidote for cannabis intoxication. (Feuerstein, 7/5)
Iveric Bio has struck a deal to switch up the delivery profile of its age-related macular degeneration prospect Zimura. With phase 3 data on the current formulation due soon, the retinal disease biotech has partnered with DelSiTech to develop a sustained-release successor. (Taylor, 7/5)
Cabozantinib has shown clinical activity in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumours. The COSMIC-312 trial assessed cabozantinib plus atezolizumab versus sorafenib as first-line systemic treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. (Kelley, MD, et al, 7/4)
