Tavapadon, a treatment for Parkinson’s disease recently approved by the FDA, provides a novel option for healthcare providers by selectively targeting dopamine receptors in the motor pathways of the brain, according to officials with AbbVie.
Tavapadon (Juvmo, AbbVie) is the first approved treatment for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to selectively target D1/D5 receptors, as opposed to other treatments that target D2/D3 receptors, Healio previously reported.
Although many existing treatments for PD are D2/D3 agonists and provide benefits to motor function, they are not used as frequently because of

The FDA approved a new indication for mavacamten, extending its approval to include certain pediatric patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Bristol Myers Squibb announced.
Mavacamten (Camzyos) is now indicated for adult and pediatric patients with obstructive HCM weighing 30 kg (66 lb) or more, according to a company press release. It was first approved in 2022 for adults with obstructive HCM.
Approval for the new indication was based on results of the SCOUT-HCM trial, in which, as Healio previously reported, mavacamten was superior to placebo in reducing the Valsalva left

In part one of the SPECTRA clinical trial, 4D-150, an intravitreal gene therapy, demonstrated positive safety outcomes as well as vision gains and central subfield thickness reduction in patients with diabetic macular edema.
“For DME patients, the current treatment paradigm requires time-consuming retinal clinic visits and anti-VEGF injections every 4 to 8 weeks,” Arshad Khanani, MD, MA, FASRS, chair of 4D Molecular Therapeutics’ retina advisory board, told Healio. “This is on top of other regular physician visits needed to control their diabetes. Because of this rigorous schedule, many

CHICAGO — From the persistent underrepresentation of women in clinical research to delays in diagnosis and treatment, gaps in women’s health remain widespread, according to a presenter here.
Kathryn Godburn Schubert, MPP, CAE, president and CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, spoke about the research gap in women’s healthcare at the annual Women in Medicine Summit.
As Healio has previously reported, there has been a systemic exclusion of women in clinical trials, which has led to health consequences. In fact, the FDA recently released guidance on the appropriate inclusion of women

Health officials across multiple states have issued warnings about a rise in cychlorphine, a novel synthetic opioid, in the illicit drug supply.
Cychlorphine is “up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl” and is undetectable in drug test strips and opioid urine screens, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The situation creates “a dangerous diagnostic blind spot in emergency care,” Anita Gupta, DO, PharmD, MPP, GMP, FASA, adjunct assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Healio.
“It presents a

Many U.S. states have passed laws prohibiting disability-based discrimination, but patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to face disparities in access to kidney transplants, according to study data.
The first law protecting organ transplant recipients from disability-based discrimination was passed in 1996 under a revision to California’s Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act, according to study background. Thirty-nine states have followed with their own antidiscrimination legislation between 2013 and 2023, with two primary provisions established. The first provision

A once-weekly GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist reduced body weight by up to 9.8% at 76 weeks for adults with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity, according to findings from the SYNCHRONIZE-2 trial.
As Healio previously reported, survodutide (Boehringer Ingelheim/Zealand Pharma), a once-weekly injectable medication, induced weight loss of up to 13% among adults with overweight or obesity without diabetes in the SYNCHRONIZE-1 trial. In new data from the SYNCHRONIZE-2 phase 3 trial presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting and simultaneously published in The

A high level of physical activity was associated with less severe psoriasis, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
These findings were consistent regardless of weight or lifestyle habits, the researchers reported.
“When applying the fully adjusted multivariable logistic regression model, we suspected that strong confounders such as BMI or lifestyle habits such as smoking would attenuate the association,” Clara Sophie Bramsen Andersen, MD, a physician at Zealand University Hospital, told Healio. “The fact that we still found patients with a high

A noninvasive neurosurgical procedure that delivers radiation to a specific brain pathway significantly reduced symptoms of major depression among people with severe, treatment-resistant psychiatric illness, study results showed.
Stereotactic radiosurgical (SRS) capsulotomy also led to a significant reduction in suicidal ideation, findings from a prospective observational study presented at American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting showed.
“Patients had remarkable, life-changing improvements — and, given the resolution of suicidal ideation, this was a life-saving

On August 10, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that recommends immunizing children against 11 diseases, instead of the 18 diseases under current CDC guidelines.
During the signing, Trump and White House officials connected the current vaccination schedule with increases in autism rates. However, experts say there is no credible evidence for such an association.
“This updated recommendation finally aligns the United States with other advanced and developed nations around the world,” Trump said during the signing.
The 11 recommended immunizations for all children include