PHARMA LITERATI

While internships are an important experience for pharmacy students, not every opportunity is equal. Some do a wonderful job of preparing students, and others leave something to be desired. Here are a five factors to consider when evaluating a potential internship. 1. Review deadlines and requirements Different pharmacy internships have different deadlines and requirements. Some internships have a certain year or major they’re looking for. Read the website closely to understand if you have fulfilled all the requirements, and heed warning, sometimes different sections of the website offer slightly different information. If you’re confused, give them a call! 2. Start your internship search early There are many perks of starting your internship search early. The earlier you start your internship search, the more time you have to ask coordinators questions and receive responses before submitting applications. For internships that allow hands-on clinical experience or shadowing, y...

A Colored SEM image of nanorobots coated in hybrid platelet/red blood cell membranes. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed tiny ultrasound-powered robots that can swim through blood, removing harmful bacteria along with the toxins they produce. These proof-of-concept nanorobots could one day offer a safe and efficient way to detoxify and decontaminate biological fluids. Researchers built the nanorobots by coating gold nanowires with a hybrid of platelet and  red blood cell  membranes. This hybrid cell  membrane  coating allows the nanorobots to perform the tasks of two different  cells  at once—platelets, which bind pathogens like MRSA bacteria (an antibiotic-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus), and red  blood  cells, which absorb and neutralize the toxins produced by these bacteria. The gold body of the nanorobots responds to ultrasound, which gives them the ability to swim around rapidly without c...

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security have published a new report, “The Characteristics of Pandemic Pathogens," on the traits of microorganisms with high pandemic potential. They say it establishes a framework for identifying naturally occurring microorganisms that pose a global catastrophic biological risk (GCBR) and makes broad recommendations for improving GCBR preparedness efforts. GCBRs are events in which biological agents could lead to a sudden, extraordinary, widespread disaster beyond the collective capability of national and international governments and the private sector to control. No exhaustive catalogue of GCBR culprits exists, leaving the health security community to rely on historical examples (e.g., 1918 Spanish flu pandemic) to guide their preparedness priorities, according to the authors of the report.  "Health security preparedness needs to be adaptable to new threats and not exclusively wedded to historical notions," ...

The current understanding of limb and lung development in humans does not capture the full picture of the process, according to research.  An international group of clinicians and researchers from Singapore, Turkey, France, Portugal and India, studied five families with either limb malformations, or tetra-amelia syndrome that is characterised by the absence of lungs and all four limbs. They found that mutations in the RSPO2 gene lead to incomplete limb development. Until now, the RSPO proteins were believed to only work with their receptors called LGRs. Together, RSPO and LGRs were thought to allow limb formation by blocking two key enzymes ZNRF3 and RNF43. Or so we thought. The team then studied mice lacking all three LGRs required for RSPO2's function, and found that contrary to what was expected they still developed limbs and lungs normally. This indicates that RSPO2 does not need LGRs—disproving the established understanding of how this is happening. ...

Being under ever-increasing pressure to compete in a challenging economic and technological environment, pharmaceutical and biotech companies must continually innovate in their R&D programmes to stay ahead of the game. External innovations come in different forms and originate in different places -- from university labs, to privately held venture capital-backed startups and contract research organizations (CROs). Let’s get to reviewing some of the most influential research trends which will be “hot” in 2018 and beyond, and summarize some of the key players driving innovations. Last year BioPharmaTrend summarized several important trends affecting biopharmaceutical industry, namely: an advancement of various aspects of gene editing technologies (mainly, CRISPR/Cas9); a fascinating growth in the area of immuno-oncology (CAR-T cells); an increasing focus on microbiome research; a deepening interest in precision medicine; some important advances in antibiotics discovery;...

Samples collected from bats in Kerala’s Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, where 12 people have died of Nipah infection, have tested negative for the virus, according to a report submitted by a central medical team to the Health Ministry today. The report has ruled out bats and pigs as the primary source of the Nipah outbreak, a Health Ministry official said. The medical team is now looking into other possible reasons behind the outbreak following the report findings. A total of 21 samples, including that from seven species of bats, two species of pigs, one bovine and one caprine, were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases in Bhopal and the National Institute of Virology in Pune. “These included the samples of the bats which were found in the well in a house in Kerala’s Perambra from where the initial death was reported. They have tested negative for the Nipah virus,” the official said. Samples from humans suspected of contracting Nipah...