Understanding how drugs are developed matters crucially because the government and companies pour billions of dollars into the endeavor. Jon Clardy, Hsien Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Daniel A. Haber, Kurt J. Isselbacher/Peter D. Schwartz Professor of Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Thomas Bernhardt, associate professor of microbiology and immunobiology, are quoted.
As complaints grow about exorbitant drug prices, pharmaceutical companies are coming under pressure to disclose the development costs and profits of those medicines and the rationale for charging what they do. Jerry Avorn, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is quoted.
By bridging the gaps that divide cancer, immunology, and microbiology, researchers may yet find creative and affordable ways to address the growing problem of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Rakesh Jain, A. Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Amid an opioid addiction crisis, which killed more than 1,000 people last year in Massachusetts, there’s a big need for treatment. But some advocates for children say the state should also focus on prevention - and it needs to start early, as soon as middle school. John Kelly, Elizabeth R. Spallin Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, is quoted.
Scientists have found yet another reason not to overuse the drugs - they’re turning bacteria into better infectious agents. David Skurnik, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women¹s Hospital, is senior author of the paper.
Minimally invasive surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm appears to boost survival in the short term more than traditional surgery does, but that advantage diminishes over time, researchers report. Marc Schermerhorn, associate professor of surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is a coauthor of the study.
