The Food and Drug Administration proposed banning an ingredient that is used in some fruit-flavored drinks and other beverage products after concluding that it’s not safe for humans. The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, is modified with the chemical bromine and authorized by the FDA for use in small amounts to keep the citrus flavoring from separating and floating to the top of some beverages. (MarketWatch)
Sarepta Therapeutics brought in $69 million in sales from its Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy in the first few months the treatment has been available commercially. Despite the fact that the first dose of the gene therapy, marketed as Elevidys, was delivered in August, it eclipsed two of Sarepta’s other Duchenne treatments in third-quarter sales — Amondys 45 and Vyondys 53. (Endpoints News)
Abbott receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its HPV screening solution. This development now offers a primary screening for HPV infections and cervical cancer detection.(Seeking Alpha)
Hormone replacement therapy may protect the female brain from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia — if hormones are taken in the 40s and 50s when menopausal symptoms begin, according to a recent meta-analysis. The degree of protection appears to differ by hormone type, the report found. (CNN)
The first new antibiotic in decades for treating gonorrhea produced good results in a large-scale clinical trial. The potential new gonorrhea treatment, called zoliflodacin, was developed initially by drug firm AstraZeneca and later by its U.S.-based spin-off Entasis Therapeutics. (The Economist)
