Latest news with #UKMedicinesandHealthcareproductsRegulatoryAgency
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Women on blockbuster weight loss drugs warned to use effective contraception
Pregnant women should not take weight loss drugs, the UK's medicines regulator warned amid concerns that people are using the so-called 'skinny jabs' in unsafe ways. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said women should not take weight loss drugs if they are breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant, because there isn't enough safety data to know whether the medicine could affect their baby. 'Anyone who gets pregnant while using them should speak to their healthcare professional and stop the medicine as soon as possible,' the agency said. Meanwhile, all women taking the jabs should ensure they are using a form of contraception that works, the MHRA said. Related Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy could help serious liver condition that has no cure-all treatment One of the drugs, Mounjaro, may make birth control pills less effective, so the agency says women taking the jab should also use a non-oral form of contraception, like an implant or intrauterine device (IUD). 'Obesity reduces fertility in women. So, women with obesity taking GLP-1 drugs are more likely to get pregnant than before they lost weight,' Dr Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinology researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. 'Women are advised to do all they can to prevent pregnancy while taking [these] drugs,' Jayasena added. Related France won't pay for weight loss drug Wegovy. What about other European countries? In the UK, women already receive these warnings when they get their prescriptions for the blockbuster jabs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Victoza as well as Mounjaro. The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking hormones that help regulate appetites and make people feel full for longer. They have been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. Related Why are 1 in 10 French women still smoking during pregnancy despite the health risks? But the MHRA issued the reminder Thursday due to concerns that the drugs' growing popularity means women are buying them illegally online or at beauty salons, without seeing a doctor. 'Skinny jabs are medicines licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments,' Dr Alison Cave, MHRA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. 'They are not a quick fix to lose weight and have not been assessed to be safe when used in this way,' she added.
Euronews
5 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Annual births in Japan fall for 16th straight year
The number of newborns in Japan is decreasing faster than projected, with the number of annual births falling to another record low last year, according to new government data. The Health Ministry said 686,061 babies were born in Japan in 2024, down 5.7 per cent from the previous year and the first time the number of newborns fell below 700,000 since records began in 1899. It's the 16th straight year of decline, and about one-quarter of the peak of 2.7 million births in 1949, during the postwar baby boom. The data in a country of rapidly ageing and shrinking population adds to concern about the sustainability of the economy and national security at a time it seeks to increase defense spending. Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described the situation as "a silent emergency". He has promised to promote a more flexible working environment and other measures that would help married couples to balance work and parenting, especially in rural areas where family values tend to be more conservative and harder on women. Japan is one of a number of east Asian countries grappling with falling birth rates and an ageing population. South Korea and China, for example, have fought for years to encourage families to have more children. And on Wednesday, Vietnam scrapped decades-old laws limiting families to two children in an effort to stem falling birth rates. The Health Ministry's latest data showed that Japan's fertility rate – the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime – also fell to a new low of 1.15 in 2024, from 1.2 a year earlier. The number of marriages was slightly up, to 485,063 couples, but the downturn since the 1970s remains unchanged. Experts say the government's measures have not addressed a growing number of young people reluctant to marry, largely focusing on already married couples. The younger generation is increasingly reluctant to marry or have children due to bleak job prospects, a high cost of living, and a gender-biased corporate culture that adds extra burdens for women and working mothers, experts say. A growing number of women also cite pressure to take their husband's surname as a reason for their reluctance to marry. Under Japanese law, couples must choose a single surname to marry. Japan's population of about 124 million people is projected to fall to 87 million by 2070, with 40 per cent of the population over 65. Pregnant women should not take weight loss drugs, the UK's medicines regulator warned amid concerns that people are using the so-called 'skinny jabs' in unsafe ways. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said women should not take weight loss drugs if they are breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant, because there isn't enough safety data to know whether the medicine could affect their baby. 'Anyone who gets pregnant while using them should speak to their healthcare professional and stop the medicine as soon as possible,' the agency said. Meanwhile, all women taking the jabs should ensure they are using a form of contraception that works, the MHRA said. One of the drugs, Mounjaro, may make birth control pills less effective, so the agency says women taking the jab should also use a non-oral form of contraception, like an implant or intrauterine device (IUD). 'Obesity reduces fertility in women. So, women with obesity taking GLP-1 drugs are more likely to get pregnant than before they lost weight,' Dr Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinology researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. 'Women are advised to do all they can to prevent pregnancy while taking [these] drugs,' Jayasena added. In the UK, women already receive these warnings when they get their prescriptions for the blockbuster jabs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Victoza as well as Mounjaro. The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking hormones that help regulate appetites and make people feel full for longer. They have been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. But the MHRA issued the reminder Thursday due to concerns that the drugs' growing popularity means women are buying them illegally online or at beauty salons, without seeing a doctor. 'Skinny jabs are medicines licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments,' Dr Alison Cave, MHRA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. 'They are not a quick fix to lose weight and have not been assessed to be safe when used in this way,' she added.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Women on blockbuster weight loss drugs warned to use effective contraception
Pregnant women should not take weight loss drugs, the UK's medicines regulator warned amid concerns that people are using the so-called 'skinny jabs' in unsafe ways. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said women should not take weight loss drugs if they are breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant, because there isn't enough safety data to know whether the medicine could affect their baby. 'Anyone who gets pregnant while using them should speak to their healthcare professional and stop the medicine as soon as possible,' the agency said. Meanwhile, all women taking the jabs should ensure they are using a form of contraception that works, the MHRA said. Related Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy could help serious liver condition that has no cure-all treatment One of the drugs, Mounjaro, may make birth control pills less effective, so the agency says women taking the jab should also use a non-oral form of contraception, like an implant or intrauterine device (IUD). 'Obesity reduces fertility in women. So, women with obesity taking GLP-1 drugs are more likely to get pregnant than before they lost weight,' Dr Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinology researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. 'Women are advised to do all they can to prevent pregnancy while taking [these] drugs,' Jayasena added. Related France won't pay for weight loss drug Wegovy. What about other European countries? In the UK, women already receive these warnings when they get their prescriptions for the blockbuster jabs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Victoza as well as Mounjaro. The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking hormones that help regulate appetites and make people feel full for longer. They have been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. Related Why are 1 in 10 French women still smoking during pregnancy despite the health risks? But the MHRA issued the reminder Thursday due to concerns that the drugs' growing popularity means women are buying them illegally online or at beauty salons, without seeing a doctor. 'Skinny jabs are medicines licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments,' Dr Alison Cave, MHRA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. 'They are not a quick fix to lose weight and have not been assessed to be safe when used in this way,' she added.
Euronews
5 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
Women warned against using ‘skinny jabs' whilst pregnant
Pregnant women should not take weight loss drugs, the UK's medicines regulator warned amid concerns that people are using the so-called 'skinny jabs' in unsafe ways. The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said women should not take weight loss drugs if they are breastfeeding or trying to get pregnant, because there isn't enough safety data to know whether the medicine could affect their baby. 'Anyone who gets pregnant while using them should speak to their healthcare professional and stop the medicine as soon as possible,' the agency said. Meanwhile, all women taking the jabs should ensure they are using a form of contraception that works, the MHRA said. One of the drugs, Mounjaro, may make birth control pills less effective, so the agency says women taking the jab should also use a non-oral form of contraception, like an implant or intrauterine device (IUD). 'Obesity reduces fertility in women. So, women with obesity taking GLP-1 drugs are more likely to get pregnant than before they lost weight,' Dr Channa Jayasena, a reproductive endocrinology researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement. 'Women are advised to do all they can to prevent pregnancy while taking [these] drugs,' Jayasena added. In the UK, women already receive these warnings when they get their prescriptions for the blockbuster jabs, which include Ozempic, Wegovy, Saxenda, and Victoza as well as Mounjaro. The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking hormones that help regulate appetites and make people feel full for longer. They have been approved to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. But the MHRA issued the reminder Thursday due to concerns that the drugs' growing popularity means women are buying them illegally online or at beauty salons, without seeing a doctor. 'Skinny jabs are medicines licensed to treat specific medical conditions and should not be used as aesthetic or cosmetic treatments,' Dr Alison Cave, MHRA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. 'They are not a quick fix to lose weight and have not been assessed to be safe when used in this way,' she added. Between 'unprecedented' cocaine availability, counterfeit painkillers that contain deadly synthetic opioids, and evasive trafficking networks, Europe's drug problems are more complex than ever. That's according to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), which says illegal drugs are taking their toll across the entire bloc due to addiction, increases in gang violence, and burdened health systems. 'Today we face a fast-changing situation everywhere in Europe,' Alexis Goosdeel, the agency's executive director, told Euronews. An estimated 7,500 people died from drug overdoses in 2023, up from about 7,100 the year before, the analysis found. Most overdose deaths involved opioids, but the risks are changing as more people turn to synthetic drugs and use multiple substances. EU officials called for more proactive efforts to prevent and treat addiction, rather than simply monitoring drug use, as well as increased police efforts to dismantle criminal networks that traffic drugs. Here's what the latest data shows on illegal drug trends across the EU, Norway, and Turkey – and what health authorities are most worried about going forward. Europe's opioid market is changing, with other substances emerging alongside long-term heroin risks. After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan in 2021 and banned opium production the following year, European officials warned that heroin could become harder to find, prompting people to turn to dangerous fentanyl derivatives or synthetic opioids. In 2023, authorities dismantled 14 heroin production sites in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands. One type of synthetic opioid, called nitazenes, is already causing problems in places like Denmark and the Netherlands, where health authorities have warned that people could be buying counterfeit painkillers that actually contain nitazenes. In 2023, the number of nitazene powders detected in Europe tripled. The drugs are so potent that even a small dose can be life-threatening. Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway have reported clusters of overdoses linked to nitazenes, the EUDA said, while the drugs appear to be responsible for a 'significant share' of overdose deaths in Estonia and Latvia. 'What we see already is people who are buying on the internet molecules, believing that they are medicines while in fact they contain other substances,' Goosdeel said. In the past year, about 4.6 million European adults have used cocaine, making it the bloc's most commonly used illegal stimulant. It's also becoming more popular. In 2023, EU member states seized 419 tonnes of cocaine – marking the seventh year in a row of record seizures. The biggest busts were in Belgium (123 tonnes), Spain (118 tonnes), and the Netherlands (59 tonnes), which are key entry points for cocaine trafficked into Europe from elsewhere in the world. Last year, Spain seized 13 tonnes of cocaine, which were hidden in bananas from Ecuador – its largest ever haul from a single bust. Cocaine is also developed in the EU, with authorities dismantling 34 production sites in 2023. The competitive market is driving an uptick in cocaine-related crime and gang violence, the report found. The EUDA expects there to be a surge of people seeking addiction treatment in the coming years, given that there tends to be a lag of about 13 years between someone's first time trying cocaine and their first time seeking treatment. 'We need to build the capacity to be prepared for treatment,' Goosdeel said, because at the moment, 'we are not ready'. An estimated 8.4 per cent of adults – 24 million people – used cannabis in the past year, making it Europe's most commonly used illegal drug, the report found. Cannabis seizures rose slightly in 2023 after falling the year before, the report found. The market is worth at least €12.1 billion, and is run by organised criminal groups that cultivate, traffic, and sell the drug across Europe. Cannabis may be common, but it isn't without its health risks. It can cause or worsen chronic respiratory issues and psychotic symptoms, with long-term, regular users at higher risk. Meanwhile, a class of drugs known as synthetic cannabinoids are a growing concern, the EUDA said. These highly potent drugs may be added to edibles or other cannabis products without people's knowledge, raising the risk of poisoning or other health problems. Last year, European countries detected 20 new cannabinoids, representing more than 40 per cent of the new substances identified by the EU's early warning system. The possible health consequences of cannabinoids are 'poorly understood,' the report said. Still, they may be tied to fatal poisonings or other problems because they have such a high concentration of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that makes people feel high. 'So yes, there is a danger,' Goosdeel said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK MHRA authorises BridgeBio's acoramidis for ATTR-CM
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has granted marketing authorisation for BridgeBio Pharma's acoramidis under the name Beyonttra, for treating wild-type or variant transthyretin amyloidosis in adult patients with cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). Acoramidis is an orally administered selective small molecule that stabilises transthyretin (TTR) by more than 90%. This authorisation was supported by the outcomes from the pivotal ATTRibute-CM Phase III trial, which demonstrated cardiovascular benefits. In the trial, the therapy's safety and efficacy were assessed in 632 symptomatic ATTR-CM subjects, and they were given either the therapy or a placebo for a 30-month period. The primary clinical endpoints were met at month 30, showing a decrease in cardiovascular-related hospitalisations, preservation of functional capacity, improved survival and quality of life for subjects. The therapy received the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval under the name Attruby in November 2024, and as Beyonttra by the European Commission (EC) in February 2025. It was also approved in Japan by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare in March 2025. In the UK, Bayer will manage all commercial activities for the therapy. In March 2024, the company and Bayer entered a partnership granting the latter exclusive rights to commercialise the therapy in Europe. According to the licencing agreement, BridgeBio will obtain tiered royalties starting in the low-thirties percent on UK sales after commercialisation efforts commence. ATTR-CM is a fatal condition that causes heart failure due to restrictive cardiomyopathy. BridgeBio Cardiorenal chief medical officer and president Jonathan Fox stated: 'We are proud to add another approval for acoramidis and thrilled that patients in the UK will now have access to Beyonttra since they are in great need of new disease-modifying treatments for their condition. 'We look forward to extending our collaboration with our European partner, Bayer, to serve ATTR-CM patients across the UK and the rest of Europe, and will continue to work towards reaching patients in as many regions as possible around the world." "UK MHRA authorises BridgeBio's acoramidis for ATTR-CM" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
