Latest news with #drugtrial
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Brainsluts review – clinical drug trial comedy could cause severe laughter
When plays get under way we wait for something to happen – look and listen for clues, monitor behaviour, tune in. One of the many clever touches in this distinctive comedy by Dan Bishop is that his characters do exactly the same when they are introduced. Yaz, Mitch, Duggan and Bathsheba are to each be paid £2,000 for volunteering in a clinical drug trial; they've swallowed their pills and are now scrutinising every possible side-effect. It builds a hyper-awareness that accentuates the awkward exchanges that Bishop writes so well. The setup leads you to expect a broadside on gen Z's financial precarity – it was a malaria drugs trial that funded superb standup John Tothill's first fringe run – but there are other interesting ideas at play. One of the group has got her place through a relative (nepotism is rife even in volunteering); one is an activist extolling freeganism and the 'anti-work movement'; one doesn't need the money but is simply lost and lonely. From the bead-worrying Bathsheba's dreamworld to Duggan's excitable bursts of 'broski!', the characters are neatly juxtaposed while each, in their own way, wants to change the world they live in. By the fifth and final Saturday of their weekly appointments, they part ways refreshingly unchanged and without any Breakfast Club-esque transformation. Bishop has a great ear for words: the doctor's mock bombast that falls flat in a workplace, the deadening legalese she adopts when her guard is up, the decisive delivery of a breakup. Blurted confessions, mangled phrases, forced small talk, bullshit banter and occasional standup-style lines hang in the air as Bishop stresses the stasis in these lives through the characters' passive income streams and anti-go-getter ideals. The play nails their malaise when, through a shared meditation exercise, they feel uncomfortable imagining the peace of a beach or forest and substitute them with a big Tesco. Threaded together by quirky musical beats, this TV-friendly script is tightly directed by Noah Geelan and deftly performed by Bishop (Mitch), Bethan Pugh (Yaz), Martha West (Bathsheba), Robert Preston (Duggan) and, in a standout performance, Emmeline Downie as the doctor. These volunteers are told side effects could include nausea and dancing; audiences may experience considerable changes in brain activity and severe laughter. At Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh, until 25 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jim Cramer Says He is 'Very Upset' With Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently discussed. When a caller inquired about the company during the lightning round, Cramer commented: 'Down here, I begin to think that we are too negative on it, but I am very upset with Lilly in the way they handled this, and I think they should come back on and talk to me because I'm running a drug trial. I would not have done what they did when I was running my drug trial. That's a private matter, but I can tell you about it. It's not the way they did it. I think they knew better. They shouldn't have done it the way they did.' Pixabay/Public Domain Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) develops and markets pharmaceuticals for diabetes, obesity, cancer, autoimmune disorders, neurological conditions, and other health needs. The company's portfolio includes treatments that include endocrinology, oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and pain management. While we acknowledge the potential of LLY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
4 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
Pfizer's sickle cell drug fails main goal in late-stage trial
Aug 15 (Reuters) - Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab said on Friday that its experimental sickle cell disease drug failed to meet the main goal in a late stage trial in patients 16 years of age and older.
Bloomberg
12-08-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Biogen Sees Potential in Combining Alzheimer's and Obesity Drugs
If Novo Nordisk A/S 's wildly popular weight-loss drug succeeds in a highly anticipated trial for Alzheimer's disease, Biogen Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher doesn't see it as a roadblock for his company's medication. Rather, he sees it as an opportunity to potentially combine drugs and create a more potent therapy. 'As we look out over the next five years, we're probably going to see a treatment much like any other complex disease,' he said in an interview with Bloomberg News, meaning there will be 'different mechanisms of action that you need.'
Reuters
12-08-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Pfizer's combination therapy improves survival in bladder cancer trial
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab said on Tuesday its cancer drug Padcev, in combination with Merck's (MRK.N), opens new tab Keytruda, significantly improved survival rates in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer when administered before and after surgery. The interim results from an ongoing late-stage trial of the combination therapy showed significant improvement in event-free survival – which measures how long a patient remains free from disease recurrence – and overall survival when compared to surgery alone, the company said. "These latest results underscore the practice-changing potential of this combination in earlier stages of bladder cancer, where it has the potential to improve outcomes for even more patients," said Johanna Bendell, Pfizer's oncology chief development officer. In muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the tumor extends beyond the inner lining and penetrates the muscular wall of the organ. It accounts for about 25% of all newly diagnosed bladder cancers and is a particularly aggressive form with a high risk of spreading, according to the National Institutes of Health. Pfizer said it plans to discuss the trial results with global health authorities for potential regulatory filings. The combination therapy leverages anti-PD-1 treatments that block the PD-1 protein to help the immune system combat cancer, where Padcev, an antibody-drug conjugate, targets specific cancer cells without damaging healthy ones. Padcev, co-developed with Japan's Astellas (4503.T), opens new tab, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2019 to treat patients with a form of bladder cancer called metastatic urothelial cancer. The drug brought $1.59 billion in sales last year, contributing about 2% of Pfizer's total revenue.
