NICE turns down bluebird bio’s gene therapy Zynteglo
Draft guidance does not recommend routine NHS funding for beta thalassaemia treatment
The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has rejected bluebird bio’s gene therapy Zynteglo for patients with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia (TDT) in draft guidance.
The draft guidance, published today, said that clinical trials evaluating Zynteglo (betibeglogene autotemcel; beti-cel) were ‘small’, with participants not having been followed up for ‘very long’.
NICE did add, however, that these trials suggest that eventually certain TDT patients treated with Zynteglo may no longer require blood transfusion or may require them less often.
Smith+Nephew s PICO™ Single Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System again shown to significantly reduce surgical site complications
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LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Smith+Nephew (LSE:SN,NYSE:SNN), the global medical technology business, is pleased to announce a new publication showing that its PICO Single Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System (sNPWT) significantly reduced the odds of surgical site infections (SSIs) by 63% , the odds of seroma by 77%
†, and the odds of dehiscence by 30%
‡. A significant benefit of these reduced odds was an almost 2-day reduction in length of stay
§, suggesting potential for substantial efficiency gains across the healthcare system
Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome likely to substantially impact NHS in England
Researchers in the UK have warned that cardiometabolic and pulmonary events among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors following their discharge from hospital is likely to have an ongoing and substantial impact on the National Health Service (NHS) in England.
The team found that rates of these post-hospitalization events among more than 31,000 COVID-19 survivors were at least as high as among patients who had been discharged from hospital with pneumonia.
For the study, the team – from the University of Oxford, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and The Phoenix Partnership in Leeds – used information from a data analysis platform called OpenSAFELY.
January 25, 2021
Two new reviews throw cold water on the health promises of dietary supplements, particularly vitamin D and calcium, as well others, with experts concluding their intake should be avoided or discouraged for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
In the first review, published January 25, 2021, in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Erin Michos, MD (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD), and colleagues state that supplemental vitamin D for cardiovascular health should be discouraged because there is no solid evidence, including from recent randomized controlled trials, that it provides any benefit for cardiovascular risk reduction.
“The pendulum has now swung, and the sun has set for vitamin D, at least for heart health,” said Michos. While vitamin D doesn’t appear to cause any harm, people would be better off getting their fill through a healthy diet and moderate sunlight exposure, she said.
Dubai’s GluCare receives accreditation from UK’s Qismet
DUBAI, January 24, 2021 Dubai’s GluCare Integrated Diabetes Centre has become the first healthcare provider in the UAE to receive the coveted Qismet accreditation for its diabetes programme. The accreditation further reinforces GluCare’s innovative world-first model of care which uses wearable and connected technology, Digital Therapeutics, artificial intelligence, and a comprehensive education programme backed by clinicians and coaches to allow Remote Continuous Data Monitoring of diabetes patients. It also means that GluCare’s diabetes program meets the standards set by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as an effective and recommended treatment for diabetes.