Groundbreaking tooth regrowing drug in works

Brace yourself — a new “miracle” drug that could regrow your own teeth is in the works.

Researchers in Japan are currently working on a medication that would allow people to grow a new set of teeth, with a clinical trial slated for July 2024, the country’s national daily news site, the Mainichi, recently reported.

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream,” Dr. Katsu Takahashi, a lead researcher and head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, told the outlet.

“I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student,” he continued. “I was confident I’d be able to make it happen.”

The innovative new medicine helps treat people who don’t have a full set of adult teeth due to “congenital factors,” and researchers say it could be available for public use in 2030.

If successful, it will be the first drug in the world that will allow patients to regrow teeth.

A new drug out of Japan could be the first to generate tooth regrowth.

Kyoto University/Katsu Takahashi

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream,” said Dr. Katsu Takahashi, a lead researcher and head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Takahashi has been working on this research at Kyoto University since around 2005, and found that in mice, there was a particular gene that affected the growth of their teeth.

The antibody for this gene, USAG-1, can help stimulate tooth growth if it is suppressed — something that Takahashi further explored in a 2021 study published in Science Advances.

Scientists have since worked to develop a “neutralizing antibody medicine” that is able to block USAG-1. When tested in mice and ferrets, researchers found that the animals were able to grow new teeth.

The drug would help people who have a rare genetic disorder called anodontia, which is a total “absence of teeth,” according to the Cleveland Clinic, due to them never developing.

Those who have this condition can have an absence of baby teeth and/or adult teeth, and can present in the absence of six or more teeth, per the Cleveland Clinic.

It would be the first drug in the world to generate this tooth regrowth.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Researchers hope to have it available for use by 2030.

Louise Cooper / SWNS

Takahashi hopes the new medicine could be just another option for those who don’t have a full set of teeth.

“In any case, we’re hoping to see a time when tooth-regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants,” Takahashi told the outlet.

After the medicine goes through the necessary tests, researchers hope to make it available to treat kids from ages 2 to 6 who display signs of anodontia, according to the Mainichi.

“We hope to pave the way for the medicine’s clinical use,” he said.

However, these are not the only researchers who have made strides in human organ regrowth.

In 2018, scientists at the University of Washington School of Medicine developed an automated system that allowed robots to produce human mini-organs made from stem cells.

And in April 2022, scientists at Columbia University created a set of real human organs that interact on a chip.

The project leader was able to engineer “human heart, bone, liver and skin that are linked by vascular flow with circulating immune cells.”

https://nypost.com/2023/07/06/groundbreaking-tooth-regrowing-drug-is-in-the-works/

Taylor Swift reportedly signed $100M deal with FTX but SBF pulled the plug

 Taylor Swift agreed to a sponsorship deal with FTX before it was reportedly rejected at the last minute by then-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried — contradicting earlier claims by the “Shake It Off” singer that it was her business acumen that scuttled the deal with the alleged crypto fraudster.

Swift’s representatives and FTX were negotiating a tour sponsorship agreement in the spring of last year that could have netted the pop star as much as $100 million, according to The New York Times.

After six months of talks, Swift’s representatives signed a sponsorship agreement, The Times reported.

But it was Bankman-Fried — a “fan of Tay Tay” who initially pursued a deal with the singer — who ended up pulling the plug, according to The Times.

The reversal by Bankman-Fried frustrated Swift’s representatives, The Times reported.

The Post has sought comment from Swift’s representatives.

Bankman-Fried, who goes on trial this fall, declined comment.

Taylor Swift’s representatives signed a sponsorship agreement with failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, according to a report.

Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

The Times report appears to refute earlier claims that it was Swift who put the kibosh on the deal after doing her due diligence on FTX — which imploded last November after it was learned customer funds were used to cover risky bets made by sister hedge fund Alameda Research.

“FTX wanted Taylor to endorse them by doing commercials, interviews and promotional events on their behalf like other celebrities were doing at that time but she would not agree to endorse FTX,” a person familiar with the situation but wanted to be anonymous told The Post on Thursday.

“Negotiations were narrowed down to a tour sponsorship deal,” the source said. “That’s why the deal was never finalized.”

Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly aborted the agreement with Swift.

AP

The Financial Times had reported last December that several people in Bankman-Fried’s inner circle were urging him to abandon talks with Swift because of the steep price tag.

But Bankman-Fried supported the endorsement deal, which was spearheaded by one of his top senior executives, Claire Watanabe, the FT reported.

However, a source cited in the FT article said, “Taylor would not, and did not, agree to an endorsement deal.”

“The discussion was around a potential tour sponsorship that did not happen.”

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Last year it was reported that Swift resisted business overtures from FTX after conducting her due diligence on the firm.

Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

Swift, whose large-scale multi-stadium Eras Tour is expected to rake in a record $1 billion, appears to have dodged a bullet.

Other celebrities who entered into partnerships with FTX, including Tom Brady, his supermodel ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David, and retired NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, have been named in several lawsuits alleging they duped retail investors.

The Times report states that Brady lost some $30 million after he was given a stake in the company while Bündchen lost $18 million.

FTX imploded last year after it was learned Bankman-Fried allegedly used customer funds to cover losses by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Christopher Sadowski

Bankman-Fried has been charged by the federal government with fraud for allegedly cheating investors and looting FTX customer deposits, part of which was used to fund lavish lifestyles.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges as he awaits trial at his parent’s home in Palo Alto, Calif., where the terms of his $250 million personal recognizance bond severely limit his online communications and ability to move money.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/06/taylor-swift-signed-ftx-deal-sam-bankman-fried-pulled-plug/

What is ‘long vax?’ Symptoms linked to COVID-19 shot baffle docs

 You’ve heard of “long COVID,” the cases of people who can’t shake the lingering symptoms of COVID-19.

Now comes “long vax” — a rare, but baffling set of symptoms that follow a small number of people for months after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

“You see one or two patients and you wonder if it’s a coincidence,” Dr. Anne Louise Oaklander, a neurologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School, told Science.

“But by the time you’ve seen 10, 20 [patients],” she said, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Cases are very rare — even less common than the few reported cases of long COVID — and medical experts are still analyzing data to determine what might be behind them.

Symptoms of long vax can mimic those of long COVID: headaches, intense fatigue and abnormal heart rate and blood pressure.

Patients are also telling their doctors about tingling, electric shock–like sensations, burning pain and blood circulation issues that appear weeks, days or even hours after receiving the COVID-19 shot.

Other patients have symptoms resembling those of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, including weakness, swings in heart rate and blood pressure, fatigue and brain fog.

Symptoms of long vax can mimic those of long COVID: headaches, intense fatigue and abnormal heart rate and blood pressure.

NY Post graphic

Fear of anti-vaxxers

Many doctors are hesitant to openly discuss the possibility of a long vax syndrome, fearing it will be seized upon by anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who’ll try to discredit a vaccine that has saved countless millions of lives.

“We can’t rule out rare cases,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division. Doctors “may want to take seriously the concept [of] a vaccine side effect.”

But Marks and others worry about “the sensational headline” that could mislead the public, since the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine far outweigh the risks.

“It’s my obligation, if I truly am a scientist, to have an open mind and learn if there’s something that can be done,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale University.

“I’m persuaded that there’s something going on” with these side effects, Krumholz added.

Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists have seized upon discredited reports to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

AFP via Getty Images

LISTEN to patients

Krumholz and his colleague, Yale immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, have started a post-vaccination study called LISTEN, for Listen to Immune, Symptom and Treatment Experiences Now.

The purpose of their research is to “understand long COVID, post-vaccine adverse events and the corresponding immune responses by collecting information about symptoms and medical history from participants.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge that “[a]ny vaccine can cause side effects,” adding that these are mostly “minor (for example, a sore arm or low-grade fever) and go away within a few days.”

For example, the inactivated influenza shot can, in rare cases, cause Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), an immune disorder that causes muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis.

Most vaccines can cause minor, temporary side effects in a small number of people.

REUTERS

And the CDC reports that “tiredness, muscle pain, headache, shivering, fever, stomach pain and nausea are common after recombinant shingles vaccine.”

But for the overwhelming majority of people, vaccines are safe and effective, and any side effects are usually temporary and minor.

Could it be POTS?

Still, an intriguing number of long vax reports have come trickling in from doctors and researchers around the globe — particularly cases of POTS overlapping with COVID-19 infection or, less frequently, after vaccination.

POTS causes a number of symptoms when a person moves from lying down to standing up, such as a rapid heart rate, dizziness and fatigue, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The condition can occur during pregnancy, with a head injury or other trauma, after surgery or following an infection like viral mononucleosis.

Researchers are continuing to investigate cases of POTS, both after COVID-19 infection and after vaccination.

“As researchers study links between COVID-19 vaccines and uncommon side effects, they have found a slight increase in the number of people who have experienced postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) following vaccination,” the National Institutes of Health stated in a December 2022 report.

“However, this association is five times less common compared to people who developed POTS after having COVID,” the NIH added.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/06/what-is-long-vax-symptoms-linked-to-covid-19-shot-baffle-docs/

Quanterix Launches Biomarker Blood Test for Early Alzheimer's

 Test will play an important role in the evaluation of patients experiencing cognitive symptoms consistent with early signs of Alzheimer’s disease

Quanterix Corporation (NASDAQ: QTRX), a company fueling scientific discovery and breakthrough diagnostics through ultrasensitive biomarker detection, today announced it has launched LucentAD, a test to assist in the evaluation of patients experiencing cognitive symptoms consistent with the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The LucentAD test, which will be available to healthcare providers as an aid in conjunction with other diagnostic tools, provides clinicians with a simplified process to quickly assess the likelihood of a patient having amyloid pathology consistent with AD. This information will help healthcare providers determine appropriate follow up and treatment planning for a suspected Alzheimer’s patient.

The LucentAD test is run by Quanterix’s CLIA laboratory, which powers many of the clinical trials associated with AD. Lucent Diagnostics is Quanterix’s new healthcare provider-facing portal, launched to meet the needs of patients at the same time a therapy for the disease has become more widely available. The test measures an isoform of phosphorylated tau protein in plasma. This isoform is phosphorylated at the 181 residue of the protein (p-Tau 181), and its concentration in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, has been positively correlated to the presence of amyloid pathology in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. LucentAD utilizes the Simoa p-Tau 181 assay that has been extensively studied in large longitudinal and cross-sectional cohorts, and its high specificity for amyloid pathology for AD has been well established through comparison to amyloid positron emission tomography, a gold standard for AD diagnosis. p-Tau 181 is a low-abundance protein in blood, requiring high analytical sensitivity for its reliable measurement. While the clinical validity of Simoa plasma p-Tau 181 measurements have been well studied, the test has also recently been shown to correlate with reduction in amyloid load in the brains of amyloid patients on anti-amyloid drug therapy, as demonstrated in the lecanemab (Leqembi) Clarity AD drug trial.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/quanterix-launches-lucentad-biomarker-blood-213700757.html