All articles by Sally Turner
Sally Turner is a UK-based health journalist who has written on a diverse range of topics including the microbiome, gene therapy, the patient relationship, and pharmaceutical pollution. She is particularly interested in pharmaceutical advances related to sexual health, women's healthcare, autoimmune diseases, and chronic pain.
Sally Turner
The emergence of tranq amidst the fentanyl crisis
On National fentanyl awareness day, we take a look at xylazine, also known as tranq, which is increasingly being detected in drug overdose cases across the US.
Pathbreakers: The journey of first generics
In 2022, the US FDA approved 106 first generics, but access to these cost-saving drugs still remains a challenge.
Primate models in pharma: What the future holds
Federal agencies in the US, Europe, and elsewhere are regulating the use of primate models in the backdrop of recent controversies.
RFID: The future of smart labelling?
Are cloud-based registries that use radio frequency identification (RFID) to track drug supply truly providing a value-add compared with other alternatives?
‘Right shoring’ API production in Europe
Amidst rising inflation and ongoing drug shortages, is the EU at risk of getting ‘right-shoring’ wrong?
The Mighty: how patients and pharma align in the age of social media
The Mighty is a social media platform specifically for people and communities living with disease, chronic illness or mental health conditions. Pharma companies are beginning to engage with the platform as a way to communicate with patients and gain insights into how they talk about their conditions, to improve their marketing. Sally Turner reports.
Gene genie: can CRISPR-Cas9 deliver on its promise to transform genome therapy?
Experimental treatments based on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology are at a crossroads, with the first European trial now enrolling patients and new clinical applications and delivery methods steadily emerging. It’s not all good news though; two studies in 2018 found that a majority of patients had T-cell immunity against a type of Cas9. Sally Turner investigates at this important juncture.
Drugs from corn? Harvesting Mirexus’ phytoglycogen nano-particle
For decades, scientists have been trying to produce safe, cost effective nanomaterials. Now, Canadian company Mirexus may have found a way to do this, using technology to extract a non-toxic, nano-material from corn. Sally Turner spoke to CEO of Mirexus to find out more.
Christensella: the key to unlocking gut microbiome-based drug discovery?
LNC Therapeutics recently signed an agreement with Cornell University for its Christensenella patent, a recently discovered family of gut bacteria considered to have the potential to unlock a wide range of applications for conditions such as obesity and other metabolic diseases. Will this form the foundation for the first drugs using microbiome bacteria?
Pat-INFORMED: the solution to drug patent procurement issues?
Many countries do not have the equivalent to the US’s Orange book, meaning that health officials are wasting time establishing whether patents have been taken out on medicines. Leading biopharmaceutical companies have worked together to develop Pat-INFORMED, a new global platform that could allow government procurement agencies to access information on thousands of individual patents anywhere in the world.