News & Updates

At the 27th Congress of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR) 2023, a Pfizer-sponsored symposium addressed the evolving challenges of COVID-19, particularly for patients with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Chaired by Dr Chan Kwok Wai Adrian, a renowned respiratory physician and intensivist from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, Singapore, and featuring insights from Professor Yang Kuang-Yao of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, the symposium focused on the disease’s impact, treatment guidelines, regional management strategies, and the role of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, a new oral combination pill, in the treatment of COVID-19.

In the primary analysis of the expanded-access ZUMA-18 trial, the autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy brexucabtagene autoleucel (brexu-cel) demonstrated a high level of efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma (R/R MCL).

Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) co-therapy appears to lower the risk of hospitalization for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients receiving direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) treatment, according to a study from Korea.

Adjuvant treatment with alectinib, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) better than platinum-based chemotherapy at 2 years in Asian patients with early-stage, completely resected ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) in an exploratory analysis of the phase III ALINA trial.

Daily treatment with the immunomodulatory agent pomalidomide for 6 months significantly reduced severe nosebleeds in patients with hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) in the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled PATH-HHT trial.

Older adults with Alzheimer's disease who are receiving treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) appears to have a small reduction in the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as reported in a study.