MOVE OVER, BOTOX

For reducing facial wrinkles, treating lazy eyes, dealing with excessive sweating and other conditions, people usually turn to Botox. But here comes an alternative: Daxxify. US-based biotechnology company Revance Therapeutics recently approved its new injectable medicine, Daxxify. A longer-lasting formula 100 per cent free of human or animal-based ingredients and stabilised with the new PET (Peptide Exchange Technology), it has a warranty that its effects can hold up from six to nine months. Daxxify can also treat the vertical lines that appear between eyebrows when frowning. Clinical trials have also proven that it is safe for humans with no significant side effects registered. Daxxify is expected to be in the market this year.

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TUMOUR THERAPY

In so many ways, specialists worldwide have sought long and hard for a cure or remedy to the prevailing tragedy of people living with cancer. But American pharmaceutical company Northwest Biotherapeutics are phases closer to conquering Glioblastoma, identified as the primary brain cancer's most lethal form. A patient's immune cells and antigens from a sample of the patient's tumour act as a source enabling the production of fully personalised immune therapy, DCVax-L: NW Bio's treatment to a broad range of cancer tumours with a higher efficacy rate and absence of the side effects of chemotherapy drugs. DCVax-L succeeded in the third phase of the clinical trial as a brain cancer vaccine which extends survival in patients that can go up to years in some cases.

FIGHTING CANCER

The Covid crisis has unfortunately dealt too much damage and caused widespread hysteria worldwide. In a short time, precautions such as face masks, shields, and barriers became an everyday part of habit. Other safety measures were implemented, such as social distancing, disinfecting, and limiting unnecessary interaction. A while after, Covid vaccinations became available and were encouraged, gradually restoring our routines and easing our minds, bathing us with a new wave of faith. People used to fight over what is deemed the most effective brand against the virus as they expressed their relief over its significance and purpose, which was finally made possible. But the miracle lies under the further use of it all.

Read more: Stand Up To Cancer: 7 Filipino Charities and Organisations To Know

Biotechnology company BioNTech describes that mRNA technology used for Covid vaccines can be repurposed to battle cancer cells. mRNA was initially utilised to approach the latter and was pivoted to fit the urgent demands of the crisis. In-depth studies and trials on the modification of mRNA are still in the works within the scientific community, though the University of Arizona Cancer Center's Dr Julie Bauman who is co-leading a clinical trial on a personalised vaccine for patients with head and neck cancer, was optimistic that the early results were positive. It came as a surprise that two patients had a positive complete response, a state where all signs of the tumour disappeared while five patients found that their tumours had shrunk.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm around mRNA right now," says Patrick Ott, director of the Center for Personal Vaccines at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in an article published by the National Cancer Institute. Additionally, mRNA has opened a new door to HIV research as the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases launched its first phase study of mRNA HIV vaccine which evaluates safety and immunogenicity on healthy patients to be completed in 2023.

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