Fentanyl as a weapon

With fentanyl overdoses killing people to the point that the drug is “already the number one killer of Americans under 50,” Rutgers University researchers wondered Can fentanyl be weaponized?

Why yes, they concluded. Yes it can. It would just have to be in really high concentrations, like a lot of powder being dumped into a building’s air handler. At least until someone comes up with an even more powerful analog.

(The good news is that currently (despite what some police are claiming) “There has never been an overdose through skin contact or accidentally inhaling fentanyl.”)

Alumni receptions at the convention

Three of Georgia’s four pharmacy schools are planning alumni receptions at the Georgia Pharmacy Convention. Be sure to sign up for yours!

• Mercer University: Thursday, June 15 from 6:00–7:30 pm in the Oceanview Room & Terrace. (Click here to register; questions go to Genice Johnson)
• South University: Thursday, June 15 from 6:00–9:00 pm in the Sunrise Café. (Registration info to come; questions go to Ajay Singh.)
• UGA: Thursday, June 15 from 6:00–7:00 pm in the Magnolia Garden. (Click here to register; questions go to Kim Hamby.)

PCOM shout-out!

Congrats to the 76 pharmacists who just graduated from PCOM Georgia, now set to embark on what’s sure to be an exciting, lucrative, confusing, important, stressful, and fun career. Welcome to the PharmD world, everyone!

A better atropine for kids’ myopia

Atropine has uses in fighting some poisonings and in some surgeries, but off-label (as eye drops) it can treat myopia in kids. That’s good, but the eye drops are only available from compounding pharmacies — that’s not bad, but it means it’s harder to get and includes preservatives, which aren’t the first choice of what you want to put into your kid’s eyes.

But researchers at an Ohio State University have tested a preservative-free version of low-dose atropine eye drops that “led to significant improvements in several markers of myopia in children” with no serious side effects. In fact, the lower dose they tested (0.01%) did better than the higher dose (0.02%).

Cool fact: Atropine slows the growth of the eyeball, which is why it needs to be used on kids. And it’s not a lifelong treatment — it’s just used during the formative years. A second study is looking at what happens when treatment is over, and it’s hoped the drug can eventually get on-label FDA approval as a myopia treatment.

Basic research: how brown fat works

You probably know that there’s good fat (brown, which burns calories) and bad fat (white, which stores calories).

Now researchers from the US, Britain, and even Belgium have teased out the molecular structure of a protein called UCP1, which is the found the big difference between the two fats; it’s what gives brown fat its calorie-burning abilities.

And, as we all know, once the scientists get into this level of detailed understanding the possibilities of (in this case) either turning white fat brown or making brown fat more effective increase yugely.

The Long Read: Brother vs Brother edition

More and more weapons are being brought to bear in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The latest: Engineering one strain of E. coli to kill another strain of E. coli.

In fact, different strains of the bacteria will already try to kill each other off so they can colonize the same space, kind of like the British when they discover a new continent. They use some interesting techniques, like intercepting chemical signals sent by the ‘other side.’ By harnessing this information-processing skill, biologists can create E. coli that releases toxins at just the right time.

Read more about the promise of synthetic biology from Leaps.org.

Short Takes

A new buprenorphine

The FDA has approved two formulations of Braeburn’s Brixadi transmucosal buprenorphine for treating opioid use disorder.

Brixadi is approved in both weekly and monthly subcutaneous injectable formulations at varying doses, including lower doses that may be appropriate for those who do not tolerate higher doses of extended-release buprenorphine that are currently available.

The next CDC head

Mandy Cohen is (almost certainly) President Biden’s pick to take over at the CDC. Who is she? What’s her experience. Newsweek has the deets.