Trending News Today: Novartis, Pfizer Team Up to Develop Liver Disease Treatments

Novartis and Pfizer announced they are collaborating to develop combination treatments for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) involving therapies they had been working on separately, Reuters reported. According to the article, the companies will test Novartis’ tropifexor in various combinations with 3 experimental Pfizer therapies. Pfizer’s drugs are aimed at steatosis, while Novartis’ molecule fights inflammation and fibrotic scarring, the article reported.

Officials with the FDA approved TherapeuticMD’s oral hormone therapy for menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and night sweats, Reuters reported. According to the article, Bijuva is an oral softgel capsule containing a combination of artificial hormones chemically identical to human female sex hormones estradiol and progesterone. TherapeuticsMD expects the treatment to be available in the United States in the second quarter of 2019, the article reported.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that nearly 60% of likely voters across the nation want the Affordable Care Act to remain in place, The Hill reported. According to the article, approximately 52% of respondents also indicated that they viewed the US health care system as “poor” or “terrible.” The survey included 925 likely voters who were surveyed from October 12 to October 17 and has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4 percentage points, the article reported