Press Offices

A few weeks ago, a press release from the Biogen and Eisai companies reported significant results from their lecanemab antibody for the treatment of early-stage Alzheimer's. The data from the phase 3 trial are now published in the New England Journal of Medicine, coinciding with the CTAD conference on Alzheimer's disease clinical trials in San Francisco. Data from the phase 3 clinical trial are now published in the New England Journal of Medicine, coinciding with the 15th CTAD Alzheimer's disease clinical trials conference in San Francisco.

A study in Spanish children, with follow-up from pregnancy to adolescence, has found an association between children's exposure to pesticides and fungicides and earlier breast development in girls and genital development in boys. The work has been carried out by the University of Granada (UGR), the Institute for Biosanitary Research (ibs.GRANADA) and CIBERESP (ISCIII).

A study published in the journal Science reports preclinical results of a new vaccine model that is intended to work against all types of influenza. The prototype, which uses mRNA-based technology, includes antigens from all 20 known influenza subtypes.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has just announced who will form part of its new generation of astronauts and there are two Spaniards among those selected: Pablo Álvarez and Sara García (the latter, in reserve). They thus become the third and fourth Spanish astronauts in history, after NASA's Michael López-Alegría (with Spanish and US nationality) and Pedro Duque, the first Spanish astronaut to be selected by ESA in 1992. No Spanish candidate was selected in the European agency's 1998 and 2008 calls for applications. 

In a briefing organised by the Science Media Centre Spain, Amparo Larrauri and Francisco Pozo, researchers at the Health Institute Carlos III, explained how three respiratory viruses are coexisting this autumn: influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (responsible for most bronchiolitis) and SARS-CoV-2.

Bacterial infections were the second leading cause of death in 2019. This is according to research published in The Lancet, which estimates that one in eight deaths that year was associated with bacterial pathogens. Five of these - S. aureus, E. coli, S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa - accounted for more than half of all bacteria-related deaths.

After two long weeks of negotiations and outside the official deadline, COP27 has reached an agreement to create a loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable countries face the impacts of the climate crisis. However, other issues such as greater ambition in mitigation strategies to avoid exceeding 1.5ºC of warming and less dependence on fossil fuels have not achieved the commitment of all parties. 

The EMA's annual European Surveillance of Veterinary Antimicrobial Consumption (ESVAC) report shows that sales of antibiotics for animal use have decreased by 47% between 2011 and 2021. In addition, sales of antibiotics considered "critically important" for use in humans have also decreased.

Using genetic data from more than 340,000 participants of European descent, research has identified five genetic variants that make people more susceptible to myopia in combination with intensive schooling, especially university studies. The results are published in PLOS Genetics.