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What on Earth Is ‘Vaccine Beer’ and Could It Possibly Work?
Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. has continued to surge, leading to a spike in measles and other preventable disease. But a new experimental vaccine aims to fight fear of needles and the vaccines themselves – although it’s probably not what you think. One day, you could get immunized by downing an ice cold beer, according National Cancer Institute virologist Chris Buck. Working independently of the agency, he has brewed a cloudy ale that he says can fight animal-based viruses that are particularly dangerous in people with comprised immune systems.
And drinking the beer made with special “vaccine yeast” has worked on Buck, he says, triggering his immune system’s production of antibodies that defend the body from invading threats. He has published a non-peer-reviewed research article about his work, as well as an National Institutes of Health-supported study on related impacts in mice.
More Patients Demand ‘Unvaccinated’ Blood, Doctors Warn of Growing Health Risks
An increasing number of patients are requesting “unvaccinated” blood for transfusions, which can delay care and pose risks to patients’ health, experts warn. There is no evidence that unvaccinated blood presents any safety benefit, according to a new study published in the journal Transfusion. There is currently no process for checking whether donated blood comes from vaccinated or unvaccinated donors, experts say.
Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, which conducted the research, received 15 requests for unvaccinated blood between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2025. The median age of patients was 17 years old and more than half were children, the university reported.
Thirteen of the patients received blood donated specifically for them by family members, which is known as “direct donation.”
This can be risky, because most direct donors are giving blood for the first time, and their donations are more likely to contain “potentially harmful pathogens,” the authors noted.
FDA Seeks Additional Safety Data From Lilly on Newly Approved Weight-Loss Pill
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked Eli Lilly for more data on liver injury linked to its newly approved obesity pill, according to a letter posted on the health regulator’s website. The weight-loss pill, branded Foundayo, a once-daily oral medication that targets the GLP-1 hormone, won approval earlier this month under the Commissioner’s National Priority voucher program, which aims to speed FDA decisions on drugs deemed critical to public health or national security.
The letter, which was signed on April 1, also said Lilly must conduct post-marketing trials to assess risks related to cardiovascular events and delayed gastric emptying.
The drugmaker is required to also conduct a milk-only lactation study in lactating women who have received a dose of the pill to assess concentrations of the drug in breast milk using a validated assay.
The drugmaker and the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
Novo Nordisk Partners With OpenAI in Weight Loss Drug Race
Novo Nordisk, the maker of popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is partnering with OpenAI to deploy the technology across its operations as it looks to keep pace with rapid expansion in the obesity drug market.
The Danish company announced in a statement on Tuesday that it would use AI to analyze complex datasets, identify promising drug candidates and reduce the time between research and patient application.
“It has been structured with strict data protection, governance and human oversight to ensure ethical and compliant use,” the company stated.
President and CEO Mike Doustdar said the partnership would help discover new treatments for obesity and diabetes and “bringing them to market faster than ever before.”
5 Notable Pharma CEO Pay Hikes in 2025
Chief executives at S&P 500 companies saw median salaries increase by about 5% in 2024, and analysts expect those numbers to hold steady when 2025 calculations are complete. But some Big Pharma CEOs were major outliers last year, receiving double-digit percentage pay bumps and several entering the stratospheric “$30 million club.” Their raises were often driven by dealmaking and boosts the company’s bottom line amid turbulent times.
Last year, many pharma bosses ushered in major manufacturing deals, and record-high revenues and share prices, while navigating an uncertain tariff landscape, approaching patent cliffs and large restructuring efforts. Even so, many of the CEO raises were still eye-catching and widened existing executive-to-median-employee pay gaps. Here’s a look at five of the most interesting CEO pay increases in pharma last year and the circumstances around them.
Western Australia Offers Flumist Nasal Spray Vaccine Free to Children
Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported:
Western Australia’s government started to roll out on Tuesday a needle-free influenza vaccine for children, a step that could help prevent a repeat of last year’s worst season on record. The vaccine, called FluMist, is aimed at children who are scared of needles and is available free of charge for those aged two to 11 at pharmacies, GPs, Aboriginal Medical Services and community health clinics.
There are 130,000 doses available as part of the state’s $6.6 million flu vaccination program. Minister for Preventative Health Sabine Winton said she expects the needle-free alternative to be a “gamechanger” in helping reverse the decline in childhood vaccination rates nationwide.
“About 6 out of 10 parents experience distress when thinking about vaccinating their child against influenza and more than a quarter of young kids experience intense needle-phobia,” she said.
Campaign to Administer 89,000 Vaccine Doses in Indigenous Territories
Brazil’s Ministry of Health expects to administer more than 89,000 vaccine doses across 650 indigenous villages from April 25 to May 25, 2026. During this period, the 2026 Indigenous Peoples’ Vaccination Month (MVPI) will take place, with the goal of expanding access to immunization in indigenous territories, especially in hard-to-reach areas. Last year, over 70,000 doses were administered, reaching 57,000 indigenous people.
The 2026 campaign was announced Monday (Apr. 13) by the Secretary of Indigenous Health, Lucinha Tremembé, in Barão do Rio Branco village, located in Mâncio Lima, Acre state. Three ethnic groups – Puyanawa, Nukini, and Nawa – live in the municipality, totaling about 2,000 indigenous people. According to the secretary, launching the campaign in a territory with longstanding access challenges is a strategic and necessary decision.
“Our goal is to expand vaccination in areas with low coverage, ensuring that information is communicated clearly and respectfully and that the population understands the importance of immunization for individual and collective protection,” said Tremembé.
During Vaccination Month, all 19 vaccines included in the National Immunization Schedule, including the COVID-19 vaccine, will be offered.
NIH-Funded Breakthrough Shrinks CRISPR for Precision Delivery in the Body
National Institutes of Health reported:
A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research team has discovered an enhanced CRISPR gene-editing system that could enable targeted delivery inside the human body — a key step toward broader clinical use. Researchers identified a naturally occurring enzyme, Al3Cas12f, that is small enough to fit into adeno-associated virus vectors, a leading targeted delivery method for gene therapies.
They then engineered an enhanced version that dramatically improved gene-editing performance in human cells. The advance addresses a major limitation in CRISPR technology. Commonly used gene-editing proteins are too large for targeted delivery systems, restricting clinical applications to cells modified outside the body, such as blood and bone marrow.
“Smart delivery of gene editing systems is a powerful notion with broad clinical implications, and this basic science finding takes us a significant step toward that future,” said Erica Brown, Ph.D., acting director of NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).
