What went right this week: the good news that matters - Positive News

• The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine released a statement on Tuesday arguing that abortion care is a core component of maternal-fetal practice. • The report notes that 41 states currently ban abortion at some point during pregnancy.

• NanoViricides will begin a Phase II clinical trial next week for NV-387, an oral gummy drug designed to treat the Bundibugyo Ebola virus. • The trial responds to an expanding outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the crude fatality rate has reached 48%.

• The World Health Organization expressed cautious optimism regarding the trajectory of the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. • This event is the second largest Ebola outbreak on record, though overall case counts remain high.

• Connect Biopharma reported that its asthma trial reduced failures by 66% based on recent patient data. • Lung function improved by 250 mL by Day 7 compared to 120 mL for the placebo group among 160 patients.

• An unvaccinated 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, died from measles complications in 2026. • Pennsylvania has recorded 693 confirmed cases across 38 counties and has refused the CDC Epi-Aid outbreak assistance that six other states requested.

• A new modelling study published in The Lancet suggests European patients may face longer waits for new medicines due to US efforts to lower drug prices. • Researchers analyzed 195 patented medicines that represent $87.9 billion of annual spending in the United States.

• The Food and Drug Administration is seeking public input on the potential for supervised therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. • Current federal laws classify hallucinogens like psilocybin and MDMA as Schedule I drugs, meaning they are legally defined as having no accepted medical use.

• NanoViricides will begin a clinical trial next week for the oral drug NV-387 to treat an expanding Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. • The current outbreak of the Bundibugyo Ebolavirus variant has a 48% crude fatality rate and no approved treatment or vaccine.

• Medical researchers are warning that misinformation and vaccine hesitancy could limit the effectiveness of upcoming personalized cancer vaccines. • These vaccines are designed to prevent cancer from returning by training the immune system to recognize specific proteins on a patient's tumor.

• The FDA approved Scholar Rock's drug Isembyld for adults and children aged 2 and older who are already using therapies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). • A late-stage clinical trial showed that patients using Isembyld alongside an SMN2-targeting drug improved their motor skills after one year, while the placebo group declined.

• The FDA is meeting this Wednesday to gather input from the public and industry stakeholders for the next Prescription Drug User Fee Act, which will set agency priorities for fiscal years 2028–2032. • Health policy firm Aviva Strategies noted in a Friday memo that the FDA's Rare Disease Innovation Hub is working to align the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.