UK clears a rare-disease drug that cut triglycerides by about 80%

UK regulator authorises plozasiran for a rare inherited disorder of blood fats

On 19 October 2026 the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised plozasiran (Redemplo, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals) to lower triglycerides in adults with familial chylomicronaemia syndrome (FCS), used together with a low-fat diet. FCS is a rare condition with very high levels of triglycerides, fats in the blood, and a risk of acute pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas. Plozasiran is a small interfering RNA, an injected molecule that switches off the liver's production of apolipoprotein C-III, a protein that slows the breakdown of these fats.

The authorisation adds a treatment option alongside a low-fat diet for adults with this condition.

The decision rests on the phase 3 PALISADE trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine: 75 patients with persistent chylomicronaemia, with or without a confirmed genetic diagnosis, were randomly assigned to plozasiran or placebo for 12 months. Their median starting triglyceride level was 2,044 mg/dL. At 10 months the median change was −80% and −78% in the two plozasiran groups against −17% on placebo. Acute pancreatitis was less frequent on plozasiran (odds ratio 0.17; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.94), but the number of attacks was small and the interval is wide. Raised blood sugar occurred in some patients who already had prediabetes or diabetes, and the MHRA lists it as the most common side effect. The trial lasted a year and was funded by the manufacturer. The MHRA authorisation is for adults with FCS.

In colorectal cancer survivors, metformin shifted an inflammation marker in the bowel lining, aspirin did not

The phase 2 ASAMET trial, published on 19 October 2026 in Cancer Research Communications, randomly assigned 51 patients who had undergone surgery for stage I–III colorectal cancer to placebo, aspirin, metformin or both for 12 months, in a double-blind multicentre trial sponsored by Galliera hospital in Genoa. The researchers took biopsies of normal bowel lining before and after treatment and measured NFκB, a signalling protein involved in inflammation and the trial's primary tissue marker. Compared with placebo, metformin lowered NFκB by 9.04 units (95% CI −17.55 to −0.54); aspirin alone had no measurable effect (−3.58; 95% CI −12.15 to 4.99), and the combination did not reach significance.

The trial tested the first step of using these familiar medicines for prevention after cancer surgery: whether they change the bowel lining at all.

The answer is a change in markers, not in cancers. The combination of the two drugs increased Ki67, a marker of cell division, in the right side of the colon (by 12.48 units; 95% CI 0.45 to 24.51). No serious adverse events occurred. With 51 people and several markers tested, the trial cannot say whether metformin reduces recurrence, new tumours or deaths: this 12-month phase 2 trial measured tissue markers only and did not establish an effect on cancer outcomes.

A phone-based AI tool sorted mouth photos in community screening, with a human check behind it

A prospective field study published on 20 October 2026 in JMIR mHealth and uHealth tested an AI triage system for oral cancer screening in eastern Taiwan. Between June and December 2025, trained staff without specialist training photographed the inside of the mouth of 602 people with handheld devices; the AI checked image quality on the spot and sorted each lesion into green, yellow or red. Of 68 lesions flagged red, 12 (17.6%) were confirmed as high risk by three oral and maxillofacial specialists, and the specialists found 4 high-risk lesions the system had missed. Sensitivity was 75% (12 of 16; 95% CI 50.5% to 89.8%) and specificity 98.6%.

The study tested whether staff without specialist training could use phone images and AI sorting within a referral workflow supervised by people.

The numbers set its limits. One high-risk lesion in four was missed, and more than four out of five red flags were false alarms, so the authors describe the system as referral support under human supervision, not a diagnosis. The reference standard was a consensus review of the same images by three specialists, the study ran in one region, and it did not measure whether people screened this way lived longer or were diagnosed earlier.

Hot nights were linked to faster biological ageing in a national Chinese cohort

A study published on 16 October 2026 in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health linked heatwaves to biological age in a national cohort of Chinese adults aged 45 and over from 125 cities, analysed cross-sectionally (8,223 people) and over four years (5,047 people, 2011 to 2015). Biological age was calculated from 11 clinical biomarkers with the Klemera–Doubal method. Each additional day of night-time heatwave exposure was associated with about 0.02 years of biological age acceleration in the cross-sectional analysis (β 0.0206; 95% CI 0.0139 to 0.0273) and 0.015 years in the longitudinal one, roughly a week and five days respectively. Daytime heatwaves showed weaker and less consistent associations.

In this study hot nights showed stronger associations than hot days, and subgroup analyses suggested stronger associations among women and city residents.

This is an observational association, not proof that heat ages people. The effect per day is small, biological age here is a calculated score rather than an outcome such as illness or death, and the study did not test whether cooling or other protection changes anything. It adds hot nights to the list of exposures that heat-health warnings for middle-aged and older adults may need to consider.

This material is for information only and does not replace a consultation with a doctor. Nothing in it is a recommendation to start, stop or change treatment.

Sources

• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. MHRA authorises plozasiran (Redemplo) for adults with familial chylomicronaemia syndrome. 19 October 2026. gov.uk

• Watts GF, et al. Plozasiran for Managing Persistent Chylomicronemia and Pancreatitis Risk. N Engl J Med. 2025. PMID 39225259

• Study of ARO-APOC3 (Plozasiran) in Adults With Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (PALISADE). ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT05089084

• Briata IM, et al. Biomarker Modulation by Aspirin and Metformin for Colorectal Cancer Prevention: Results from the ASAMET Randomized Phase II Trial. Cancer Res Commun. 2026. PMID 42895896

• ASAMET trial. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT03047837

• Liu HY, et al. Mobile AI-Assisted Oral Lesion Triage for Community Oral Cancer Screening: Prospective Field Evaluation Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2026. PMID 42902899

• Wang J, et al. Daytime, nighttime, and day-night compound heatwaves and accelerated biological ageing: national cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence in China. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2026. PMID 42887289