Piroxicam has been in clinical use for over forty years. Doctors still prescribe it for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and acute musculoskeletal pain — not because it’s new, but because it works and the once-daily dosing is genuinely convenient. Its half-life runs around 50 hours, which is unusually long for an NSAID and translates into steadier plasma levels throughout the day. A 2026 paper in Scientific Reports gave piroxicam an unexpected role: control drug in a study testing whether β-glucan extracted from a Red Sea mangrove yeast could hold its own against a standard anti-inflammatory benchmark. The researchers weren’t trying to replace piroxicam. They were using it as a measuring stick — and…