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  • Hopes rise on coronavirus drug remdesivir

    30 Apr, 2020
    Despite conflicting data, results from largest trial that show the antiviral speeds up recovery will make the treatment a standard of care in the United States.An experimental drug — and one of the world’s best hopes against COVID-19 — could shorten the time to recovery from coronavirus infection, according to the largest and most rigorous clinical trial of the compound.






    The experimental drug, called remdesivir, interferes with replication of some viruses, including...
  • COVID-19 vaccine protects monkeys from new coronavirus, Chinese biotech reports

    28 Apr, 2020

    For the first time, one of the many COVID-19 vaccines in development has protected an animal, rhesus macaques, from infection by the new coronavirus, scientists report. The vaccine, an old-fashioned formulation consisting of a chemically inactivated version of the virus, produced no obvious side effects in the monkeys, and its human trial is about to begin.

    Researchers from Sinovac Biotech, a privately held Beijing-based company, gave two different doses of their COVID-19 vaccine t...
  • Johnson & Johnson Announces Collaboration to Expand Manufacturing Capabilities For its COVID-19 Vaccine

    27 Apr, 2020
    Company Signs Agreement with Emergent BioSolutions in the U.S. As Part of its InvestmentFirst in Series of Anticipated Strategic Collaborations Designed to Further the Company’s Goal of Ensuring Global Supply of a Safe and Effective Vaccine for COVID-19
    Johnson & Johnson (the Company) (NYSE: JNJ) on 23rd April 2020 announced a collaboration between the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. to support the manufacturing of its lead inve...
  • Germany to begin first clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate

    24 Apr, 2020
    A Phase I/II clinical trial for BioNTech’s BNT162 vaccine programme to prevent COVID-19 infection has been granted approval in Germany.BioNTech SE, have announced today that the German regulatory authority, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, has approved the Phase I/II clinical trial for the company’s BNT162 vaccine programme to prevent COVID-19 infection. 


    BioNTech and Pfizer are jointly developing BNT162. The trial is the first clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate to start in G...
  • Germany Approves Trials of COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

    23 Apr, 2020

    Germany gave the green light for human trials of potential coronavirus vaccines developed by German biotech company BioNTech, which is racing teams in Germany, the U.S. and China to develop an agent that will stop the pandemic.

    The trial, only the fourth worldwide of a vaccine targeting the virus, will be initially conducted on 200 healthy people, with more subjects, including some at higher risk from the disease, to be included in a second stage, German vaccines regulator the Paul...
  • Gold-containing drug auranofin kills 95% of SARS-CoV-2 virus in 48 hours in lab conditions

    22 Apr, 2020

    A drug called auranofin, approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, effectively inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in laboratory conditions, as described in a new study by Georgia State University researchers.

    Auranofin is a chemical compound that contains gold particles. Therefore it is also known as a gold-salt compound. Such gold-containing drugs have known anti-inflammatory properties, and this specific triethyl phosphine can reduce cyt...
  • Hope as Italy records first fall in active virus cases

    21 Apr, 2020
    The number of people officially identified as infected with coronavirus in Italy has fallen for the first time since the country's outbreak began, authorities have said.




    As of Monday, there were 108,237 people either being treated in hospital or recovering at home, 20 fewer than the previous day.

    Authorities say the small but symbolic drop is a "positive development".

    Italy's lockdown continues until 3 May but some businesses have reopened.

    They include...
  • Novartis steps up to study of hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19

    20 Apr, 2020

    The drug giant Novartis said Monday it would conduct a 450-person study to determine if hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug touted by many pundits and President Trump, can effectively treat Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.




    The study will be a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, the medical gold standard in which patients will be assigned one of three options: hydroxychloroquine, the combination of hydroxychloroquine and the antibiot...
  • Curative received FDA emergency use authorization for its novel COVID-19 tests

    19 Apr, 2020

    The diagnostics startup Curative has received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its novel test to determine COVID-19 infection.




    The company says that its tests have already been used by the City of Los Angeles since late March and have tested over 53,000 city residents.




    Curative’s tests use an oral-fluid sample collected by having the subject cough to produce sputum, which release the virus from deep in the lungs...
  • Vaccine from viral spikes holds promise

    18 Apr, 2020

    A key portion of a coronavirus protein could form the basis of a safe and effective vaccine.

    Coronavirus particles bristle with spiny ‘spike proteins’. A portion of the spike called the receptor-binding domain recognizes and attaches to a molecule found on the surface of many human cells, allowing the viral particle to gain entry into those cells.

    Hyeryun Choe and Michael Farzan at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, and their colleagues immunized rats with f...
  • Roche joins race to make coronavirus antibody tests

    17 Apr, 2020
    Swiss drugmaker Roche aims by next month to offer blood tests to identify those who had been infected with the coronavirus, potentially helping inform locked-down nations of who might have some immunity and be able to resume work or contact with the public. 

    The Basel-based company said on Friday it wants to make the antibody test available by early May in countries that accept European CE regulatory standards, and is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization fo...
  • Covid-19 patients recovering quickly after getting experimental drug remdesivir

    17 Apr, 2020

    Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial.
    The patients taking part in a clinical trial of the drug have all had severe respiratory symptoms and fever, but were able to leave the hospital after less than a week of treatment, STAT quoted the doctor leading the trial as saying."The best news is that most of our ...