Covid-19

A research team from Boston University has caused controversy for work involving the creation of a hybrid SARS-CoV-2 virus.  Researchers from Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories conducted a study1 to create a chimeric virus which combined the spike protein of the Omicron variant with the initial Wuhan strain of Covid-19.    The idea behind […]

An update on the latest Covid-19 news by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer  With winter around the corner and cases once again on the rise, the last few weeks have seen some interesting developments related to Covid-19. We found out that Omicron infection protects against flu, studies in potential treatments for severe Covid have […]

The latest Omicron variants of Covid could be protective against serious influenza infection, a leading testing expert says. The milder variants have now made Covid-19 less dangerous than the flu, though there is still the risk of developing long Covid. Dr Quinton Fivelman PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at London Medical Laboratory, says: “Finally, there may […]

A proof of concept (POC) study has shown the clinical benefit of zapnometinib in patients with severe Covid-19 and supports further evaluation in severe viral diseases. Atriva Therapeutics and investigators will continue to evaluate the RESPIRE data and will provide an update on the full dataset in due course. The POC / Phase IIa RESPIRE study […]

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to improvements in clinical trial processes and a more technology-driven approach, a new report from Medidata has revealed. The report ‘European Industry Research Report: The Future of Clinical Trials’ includes insights from 400 clinical trial executives across the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland. The findings from the research indicate […]

A recent study by the University of Colorado School of Medicine shows that diabetes drug metformin is effective for preventing severe illness from Covid-19. The CU School of Medicine was part of a multi-site clinical trial into the effectiveness of metformin, ivermectin and fluvoxamine in non-hospitalised adults with Covid-19.  The study, which launched in January […]

The amount of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the blood of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 could be used to predict illness severity and other clinical outcomes.  A new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, shows that higher levels of viral antigen in the blood, which could indicate ongoing SARS-CoV-2 replication, correlated with more severe disease.  The […]

Biotechnology company Moderna has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pfizer and BioNTech in relation to the use of its messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 Comirnaty vaccine. The lawsuits, which were made in the United States and Germany, state that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes Moderna’s patents for its […]

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved an updated version of Moderna’s Covid-19 booster vaccine that targets two coronavirus variants.  Moderna’s ‘Spikevax’ booster dose targets the original coronavirus strain as well as the Omicron variant. Known as a bivalent vaccine, Spikevax was approved following data that show it triggers a strong immune […]

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is investing $30 million in the pharmaceutical company Laboratorios Siegfried to help provide lower-income populations across the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) regions with better access to high-quality and affordable healthcare products.  The investment falls under IFC’s Global Health Platform (GHP) and will support Siegfried’s expansion plans to boost […]