Image: CDC A group of Lithuanian and Kurdish scientists have raised a hypothesis that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could protect children from COVID-19. The hypothesis is based on the discovered sequence similarity of the 30 amino acid residues between glycoproteins of SARS-CoV-2, measles and rubella… Read More
Computational modeling yields a protein fragment that could bind to coronavirus spike proteins and destroy them by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office The research described in this article has been published on a preprint server but has not yet been peer-reviewed by scientific or medical experts. Using computational models… Read More
With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting millions around the globe, researchers are racing to develop a vaccine or drug treatment. In an effort to better understand the cellular responses to COVID-19, the digital biology company Recursion has publicly released the world’s largest imaging dataset portraying therapeutic compound effects from over 1,600 approved… Read More
Scientists from AI precision medicine company, PrecisionLife, have found 68 genes associated with risk of developing severe COVID-19 by using its proprietary AI-enabled precision medicine platform to analyse the genomes of 929 patients from the UK Biobank who had a severe response to SARS-CoV-2. Prior to an effective… Read More
Avacta Group has announced that the first Affimer-based rapid test strips to detect SARS-COV-2 spike protein have been developed and evaluated by partners at Cytiva (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences) and show positive initial performance data. In mid-May Avacta provided Affimer reagents that are specific to the SARS-COV-2… Read More
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services has signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca for sterile manufacture of the COVID-19 recombinant adenovirus vaccine known as AZD1222 for AstraZeneca sponsored clinical trials. Under the agreement, Symbiosis will provide AstraZeneca fast-track access to sterile vaccine drug product manufacturing capacity for clinical trial… Read More
Taconic Biosciences has announced an exclusive agreement with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) to distribute humanised ACE2 mice for coronavirus research. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, uses the ACE2 receptor to enter cells, causing infection. Due to differences between the mouse and human… Read More
AI VIVO, a company combining systems pharmacology and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate drug discovery, has announced that its platform identified dexamethasoneas having high potential for the treatment of COVID-19 in April 2020. AI VIVO, a company combining systems pharmacology and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate… Read More
Avacta Group, in collaboration with the Centre for Virus Research at the University of Glasgow, has shown that Affimer reagents which bind to the SARS-COV-2 virus spike protein, prevent infection of human cells by a SARS-COV-2 model virus and therefore provide a potential therapy for COVID-19 infection. Avacta… Read More
Cobra Biologics will provide GMP manufacture of the adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222, previously known as ChAdOx1 n-CoV-19. Cobra Biologics, part of the Cognate BioServices family, an international CDMO for biologics and pharmaceuticals, has signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca UK to provide GMP manufacture of the adenovirus vector-based… Read More
Novasep, viral vector producer, has signed a partnership with AstraZeneca for the production of the Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine. Novasep will produce the active substance of the vaccine in its Belgian facilities The partnership follows the agreement between AstraZeneca and the Inclusive Alliance for Vaccines (IAV), to supply… Read More
The Finnish molecular diagnostics company announced it has received CE-IVD markings for its Novodiag Covid-19 and Amplidiag Covid-19 molecular diagnostic tests for the early detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These tests complement Mobidiag’s already available antibody test, Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Test, that the company is distributing from its joint… Read More
Gene and cell therapy group Oxford Biomedica has signed a one-year clinical and commercial supply agreement with AstraZeneca for the manufacture of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The agreement relates to the GMP manufacture of the adenovirus vector based Covid-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, which recently entered clinical trials at… Read More
Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD), owner of the CDD Vault, a comprehensive drug discovery informatics platform for research laboratories, has asked researchers what they think biotechnology world will look like after Covid-19. A few responses are listed below. “Covid-19 may be the tipping point that shifts us from the… Read More
The global biotech company announced the launch of its new cell-based vaccine platform targeting severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS-CoV-2, as well as other viral diseases such as Zika, West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, MERS, HCV and Cytomegalovirus infection (CMV). Orgenesis said it has been “working aggressively”… Read More
The French clinical stage biotechnology company says its ABX464 is the only drug candidate with a potential triple action for Covid-19 treatment; for antiviral, anti-inflammatory and tissue repair. Abivax, a clinical stage biotechnology company harnessing the immune system to develop novel treatments for inflammatory diseases, viral diseases and… Read More
