COVID-19

An international team of researchers led by the Universities of Liverpool and Keele, working with Public Health England, has found that the common anticoagulant drug heparin inhibits the SARS-Cov2 virus spike protein, by reducing the virus’ ability to attach to human cells and infect them. The research, published in the journals British Journal of Pharmacology, […]

An investigational COVID-19 vaccine developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals appears to be safe and effective at preventing moderate and severe COVID-19 in adults, according to an interim analysis of Phase III clinical data. The vaccine, called Ad.26.COV2.S or JNJ-78436725, requires only a single injection and can be stored in a refrigerator for months. The interim analysis […]

Evidence is emerging that vitamin D – and possibly vitamins K and A – might help combat COVID-19.  A new study from the University of Bristol published in the journal of the German Chemical Society Angewandte Chemie has shown how they – and other antiviral drugs – might work. The research indicates that these dietary supplements […]

Novavax, the biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, has announced that NVX-CoV2373, its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, met the primary endpoint, with a vaccine efficacy of 89.3%, in its Phase III clinical trial conducted in the UK. The study assessed efficacy during a period with high transmission and with a new UK […]

Mammoth Biosciences has announced an agreement with Agilent Technologies to support the anticipated launch of a complete CRISPR-based SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic solution comprising Agilent’s Bravo automation workstation and Mammoth Biosciences’ DETECTR BOOSTTM assay. Together, the DETECTR BOOSTTM SARS-CoV-2 kit and Agilent automated liquid handling system would provide a complete workflow for high-throughput COVID-19 testing – a […]

A UK biotech company developing a novel treatment for Covid-19 has welcomed NHS plans to make Covid-19 treatments available to patients as soon as possible. The CEO of NHS England, Sir Simon Stevens, recently highlighted the importance of therapeutic treatments to help the UK return to a more normal way of life, predicting that many […]

By David Berd, Chief Medical Officer, BioVaxys. It has been a little more than a year since COVID-19 was released on the world causing widespread respiratory illness, death and major disruptions in the world’s economies and in people’s daily lives.  From the beginning of the pandemic, it was recognised that a vaccine that prevented the acquisition […]

The rapid spread of the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus variant B.1.1.7 in Great Britain and other countries shows changes in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can lead to new biological properties. Most of the approximately 12,000 mutations in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have been identified since February 2020 so far did […]

Against the backdrop of COVID-19 disruption, there has been good progress made with European IDMP data standards. Remco Munnik of Iperion Life Sciences Consultancy looks back at the main IDMP developments in 2020 – and looks ahead to a future better supported by data standardisation. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential for global data […]

As mRNA has gone from the unknown to arguably one of the most discussed areas of science in our lifetimes, Lu Rahman looks at the story behind its role in the fight against COVID-19 and why we should thank those working to create vaccines. In less than the spaceof a year, vaccines have become the […]