Listen to this article on the DDW Podcast: Dr Patrick Courtney (SiLA consortium), Burkhard Schaefer (SiLA consortium/ASTM AnIML) and Oliver Peter, Senior Director, Senior Group Leader Biology Technologies and Lead Discovery, Biology, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, look at the importance of automation in the face of global disease. As we write this, vaccines… Read More
While the global vaccine roll-out continues, the role of therapeutic antibodies to combat Covid-19 should not be overlooked. Now researchers have identified a novel class of antibodies that appears to have an ability to neutralise the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and be able to block some of the recent mutations… Read More
Scientists at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), have published new data on how the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein interacts with mammalian lung cell membranes, allowing the viral… Read More
Last year scientists from around the world undertook genetic analysis to uncover the genetic factors influencing why some Covid-19 patients develop severe, life-threatening disease requiring hospitalisation, while others escape with mild symptoms or none at all. A comprehensive summary of their findings to date, published in Nature, reveals 13 loci,… Read More
Listen to this article on the DDW Podcast: Lu Rahman looks at the growing role of real world evidence and its benefits in the fight against Covid-19. Real world evidence (RWE) is nothing new. While clinical trials have a significant part to play - and indeed remain the ultimate standard for… Read More
Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine induce lower levels of antibodies that are able to recognise and fight the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) than against other strains. These laboratory findings from the Francis Crick Institute and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre are published… Read More
CureVac has announced results of the second interim analysis of its international pivotal Phase IIb/III study in approximatively 40,000 subjects (the HERALD study) of CureVac’s first-generation Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV. At second interim analysis, statistical success criteria were not met. In the unprecedented context of at least 13 variants circulating… Read More
New data from Public Health England (PHE) demonstrated AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine offers high levels of protection against the Delta variant (B.1.617.2; formerly the ‘Indian’ variant). Real world data from PHE, published as a pre-print, demonstrated two doses of AstraZeneca are 92% effective against hospitalisation due to the Delta variant and… Read More
The New York Times has reported that the Chairman of the Chinese drug maker Sinovac said China had approved the company’s Covid-19 vaccine for children as young as three, which the media outlet explains would make the country the first in the world to endorse a vaccine for children of… Read More
Levels of antibodies in the blood of vaccinated people that can recognise and fight the new SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant first discovered in India (B.1.617.2) are on average lower than those against previously circulating variants in the UK, according to new laboratory data from the Francis Crick Institute and the National… Read More
University of Queensland scientists have successfully protected mice from the Covid-19 virus by administering a US-developed vaccine candidate with a ‘patch’, rather than a needle. The University of Texas Hexapro vaccine candidate, delivered via the UQ-developed and Vaxxas-commercialised high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP), provided protection against Covid-19 disease with a single,… Read More
Moderna has announced that its Phase II/III study of its Covid-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273) in adolescents has met its primary immunogenicity endpoint, successfully bridging immune responses to the adult vaccination. In the study, no cases of Covid-19 were observed in participants who had received two doses of the Moderna Covid-19… Read More
Johnson & Johnson has announced topline efficacy and safety data from the Phase III ENSEMBLE clinical trial, demonstrating that the investigational single-dose Covid-19 vaccine in development at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies met all primary and key secondary endpoints. The topline safety and efficacy data are based on 43,783 participants accruing 468… Read More
Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) and Western University have teamed up with local biotech company, Diagnostics Biochem Canada, to better understand Covid-19 and the body’s immune response to the infection. A recently published study followed 28 critically ill patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC); 14 who tested… Read More
The UK government has begun the Cov-Boost clinical trials for a booster coronavirus vaccine in a bid to test its effectiveness against the new variants of the virus. As part of the trial, seven vaccines ordered by the UK government will be tested on thousands of volunteers at random in… Read More
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Vir Biotechnology have announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) has issued a positive scientific opinion following the referral of sotrovimab to the CHMP under Article 5(3) of Regulation 726/2004. This relates to the use of sotrovimab for the treatment of… Read More
