The U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 19 said reports of heart inflammation linked to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been much lower in 5- to 11-year-old boys than in adolescents and young men, representing only a slightly elevated rate than normal.
Paris-based Sanofi and Mountain View, California-based IGM Biosciences inked a collaboration deal for oncology, immunology and inflammation that could surpass $6 billion.
AstraZeneca’s Fasenra (benralizumab) hit a roadblock in attempting to expand the medicine’s indications when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Complete Response Letter for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP).
Extending the interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the country to eight weeks for young men can reduce the rare risk of heart inflammation, U.S. health officials said.
At least one model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that at this time, 73 percent of Americans are immune to Omicron, and it could rise to 80 percent by mid-March.
Novavax Inc. said on February 10 the company’s two-dose vaccine was 80% effective against COVID-19 in a late-stage trial testing the shot in teens aged 12 to 17 years.
As a general rule, whatever health condition a person may have, COVID-19 makes it worse. But COVID-19 also causes certain conditions or is being implicated in their earlier onset. Type 1 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease are prime examples. Now, researchers report that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may also cause fetal inflammation, even when the placenta itself is not inflamed.
U.S. health officials on Feb. 4 said they are considering lengthening the recommended interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines to eight weeks to lower the risk of heart inflammation and improve their effectiveness.
Aside from vaccines, the advent of several effective COVID-19 antiviral therapies, including Pfizer’s Paxlovid, provides hope for ending the pandemic. Details about the U.S. government’s contract with Pfizer for 10 million doses of Paxlovid are emerging, with some unusual elements.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi’s anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent (dupilumab) has shown to be effective against five types of type 2 inflammations, with more indications expected to surface soon.