Pfizer released data from several studies showing that nirmatrelvir, the active main protease inhibitor of the company’s antiviral combination therapy Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), is effective against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, a study conducted by 23andMe and published in Nature Genetics identified a genetic risk factor tied to the loss of smell from COVID-19.
Researchers at Emory investigated the use of an FDA-approved ADHD medication on patients with mild Alzheimer’s symptoms and found it appeared to reduce levels of tau.
The Lancet published CanSino Biologics Inc.’s Phase III clinical trial results on the safety and efficacy of the company’s recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine, Convidecia.
Researchers with the University of Cambridge for the first time leveraged human data to quantify the speed of various processes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s disease.
Covid-19 antibodies passed from infected mothers to their breastfeeding newborns provide more benefit to the baby than researchers expected to see, according to a report published on November 3 in JAMA Network Open. In other research, among people with impaired immune systems, some get less benefit than others from the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines while new data help clarify the differences and supports the need for extra shots.
The inexpensive antidepressant fluvoxamine might help keep patients with Covid-19 from developing severe disease, according to a study published in The Lancet Global Health. Researchers found in another study that the coronavirus can infect cells of the inner ear, which may help explain the balance problems, hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears) experienced by some Covid-19 patients.
A study by The National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology in Japan found that a supplement with seven specific amino acids called Amino LP7 appeared to slow brain degeneration and dementia development in mice.
A new study shows the persistent syndrome of Covid-19 after-effects known as long Covid can develop after “breakthrough” infections in vaccinated people. Other new findings suggest a gene that helps the coronavirus reproduce itself might contribute to life-threatening Covid-19 in young, otherwise healthy people.
Investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified a compound that can help sensory neurons in the central nervous system to heal.
Coronavirus vaccines are known to be less protective in people with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, such as former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died on Oct. 18 of complications from Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Additionally, in a paper in the journal Stem Cell Reports, researchers said numerous businesses have made unsubstantiated and inaccurate claims about supposed stem cell products to treat Covid-19.