With increasing concerns about COVID-19 reinfection, Pfizer and the National Institutes of Health are discussing potential studies regarding a longer treatment period with the antiviral medication Paxlovid.
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Why Pfizer May Be Holding Paxlovid Close to the Chest
Antivirals, Bloomberg, Clinical Trials, COVID-19 Therapeutics, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), FDA, Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, Merck, Molnupiravir, Paxlovid, Pfizer, R&D, Symptoms: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), TherapeuticsReportedly, Pfizer is holding the company’s COVID-19 antiviral therapy Paxlovid under tight control. This is a disappointment to numerous investigators who want to test the antiviral combination therapy with other drugs in case the virus develops resistance to the combo.
Researchers may have unlocked mechanism driving inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis
Active Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), Atherosclerosis, Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema), Autoinflammatory Diseases, Axial Spondyloarthritis, Crohn's Disease, Immune-Inflammatory Diseases, Immune-Inflammatory Disorders, Inflammatory Diseases, Plaque Psoriasis, Psoriasis, Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis, R&D, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Scientists, TherapeuticsResearchers at Hokkaido University in Japan, in a collaboration with American scientists, may have identified neural crosstalk as the mechanism that drives widespread inflammation in inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis and atherosclerosis.
Study: mRNA vaccines perform better against COVID-19 variants of concern
AstraZeneca, BNT162b2 (Pfizer and BioNTech), Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic, COVID-19 Studies, COVID-19 Vaccines, Covid-19 Variants, Janssen, Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine (J&J), Johnson & Johnson, Messenger RNA (mRNA) Vaccines, Moderna, mRNA-1273/Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (Moderna), Pandemics, Peer-Reviewed Analysis, Pfizer, PLOS Medicine, R&D, SARS-CoV-2 virus, Therapeutics, Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca)In a peer-reviewed study published May 17 in PLOS Medicine, scientists found that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines were superior to adenovirus vector-based ones across major variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Strategies to Increase Diversity in Rare Genetic Disease Trials
Clinical Researchers, Clinical Trials, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Diversity, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion, Genetic Data, Genetics, Health Outcomes, Minorities, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Patients, Physicians, R&D, Rare Genetic Diseases, Studies, Technology, TelemedicineDiversity in all clinical research—including rare disease research—is currently under scrutiny, partly because of disparities experienced with COVID-19. Rightly so, as data show that 86 percent of genomics studies to date have involved people of European ancestry, which has limited the potential benefits of genomic research for many populations. Rebecca Sutphen, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of InformedDNA, and Board-Certified Genetic Counselor Karmen Trzupek analyze strategies to increase diversity in rare genetic disease trials.
New Retrospective Data on African Americans with Advanced Symptomatic Sarcoidosis Treated with Acthar Gel Presented at the American Thoracic Society Annual International Conference
African-Americans, Business, Clinical Data, Clinical Trials, Mallinckrodt, merican Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference, Sarcoidosis, Studies, TherapeuticsGlobal biopharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt plc announced results of a retrospective, observational medical chart review subgroup analysis assessing real-world treatment outcomes among African Americans with advanced symptomatic sarcoidosis who initiated therapy with Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection).
Agios Pharmaceuticals is cutting the company’s staff numbers by 50 as part of plans to lay low on exploratory research efforts to focus on the success of late-stage initiatives.
Two life sciences powerhouses are coming together to develop an off-the-shelf beta cell replacement therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes patients, which they hope will become a functional cure for both types of the disease.
AstraZeneca boosts COVID portfolio with RQ Bio deal
Acquisitions, AstraZeneca, Biotech, Business, Coronavirus Vaccines, COVID-19 Antibodies, COVID-19 shots, COVID-19 Therapeutic, COVID-19 therapeutic candidates, COVID-19 Therapeutics, COVID-19 Therapies, COVID-19 Vaccines, Evusheld (AstraZeneca), Evusheld (tixagevimab and cilgavimab; AstraZeneca), Licensing, R&D, Therapeutics, Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca)AstraZeneca moved to bolster the company’s COVID-19 portfolio of antibodies on May 17 with a $157 million licensing deal for experimental therapies developed by newly launched biotech RQ Bio.
A chain of events possibly triggered by unrecognized infection with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could be causing the mysterious cases of severe hepatitis reported in hundreds of young children around the world, researchers suggest.