Browsing: NEWS

The Washington Post has produced an exceptional work on vaccines and their progress.  It does a wonderful job describing the complexity of vaccine development using infographics. Some of the key points. Researchers in the United States set an audacious goal in January to develop a coronavirus vaccine within 12 to 18 months. This would be a world record. The mumps vaccine is considered to be the fastest to move, in four years, from scientific concept to approval in 1967. The quest for an HIV vaccine continues, 36 years and counting. Coronavirus vaccines are moving much faster, partly because governments are taking on the…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), announced a third round of contract awards for scale-up and manufacturing of new COVID-19 testing technologies. The six new Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative contracts total $98.35 million for point-of-care and other novel test approaches that provide new modes of sample collection, processing and return of results. Innovations in these new technologies include integration with smart devices, mobile-lab processing that can be deployed to COVID-19 hot spots, and test results available within minutes. These awards are part of the RADx Tech program, focused on rapidly advancing early testing…

An insightful article on COVID-19 testing was authored by Mara G. Aspinall co-founder of the biomedical diagnostics program at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. Published October 9th.  According to Aspinall, “PCR tests cost too much and take too long, too few will be tested and the results will arrive too late to act on them. Counterintuitively, less sensitive antigen tests are more effective at identifying those who could otherwise become super-spreaders.” Even if a less accurate antigen test misses the early hours of infectivity, it will definitely catch all cases by later that first day and on all subsequent…

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced last week that its experimental two-antibody cocktail reduced viral levels and improved symptoms in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The treatment, REGN-COV2, is also being studied for use in hospitalized patients, and for prevention of infection in people who have been exposed to COVID-19.  The FDA can authorize emergency use of a drug before completing its review for a formal approval. Analysts believe that the Regeneron cocktail could work in a hospital setting where the patient is already severely ill and has a high viral load. Trial results for the first 275 patients showed the biggest effect in…

If businesses are not open and kids not in school, we are losing the war against COVID. A war we could and should be winning.  Science and technology can defeat this invader that is destroying the global economy and taking and shattering millions of lives. But we need to unleash the power of innovation and information. Instead we are holding it back.  Winning is not complex and it is NOT just a vaccine.  To rely primarily on vaccines is simply foolish and could be a big mistake. Vaccines should be pursued full force, but there is no certainty any will be effective…

Extensive Study in the UK involving 1,700 patients showed consistent benefits from steroid treatment. A new analysis of several studies in the UK which steroid drugs were used to determine effectiveness for treating COVID-19 found that they significantly reduced patient deaths, bolstering early, preliminary evidence for the benefit of these medications. Key Findings: In numerous studies 1700 participants received corticosteroids an anti-inflammatory drug that can damp the effects of an overactive Immune System. The results showed a reduction in the death rate by almost one third, compared with patients who did not receive the treatment. Scientists and physicians convened by…

This COVID drama could soon end if we were to get smart on testing. Harvard professor Michael Mina is someone to watch. You will likely be seeing a lot of him in the coming weeks as he seems to have sorted out this COVID testing issue which we to date have complete missed, misunderstood, and bungled. Mina’s presentation is clear, compelling, obvious and simple. We don’t need a highly sensitive test to see who is infected. We need simple test to see who is infectious. His Harvard lab has done the analysis and the argument holds. The irony is that…

Information on the 7 companies selected thus from the NIH Shark tank competition which is offering $250 million in funding for companies that have prospects of developing rapid tests by the Autumn of 2020.   After scrutinizing several dozen submissions the National Institutes of Health has selected its first seven projects that will move on to a new phase of manufacturing and scale-up. Nearly nearly a quarter of a billion dollars is available to these firms to scale.   The NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative, or RADx, was launched in late April, 2020 with the goal of providing millions of new…