With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread to hundreds of thousands the world over, scientists are still seeking an effective treatment or vaccine. Now, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports that an older treatment modality, namely, the use of convalescent antibody-rich plasma, brings down the mortality rate in
Policies that facilitate hospital coordination are urgently needed to mitigate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic A new Penn Medicine study sheds light on yet another reason why the coronavirus pandemic is disproportionately killing the poor: Residents in low-income neighborhoods lack access to intensive care unit (ICU) beds. While the shortage of ICU beds in the
It usually takes more than a decade to develop a safe, effective anti-viral therapy. But, when it comes to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we don’t have that kind of time. One way to speed the process may be to put some old drugs to work against this new disease threat. This is generally referred to
Initial clinical trial to determine if monoclonal antibodies can shorten severity of COVID-19 in outpatients. Source NIH A Phase 2 clinical trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of potential new therapeutics for COVID-19, including an investigational therapeutic based on synthetic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to treat the disease. Researchers sponsored by the National Institute of
Singapore study shows that SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells are present in all recovered COVID-19 patients. These T cells were also found in all subjects who recovered from SARS 17 years ago, and in over 50% of both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 uninfected individuals tested, suggesting that a level of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 immunity is present in the general
Two new studies from Germany present a picture of the toll that Covid-19 takes on the heart, raising the specter of long-term damage after people recover, even if their illness was not severe enough to require hospitalization. Seventy-eight percent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 showed evidence of heart damage caused by the disease weeks after they have
High-quality research is essential in underpinning the clinical use of COVID-19 convalescent plasma and this article describes the UK randomised controlled trials underway. RATIONALE FOR USING CONVALESCENT PLASMA The global pandemic of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has not just medical, but also historical significance. In many parts of the world, the exponential epidemic curve of
Normally, regulatory T cells (also known as T regulatory cells or Tregs) migrate into inflamed tissues, dampening inflammatory responses and hastening tissue repair. Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have protracted hospitalizations characterized by excessive systemic inflammation(cytokine storm) and delayed lung repair, which is partly dueto reduced or defective
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) welcoming the opportunity to provide feedback on the roadmap to the EC pharmaceutical strategy has sent the following response. ARM is the leading international advocacy organisation dedicated to realizing the promise of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and represents the interests of 350+ members worldwide and 70+ members across
Interferons (IFNs) are widely used in treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. However, a recent report of ACE2, the host factor mediating SARS-Cov-2 infection, identifying it as interferon-stimulated raised considerable safety concern. To examine the association between the use and timing of IFN-α2b and clinical outcomes, we analyzed in a retrospective multicenter cohort study of
