As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third month, businesses in the United States are marketing unlicensed and unproven stem-cell-based “therapies” and exosome products that claim to prevent or treat the disease. In Cell Stem Cell on May 5, bioethicist Leigh Turner describes how these companies are “seizing the pandemic as an opportunity to profit from hope and
Based on previous research that explored therapies against SARS-CoV, a new report has identified a fully human monoclonal antibody (mAb) that prevents the SARS-CoV-2 virus from infecting cultured cells. Authored by a team of researchers from Utrecht University, Erasmus Medical Center, and Harbour BioMed, the report was published in Nature Communications on May 4. Monoclonal antibodies that
Cytokine storms may impact the severity of COVID-19 cases by lowering T-cell populations, according to a study published in Frontiers in Immunology on May 1. The immune response against virus-infected cells often requires activation of cytotoxic T cells to clear infection. Therefore, a boost in number and function of T cells — a specialized type of white
Preliminary research from the US has suggested one particular mutation – G614 -has emerged in Europe and become dominant around the planet, leading the researchers to believe the virus has mutated to become more contagious. The paper hasn’t yet been reviewed by other scientists and formally published. The bold hypothesis, however, was immediately met with skepticism
Scientists and international bodies including Stem Cells Australia, the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy and EuroStemCell have raised the alarm about the marketing of unproven therapies during the pandemic, warning of damage to patients and to the credibility of the field. Source The Medical Republic Professor Daniel
FDA has issued guidance to provide recommendations to health care providers and investigators on the administration and study of investigational convalescent plasma collected from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 (COVID-19 convalescent plasma) during the public health emergency. The guidance provides recommendations on the following: pathways for use of investigational COVID-19 convalescent plasma patient eligibility collection of
Researchers believe the NETs may be relevant to numerous aspects of novel coronavirus as thrombosis and inflammation are hallmarks of the severe infection. Source: University of Michigan New research finds a connection between destructive white blood cells and a more severe disease course in patients with COVID-19. “We found that patients with COVID-19 infection have higher
EU CCP Database – Covid-19 convalescent plasma collection and transfusion in the EU The European Commission is working together with Member States, the European Blood Alliance (EBA), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and other health professionals to support a study of convalescent plasma as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. The study complements the guidance issued
A high cumulative incidence of thrombotic complications was reported in critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) of three Dutch hospitals. The incidence was re-evaluated of the composite outcome of symptomatic acute pulmonary embolism (PE), deep-vein thrombosis, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction and/or systemic arterial embolism in all COVID-19 patients admitted
Antibodies from blood donated by people who recovered from the illness and hyper-immunoglobulins are becoming treatments of choice for COVID-19, with recombinant polyclonal antibody approaches to follow. A group of US academic researchers has sparked a nationwide effort to encourage people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma, which will be used to treat patients across
