Archives: 2020-03-12

‘Smart’ wound-healing patch: DARPA awards $22 million grant

Team combining AI, bioelectronics, regenerative medicine to regrow muscle tissue Rice University neuroengineers and bioengineers are part of a national team that’s developing “smart” technology that combines artificial intelligence, bioelectronics and regenerative medicine to regrow muscle tissue for wounded soldiers. Rice neuroengineers and bioengineers are part of a national team that’s developing REPAIR, an electronic

Read More


362 cell and gene therapies in US pipeline, finds report

New research has found that there are 362 cell and gene therapies in clinical pipelines in the US, an increase from 2018. A new report from America’s Biopharmaceutical Companies has revealed that there are 362 cell and gene therapies in development in the US. Roughly a third of the therapies, 132, are potential treatments for rare diseases.  The research

Read More


Mesoblast To Evaluate Anti-Inflammatory Cell Therapy Remestemcel-L For Treatment Of COVID-19 Lung Disease

Mesoblast today announced that it plans to evaluate its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product candidate remestemcel-L in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States, Australia, China and Europe.  The Company is in active discussions with various government and regulatory authorities, medical institutions and pharmaceutical companies to

Read More


New Study on COVID-19 Estimates 5.1 Days for Incubation Period Supporting Current 14-Days Quarantine Period

An analysis of publicly available data on infections from the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that causes the respiratory illness COVID-19 yielded an estimate of 5.1 days for the median disease incubation period, according to a new study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This median time from exposure to onset of

Read More


People who contract the Covid-19 emit high amounts of virus very early in their infection, according to a new study from Germany

This helps to explain the rapid and efficient way in which the virus has spread around the world. At the same time, the study suggests that while people with mild infections can still test positive by throat swabs for days and even weeks after their illness, those who are only mildly sick are likely not still infectious

Read More


Evolving Epidemiology and Impact of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions on the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China

The epidemiological features of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak are described and evaluated the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the epidemic in Wuhan, China. Individual-level data on 25,961 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases reported through February 18, 2020 were extracted from the municipal Notifiable Disease Report System. Based on key events and interventions, the epidemic was

Read More


ISSCR Statement Regarding the Marketing of Unproven Stem Cell Treatments for COVID-19

ISSCR has become aware of recent claims that stem cells can be used to treat people infected with COVID-19. While stem cell research shows promise for numerous diseases and conditions, there currently are no approved stem cell-based approaches for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection. The ISSCR is a vocal and active opponent of the premature

Read More


Takeda Pharma is developing Covid-19 recovered patients plasma-based immunoglobulins drug

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co said on Wednesday it was developing a drug for high-risk patients infected with the new coronavirus, joining several other drugmakers seeking to develop a treatment for an illness that has killed over 3,000 people. The Japanese firm said it was working on a plasma-derived therapy which had previously been shown to be

Read More


First Covid-19 vaccine trial in the US is recruiting volunteers

Forty-five people will be enrolled in the preliminary safety trial of the new vaccine. Researchers in Seattle have begun recruiting healthy volunteers to participate in a clinical trial for an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, according to news reports. The vaccine, developed by the biotechnology company Moderna Therapeutics, was initially sent to the National Institute of Allergy

Read More