Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company, in partnership with BioNTech has reported that its lead vaccine candidates has shown promising results in protecting monkeys against coronavirus infections. Pfizer ‘s experimental vaccine is different from other vaccine candidates. This is in an mRNA format, which should allow for a better migration of the viral gene into the cell […]
On August 24, PNAS – A very high risk of COVID 19 infection in primate species has been reported. Their analysis predicts that several critically endangered primate species are at very high risk of the virus, although the results need to be confirmed with further experiments or surveillance. An international team of scientists has assessed […]
Blood-based immunological changes that are linked to the disease and, in some cases, to symptom severity were published in Nature Medicine Source: (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1038-6). For a disease with such diversity of symptoms and outcomes, and in patients of different ages and sexes with different underlying conditions, finding a common immune pattern of the immune response to […]
Patients with mild COVID 19 infection, from a variety of age groups, were still experiencing major symptoms for months after COVID 19 disease is over. Read full article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768351 The Jama study was conducted in 143 COVID 19 patients. The mean age was 56.5 (SD, 14.6) years (range, 19-84 years), and 53 (37%) were women. […]
A transient neutralizing Ab (nAb) response is a feature shared by both COVID19 infection and the coronaviruses that cause common colds (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429v1) Antibody (Ab) responses to SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in most infected individuals 10-15 days following the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Seroconversion occurred in >95% of cases and neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses. All subjects, […]
Scientists launched studies in search of genes that could explain why some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 get really sick, while others have only mild symptoms. We know that chronic health conditions—such as hypertension and diabetes can play a role, but there are also evidences that people’s genes can influence how their bodies react to other […]
Preliminary data suggest that survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection may be susceptible to reinfection within weeks or months. One study in ~1,500 COVID patients show that 10 percent % of these patients had undetectable antibody levels within weeks of first symptoms or lost their antibodies two to three months after recovering from the infection. Early works […]
At least 28 communities living in extreme isolation in the Brazilian Amazon, and there may be as many as 80 more, have confirmed to be in existence. On April 9, a Yanomami adolescent had died of COVID-19 in the northern state of Roraima. The youth had moved back and forth through an area rife with […]
Given the global Covid19 emergency and the global nature of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, key operational areas will be impacted. As with any emergency response, the key to management is implementing mitigation plans. Early stage pharmaceutical and biotech companies need to be proactive in developing contingency plans to jump start clinical research after Covid19. […]
A pilot study in China in which seven COVID-19 patients received intravenous infusions of donor mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) indicates that the intervention was safe, and that the approach may improve infection outcomes was reported in Aging and Disease last month. We understand that it is only a small number of cases, and studies in […]