A preclinical study suggests a new approach to reduce COVID-19 death among the elderly. Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School demonstrated that senolytic drugs significantly reduced mortality upon infection from a beta-coronavirus closely related to SARS-CoV-2 in older mice. The researchers found that older mice exposed for the first time to a mouse beta-coronavirus experienced nearly 100% mortality, …
A phase 3 clinical trial was conducted in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities that demonstrated that bamlanivimab was effective in reducing the incidence of mild or worse COVID-19 in residents and participants at high risk of severe COVID-19. Bamlanivimab was also associated with lower rates of infection in residents and high-risk individuals. Participants in the prevention population who received …
“As of June 25, 2021, the CDC has identified that the combined frequencies of the SARS-CoV-2 P.1/Gamma variant (first identified in Brazil) and the B.1.351/Beta variant (first identified in South Africa) throughout the United States now exceed 11% and are trending upward. Results from in vitro assays that are used to assess the susceptibility of viral variants to particular monoclonal …
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy sotrovimab for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing and who are at high risk for …
We have all watched in horror, the pandemic outbreak in India and have felt the need to do something. Well someone has! Merck announced that the company has entered into non-exclusive, voluntary licensing agreements for molnupiravir with five established Indian generics manufacturers. Molnupiravir is an investigational oral antiviral agent currently being studied in a Phase 3 trial for the treatment …
Inhaled budesonide, a common corticosteroid used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, can shorten the time it takes for people not admitted to the hospital to recover from COVID-19 by three days, a trial in people over 50 at greater risk of COVID-19 and people aged over 65 has identified. Among patients who completed all 28 days of …
