Coronavirus disease

Genentech Provides Update on the Phase III REMDACTA Trial of Actemra Plus Veklury in Patients With Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Health, Infectious diseases, Clinical trials, Research, Science, Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, Health sciences, Drugs, Orphan drugs, Health, Tocilizumab, Remdesivir, Coronavirus disease, TIMI, COVID-19 drug repurposing research, the REMDACTA Trial, the COVACTA Trial, the EMPACTA Trial, Actemra, Genentech

This was measured by improved time to hospital discharge up to day 28 in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia receiving standard of care.

Key Points: 
  • This was measured by improved time to hospital discharge up to day 28 in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia receiving standard of care.
  • The full results of the trial will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal later this year.
  • Veklury is contraindicated in patients who are allergic to Veklury or any of its components.
  • REMDACTA is a two-armed global Phase III, randomized, double-blind, multicenter study (REMDACTA, NCT04409262) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Actemra plus Veklury, versus placebo plus Veklury in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia receiving standard of care.

Assurance Scientific Laboratories Offers Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Test At-Home Collection Kits Available Without Prescription on Amazon

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Articles, Life sciences, Branches of biology, COVID-19 testing, Biotechnology, Emergency Use Authorization, Coronavirus disease, Food and Drug Administration, Polymerase chain reaction, Amazon

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Simplicity by Assurance Scientific LaboratoriesOver-the-Counter COVID-19 test at-home collection kits are available for purchase without a prescription on Amazon.

Key Points: 
  • BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Simplicity by Assurance Scientific LaboratoriesOver-the-Counter COVID-19 test at-home collection kits are available for purchase without a prescription on Amazon.
  • The collection kits are available to businesses and consumers on Amazon, as well as SimplicityHomeTest.com.
  • The Simplicity by Assurance COVID-19 PCR test has been authorized by the FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
  • After registering the kit, the sample is sent to Assurance Scientific Laboratories for testing.

Eurofins Launches empowerDX COVID-19 Home Collection Kit on Amazon

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
FDA, Medical devices, Infectious diseases, Health, Pharmaceutical, Articles, COVID-19 testing, Branches of biology, Life sciences, Coronavirus disease, Eurofins Scientific, Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Draft:FELUDA, Draft:IGeneX

empowerDX , a Eurofins (Paris:ERF) subsidiary, announced the launch of its direct-to-consumer, FDA-emergency use authorised, COVID-19 Home Collection Kit on Amazon.

Key Points: 
  • empowerDX , a Eurofins (Paris:ERF) subsidiary, announced the launch of its direct-to-consumer, FDA-emergency use authorised, COVID-19 Home Collection Kit on Amazon.
  • The empowerDX at-home COVID-19 test can detect the virus in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.
  • Eurofins Viracor , an infectious disease testing laboratory for more than 35 years, developed the empowerDX test based on its own FDA EUA authorised SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assay.
  • The empowerDX kit is available as a single purchase and as a pack of 10.

AbCellera-Discovered Bamlanivimab Together with Etesevimab Reduced Hospitalizations and Prevented Death in Phase 3 Trial for Early COVID-19

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Biotechnology, Infectious diseases, Health, Pharmaceutical, Clinical trials, Drugs, Health sciences, Health, COVID-19 drug development, Monoclonal antibodies, Antiviral drugs, Bamlanivimab, Coronavirus disease, Clinical trial, Draft:Bamlanivimab

No COVID-19-related deaths have been observed across the thousands of patients who have been treated with bamlanivimab alone or together with etesevimab in clinical trials.

Key Points: 
  • No COVID-19-related deaths have been observed across the thousands of patients who have been treated with bamlanivimab alone or together with etesevimab in clinical trials.
  • These antibody therapies can be powerful tools in keeping COVID-19 patients out of the hospital and preventing death.
  • A safety profile consistent with those observed from other Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 trials evaluating these antibodies.
  • Bamlanivimab alone and together with etesevimab are authorized under special/emergency pathways, in the context of the pandemic, in the U.S. and the European Union.

New Study Finds 85% of Workers Want to Return to the Office

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Software, Networks, Professional services, Internet, Data management, Technology, Infectious diseases, Small business, Commercial Building & Real Estate, Construction & Property, Building Systems, Human resources, Health, Demographics, Articles, Demography, American television series, Millennials, Baby boomers, The Office, Vaccine, Coronavirus disease

As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines has elevated discussions about employees returning to the office, the survey reveals more than half (52%) of office workers report socializing with colleagues as their top reason for wanting to return to the office.

Key Points: 
  • As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines has elevated discussions about employees returning to the office, the survey reveals more than half (52%) of office workers report socializing with colleagues as their top reason for wanting to return to the office.
  • While 89% of millennials wish to return to the office, only 80% of baby boomers felt the same.
  • Also, while 90% of non-white office workers expressed that they were looking forward to returning to the office, the results for white office workers were slightly lower at 84%.
  • The timeline for a full return to the office is fluid, but it seems that we have turned a corner.

New nference Study Reveals Mortality and Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Anticoagulant Treatments

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Academic journals, Health, Zoonoses, Virology, Viruses, Coronavirus disease

An additional study of the largest ICU dataset, accepted by Journal of Medical Virology, " Healthcare disparities among anticoagulation therapies for severe COVID-19 patients in the multi-site VIRUS registry ", reveals disparities between which medicines were most often prescribed to black and white patients.

Key Points: 
  • An additional study of the largest ICU dataset, accepted by Journal of Medical Virology, " Healthcare disparities among anticoagulation therapies for severe COVID-19 patients in the multi-site VIRUS registry ", reveals disparities between which medicines were most often prescribed to black and white patients.
  • Journal of Medical Virology is a peer-reviewed publication of original scientific papers on fundamental as well as applied research concerning viruses affecting humans.
  • "There is currently no standard of care for COVID-associated coagulopathy," said Venky Soundararajan, PhD, co-founder and chief scientific officer of nference.
  • Through its powerful augmented intelligence software nferX, nference is transforming health care by making biomedical knowledge computable.

SeqOnce Biosciences Announces AzureSeq RT-qPCR Assay to Detect SARS-CoV-2 E484K Variant of Concern

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Zoonoses, Articles, Branches of biology, Molecular biology, Laboratory techniques, Natural sciences, Sarbecovirus, Polymerase chain reaction, Real-time polymerase chain reaction, Coronavirus disease, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus

PASADENA, Calif., March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SeqOnce Biosciences, Inc., announced today the launch of its new AzureSeq One-Step Universal RT-qPCR kit for the detection of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 E484K variant.

Key Points: 
  • PASADENA, Calif., March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SeqOnce Biosciences, Inc., announced today the launch of its new AzureSeq One-Step Universal RT-qPCR kit for the detection of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 E484K variant.
  • Using RT-qPCR to detect the SARS-CoV-2 E484K variant is faster and allows far more samples to be screened, compared to sequencing.
  • "The release of the AzureSeq E484K assay is an important addition to our recently launched AzureSeq N501Y assay.
  • The AzureSeq One-Step Universal SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR E484K Assay is currently for Research Use Only.

CytoAgents Receives Second Round of NIH Funding to Accelerate Treatment for Cytokine Storm

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Health, Clinical trials, Research, Pharmaceutical, Science, Biotechnology, Medical specialties, Immunology, Clinical medicine, Medicine, Cytokine storm, Cytokine release syndrome, Cytokine, Coronavirus disease, T cell

The funding will accelerate the development of its lead drug candidate, GP1681, an investigational new drug that targets hypercytokinemia, more commonly known as cytokine storm.

Key Points: 
  • The funding will accelerate the development of its lead drug candidate, GP1681, an investigational new drug that targets hypercytokinemia, more commonly known as cytokine storm.
  • Scientific consensus is building that overwhelming inflammation and severe illness is triggered by a phenomenon known as cytokine storm, a severe form of cytokine release syndrome when an excessive immune response attacks the body.
  • There are many causes of cytokine storm and the CytoAgents mission is to develop a broadly accessible treatment for multiple indications of high unmet need of cytokine storm, including for Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) in CAR T-cell therapy and in COVID-19 patients.
  • GP1681 uses a novel approach by calming the natural immune response addressing the underlying cause of life-threatening symptoms associated with cytokine storm.

LivePerson And Innova Medical Group Announce Partnership For AI-powered, At-home COVID-19 Rapid Testing

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Medicine, Medical terminology, Medical tests, Health sciences, Clinical medicine, Rapid antigen test, COVID-19 testing, LivePerson, Innova, Rapid diagnostic test, Coronavirus disease

NEW YORK, March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson , a global leader in conversational AI, in partnership with Innova Medical Group , the world's largest manufacturer of rapid antigen test kits and leader in COVID-19 testing solutions globally, today announced the launch of BELLA Health with Innova , a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 rapid testing experience with AI-guided instructions to ensure accuracy.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson , a global leader in conversational AI, in partnership with Innova Medical Group , the world's largest manufacturer of rapid antigen test kits and leader in COVID-19 testing solutions globally, today announced the launch of BELLA Health with Innova , a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 rapid testing experience with AI-guided instructions to ensure accuracy.
  • LivePerson and Innova have launched BELLA Health with Innova, a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 rapid testing experience.
  • Innova Medical Group currently produces 15 million highly accurate and cost-effective rapid antigen tests per day for global use.
  • Innova Medical Group, Inc. delivers better global health outcomes with its deep expertise in testing and unique offerings in diagnostic medical devices and services that help tackle some of the world's most challenging healthcare problems.

Webinar: The role of antibody testing as a companion test to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Medical specialties, Medicine, Branches of biology, Glycoproteins, Virology, Zoonoses, AbC-19 rapid antibody test, Immunology, Coronavirus disease, Peplomer, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Antibody

The nature of testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed over the course of the pandemic.

Key Points: 
  • The nature of testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has changed over the course of the pandemic.
  • Once, antibody tests were predominantly used for charting the spread of infection within communities, but today they are emerging as a key pillar of large-scale immunisation campaigns.
  • Abingdons own antibody test for the virus, the AbC-19 Rapid Test, is a self-contained, highly accurate lateral flow immunoassay designed to give results within 20 minutes at the point of use.
  • The Company has developed and is manufacturing the AbC-19TM Rapid Test, an antibody test for COVID-19 indicating whether a person is generating IgG antibodies to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.