Tag: Top

October 13, 2020 Off

J&J Pauses Coronavirus Vaccine Trials Due to Unexplained Illness | Top News

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson

has paused clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate due to an unexplained illness in a study participant, delaying one of the highest profile efforts to contain the global pandemic.

The move comes around a month after AstraZeneca

also suspended trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine – which uses a similar technology – due to a participant falling ill.

J&J said on Monday the illness was being reviewed by an independent data and safety monitoring board as well as the U.S. group’s clinical and safety physicians.

The company, which reports quarterly financial results on Tuesday morning, said such pauses are normal in big trials, which can include tens of thousands of people.

It added the voluntary “study pause” in giving doses of the vaccine candidate was different from a “regulatory hold” imposed by health authorities.

AstraZeneca last month paused late-stage trials of its experimental coronavirus

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Takeda Group Begins Manufacturing COVID-19 Plasma Treatment Ahead of Approval | Top News

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Takeda Pharmaceutical Co-led group that is developing a blood plasma treatment for COVID-19 has started manufacturing while the late-stage trial to determine whether it works is ongoing, Takeda Chief Executive Christophe Weber said on Monday.

The group, known as the CoVIg Plasma Alliance, enrolled its first patient in the Phase III trial on Friday after months of delays. It aims to enroll 500 adult patients from the United States, Mexico and 16 other countries and hope to have results by the end of the year.

“The likelihood it works is very high,” Weber said in an interview. “And that’s why we have launched a campaign in order to accelerate the donation of convalescent plasma to manufacture and produce this product.”

The alliance, which includes CSL Behring, Germany’s Biotest AG and other companies, is testing a hyperimmune globulin therapy, which is derived from blood plasma of

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Aiming to hit top fitness levels post Covid recovery, says Surender Kumar

(MENAFN – IANS)

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Defender Surender Kumar, who was one of the six players of the Indian men’s hockey team too have tested positive for Covid-19 in August, has revealed that the entire period was mentally very challenging for him.

“I would often tell myself that so many people around the globe have battled this virus including top sports people and have come out of it. It was a difficult phase but I am really grateful for the kind of support system we had from Hockey India and SAI who made every effort to get us the best treatment,” Kumar said.

Unlike his other compatriots who had tested positive and recovered, Kumar had developed venous thrombosis, a condition in which there are blood clots. It is one of the many complications related to Covid-19 recovery phase.

“Again, I am grateful to Hockey India and SAI for

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

Abbott Wins U.S. Emergency Use Authorization for New COVID-19 Antibody Test | Top News

(Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization for its lab-based COVID-19 antibody blood test.

The test, AdviseDx, can be used to identify a type of antibody called Immunoglobulin M (IgM) in blood samples to determine if someone has been exposure to the novel coronavirus, potentially indicating a recent or prior infection.

Abbott has already received emergency use authorization for seven tests, including molecular tests, a rapid antigen test and another test which can detect a type of antibody called IgG.

The FDA’s emergency use authorization allows the use of unapproved medical products in an emergency to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases with no adequate or approved alternatives.

IgG is longer lasting in the body after an infection, but IgM is more useful for determining a recent exposure to the coronavirus as these antibodies become undetectable

By [email protected]_84

October 12, 2020 Off

As Globe Gallops Into Vaccine Trials, Insurers Remain Unfazed | Top News

By Noor Zainab Hussain, Carolyn Cohn and Ludwig Burger

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The world is racing towards a vaccine in record time, stirring public concerns about safety to the extent that nine leading developers have felt compelled to issue a pledge to uphold scientific standards and testing rigour.

Yet, while more than 40 experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being tested on humans, the insurance companies with decades of experience in assessing the risks of clinical trials don’t see anything to be unduly concerned about.

Executives at insurer Allianz and brokers Gallagher and Marsh, among the leading players in clinical trials insurance, told Reuters that premiums had only marginally increased so far in the current pandemic.

They argued there was little structural difference to trials carried out in the past, despite drugmakers around the world competing to shatter the fastest time in history for developing a vaccine, which stands at around four

By [email protected]_84

October 11, 2020 Off

UK Study Tests if BCG Vaccine Protects Against COVID | Top News

LONDON (Reuters) – The widely used BCG tuberculosis vaccine will be tested on frontline care workers in Britain for its effectiveness against COVID-19, researchers running the UK arm of a global trial said.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used to protect against tuberculosis, induces a broad innate immune-system response and has been shown to protect against infection or severe illness with other respiratory pathogens.

“BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19,” Professor John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said.

“We are seeking to establish whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of COVID-19. If it does, we could save lives by administering or topping up this readily available and cost-effective vaccination.”

The UK study is part of an existing Australian-led trial, which launched in April and also has arms in the Netherlands,

By [email protected]_84

October 11, 2020 Off

U.S. COVID-19 cases top 50,000 for 3rd straight day

Oct. 10 (UPI) — For the third-straight day, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the United States topped 50,000, a level not seen since August, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Data the Johns Hopkins University global tracker showed there were 57,420 new cases and 990 deaths Friday in the United States. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has had 7.7 million confirmed cases and at least 214,000 deaths.

An updated model released Friday by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, projects 394,693 deaths in the United States by Feb. 1. The model predicts that U.S. daily deaths will peak at 2,300 in mid-January with 116,000 hospital beds needed by Jan. 22. Daily U.S. deaths are around 1,000 this month.

Expanding the use of masks from the United States’ current rate of 69% to about 95% — the rate

By [email protected]_84

October 10, 2020 Off

U.S. COVID-19 deaths top 50,000 for 3rd straight day

Oct. 10 (UPI) — For the third-straight day, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the United States topped 50,000, a level not seen since August, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Expanding the use of masks from the United States’ current rate of 69% to about 95% — the rate

By [email protected]_84

October 10, 2020 Off

U.S. COVID-19 Cases Hit Two-Month High, 10 States Report Record Increases | Top News

(Reuters) – New cases of COVID-19 in the United States hit a two-month high on Friday with over 58,000 infections of the new coronavirus reported and hospitalizations in the Midwest at record levels for a fifth day in a row, according to a Reuters analysis.

Ten of the 50 states reported record one-day rises in cases on Friday, including the Midwestern states of Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Ohio. Wisconsin and Illinois recorded over 3,000 new cases for a second day in a row – a two-day trend not seen even during the height of the previous outbreak in the spring, according to Reuters data.

The Western states of Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming also reported their biggest one-day jumps in cases, as did Oklahoma and West Virginia.

Nineteen states have seen record increases in new cases so far in October. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2SFLb7o)

Amid the resurgence in cases across the nation,

By [email protected]_84

October 10, 2020 Off

U.S. Signs Agreement With AstraZeneca to Develop, Supply COVID-19 Antibody Treatment | Top News

(Reuters) – The U.S. government on Friday signed an agreement with AstraZeneca Plc

worth $486 million to develop and secure supplies of up to 100,000 doses of COVID-19 antibody treatment, a similar class of drugs that was used to treat President Donald Trump.

The U.S. health agency will provide the funding to AstraZeneca for two Phase 3 clinical trials under operation Warp Speed, which is aimed at speeding up treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.

One trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the experimental treatment to prevent infection for up to 12 months, in about 5,000 participants, while the second trial will evaluate post-exposure preventative and pre-emptive treatment in roughly 1,100 participants.

AstraZeneca said it plans to supply up to 100,000 doses starting towards the end of 2020 and the US Government can acquire up to an additional one million doses in 2021 under a separate agreement.

In a