COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is not only an international health crisis, but a burgeoning geopolitical exercise for Russia to win the hearts and minds of a large portion of the world while undermining the West.
With more European countries pausing dosing of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine over concerns about potential blood clotting side effects, Russia is seeking to fill in the gaps with its Sputnik V vaccine.
EmpowerDX, a Eurofins subsidiary, just launched its direct-to-consumer COVID-19 Home Collection Kit in the U.S. through Amazon, making it one of a miniscule number of at-home and over-the-counter kits that are putting detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the hands of patients.
Shares of GenMark Diagnostics are soaring in premarket trading after Roche announced it was acquiring the California-based company in a $1.8 billion deal to bolster its own diagnostics pipeline.
It was another busy week for clinical trial announcements. Here’s a look including trials for COVID-19, migraine, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, HIV and more.
This morning, the World Health Organization issued a statement that there is no reason to stop using the vaccine because, as of this time, “no causal link has been established.”
While existing vaccines are being rolled out worldwide, Novavax’s is demonstrating effectiveness in late-stage trials and the partnership of Sanofi and Translate Bio is beginning early-stage trials for their mRNA vaccine.
Some diagnostic developers are looking ahead to the time when COVID-19 is endemic throughout the population and most people are vaccinated. From a public health perspective, COVID-19 will be treated like the seasonal flu.
Patients in a Phase II trial have begun receiving Moderna’s vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 variant first identified in South Africa, the company announced.
Genentech reported its rheumatoid arthritis drug Actemra failed to hit its primary endpoint in a COVID-19 trial, while Vir and GlaxoSmithKline’s antibody against COVID-19 demonstrated 85% efficacy.
PRESS RELEASES